Reedsburg Times Press (WI)
by Alicia Abercrombie

BARABOO — Braving the increasingly blowing snow, more than 150 supporters of raw-milk farming gathered outside the Sauk County Courthouse on Friday as part of a two-day rally to support a Loganville dairy farmer charged with selling food and dairy products without a license.

The supporters traveled from as far away as Maryland and Canada to speak on the behalf of Vernon Hershberger, saying the ability to buy and drink raw (unpasteurized) milk is a constitutional right.

“We want the government to decriminalize raw milk,” supporter Liz Reitzig said. “My two older daughters are allergic to pasteurized milk but fine with raw.

“I can feed my children fast food three meals a day, feed them lollipops and Mountain Dew all day, but the state says I can’t feed them raw milk?”

Reitzig is a co-founder of the Raw Milk Freedom Riders and the Farm Food Freedom Coalition, based on the East Coast. She traveled from Maryland to help organize the rally.

She joined other protesters in signing a Declaration of Food Independence displayed by protesters outside the courthouse. The first line of the document states that “inherent in every individual is the God-given right to procure the food of one’s choice from consenting farmers and producers.”

Hershberger did not renew his Grade B dairy license and was operating a retail food establishment without a license, state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection officials allege in court documents.

Hershberger said he was operating under a private leasing system with members of his buyers’ club, called Grazin’ Acres, in which individuals lease the animals he cares for — therefore leaving him exempt from licensing requirements.

However, the charges against Hershberger allege the sales occurred before the leasing arrangements were put into place.

State regulators have warned of the health risks associated with drinking unpasteurized dairy products, but Kelly West said she thinks she should have the right to choose what she and her children drink. West, a Watertown resident and member of Grazin’ Acres, spoke at the rally before Hershberger’s return appearance.

“I have three kids, 5 and 3 (years) and 8 months, and both my older girls drink it (raw milk) all the time,” West said. “They’ve never gotten sick. It tastes good and it’s more nutritious than pasteurized milk.”

Madison-based protestor Bill Anderson said that to him, the fight over raw milk is only part of a bigger issue with small Wisconsin farmers being pushed out by larger corporate businesses.

“I’d like to see an agriculture policy that encourages small farms,” Anderson said. “Allowing raw milk is part of that equation.”

Reitzig said the first part of the protest, held Thursday afternoon in Baraboo, drew a packed house. She and other raw milk supporters held workshops on non-violent activism and respect for freedom, she said.

On Friday, police set up an overflow room in the Sauk County Courthouse so that supporters who couldn’t fit into the courtroom for Hershberger’s return court appearance could watch the proceedings.

Hershberger again appeared alone and held up what appeared to be a Bible when Sauk County Judge Guy Reynolds asked him if he had an attorney present.

Reynolds asked how Hershberger wished to plead to the charges. When he didn’t respond, Reynolds said he was entering pleas of not guilty for Hershberger, pending the motions Hershberger filed in January.

Reynolds gave the state until March 31 to respond to the motions, which include one challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case.

Reynolds set a tentative date of Sept. 25 to 27 for Hershberger’s trial and told Hershberger he needed to decide whether he was going to retain an attorney.

Hershberger said he had not yet decided.

“If you uphold your oath to the Constitution, then the motions speak for themselves,” Hershberger said. “There’s not much more to be said.”

Hershberger will have 10 days to respond to any response filed by the state before the case proceeds.

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