The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak in Minnesota has increased from four to five today. Raw milk is believed to be the source of the outbreak.
Over at Simple Good & Tasty, you can read a statement written on behalf of Michael Hartman and family whose Gibbon, Minnesota dairy was identified as the likely source of the tainted raw milk last week (Fair Food Fight coverage of the outbreak here). From the May 29 Hartmann statement:
The [Hartmann] family had not received any information from any consumer about concerns, or allegations of E. coli contamination of any food product until the farm was subjected to the execution of a search warrant by the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health. Aided by the Sibley County Sheriff and eight armed deputies, the department officials seized samples of milk, cleaning water, waste barrel contents, and manure, along with copies of records of customers, phone numbers, and delivery sites.
No results of sample testing, which generally take 15 hours, have been released. When the results are made available, everyone will be better able to understand the identification of any bacteria and its source.
According to Bill Marler on his blog, the Minnesota Department of Health today has additional evidence that the bacteria in question comes exclusively from the Gibbon dairy.
The [Minnesota Department of Health] conducted an investigation into the illnesses, which were scattered across the state, and found that the only thing the ill people had in common was consumption of dairy products from the Hartmann farm. This strong epidemiological link is now reinforced by the laboratory confirmation that the specific strain of E. coli O157:H7 found in the ill patients has also been found in multiple animals and at multiple sites on the Hartmann farm. This strain of E. coli has not previously been found in Minnesota.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting tonight that health department officials have said that “they are looking into several additional illnesses that may be connected to the farm’s products.”
the rest appear to believe in faith or religion.
traditional foods mn has gone to great lengths along with the Hartmanns to paint this as uneeded government intrusion and a conspiracy that the Ag Dept is simply out to get the Hartmanns.
meanwhile they show little compassion for anyone thats sick or the toddler who is or was hospitalized and encourage their tribe to continue buying direct from the farm.
i feel TFM and the Hartmanns have completely discredited themselves and the raw milk and eat local movement with their Twilight Zone ramblings.
I haven’t seen anything from Traditional Foods Minnesota on this. Got a link or any printed material you could transcribe?
Kinda hard to cut and paste as its one long discussion and keep it in context and also protect users privacy.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/trad-foods-MN/
Suffice it to say they are defensive and not very conciliatory or compassionate. Lots of anti government conspiracy theory rhetoric and a complete denial of the facts. Anyone who defends the MN Dept of Ag has been labeled “not one of us” and the moderator is allowing them to be trashed. The moderation speaks volumes……is that the criteria of how farm products are selected and managed in the warehouse? Screw any and all attempts at oversite? Clearly any attempt at food safety concerns would be frowned upon in the warehouse with that attitude. Of course they are a “buyers club” and therefore they too are supposedly immune from regulation.
I am so offended by their reaction I am discontinuing my membership at the warehouse. They come across as renegades who believe government has no rights in regulating food safety. Why would I want to buy farm products from an organization or business that supports that kind of world view? No thanks – I’ll stick with the coops and farmers markets. TFM has gotten too weird for me.
Few if any in the TFMN community deny that this came from the Hartmann’s, but we weren’t going to crucify them without due process. Given the government agencies’ drive to wipe raw milk off the face of the map, that is only a reasonable respoonse. <<community view
What the members of the traditional food was trying to do tiffany is to make sure that objectivism was maintained until the results were in.<<< community view
As far as compassion, of course we want the best for the people who are sick, but that does not mean we have to agree with the way it’s being handled. In this case I can not speak for the other members of TFMN but I feel the victims are only making their problems worse, far from apathetic I only feel helpless, because I think I know better ways to deal with their current situation. <<<my personal view
As far as anti government conspiracy talk, maybe a few members felt it was a set up, but the majority of us I believe only felt that the government and media were not giving the Hartmann’s due process. The way the story was reported it was as if the Star Trib and other media outlets had reached a verdict of guilty before even any test results were in.
Everyone admits there is likely a problem on the Hartmann farm and it needs to be remedied, but that doesn’t mean they need to be shut down.
And furthermore it’s not (or should not be) the government’s job to babysit us. There should be unlimited freedom to buy what products you want and to sell the same. This is because these are transactions between consenting adults who are not knowingly hurting anyone directly in the process. When I buy raw milk from a farmer, I make damn sure I like their safety protocols. But because I’m buying directly from the farmer, or from a middleman who I trust that is a risk I’m willing to take.
Nobody forced the victims to buy milk from the Hartmann’s and presumably you could visit the farm to see how they operated if you wanted to. Unless they intentionally contaminated the milk, which would be a criminal act, then there is no reason to get all up in arms. That is what personal responsibility is all about. And that along with liberty is what this country was founded on.
Tell me, why do you think the government does have the right to regulate food when it is a small scale farm dealing directly with consumer or one step from the consumer so that if the consumer wants to talk to the farmer or come visit the farmer they can? Why do I as a consumer not have any say? I DON’T want the government involved. Why do you have to coerce government regulation upon me? If I had a choice to buy from farmers with government oversight and those without I want the freedom to choose the ones without. I’m a san, rational adult, it’s not unreasonable to ask for that option.