Fisher's children gathering chicken eggs | Golden Valley Farms website
Posted on 08/18/2023 8:10:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
"They came with a search warrant," softly spoke Samuel B. Fisher, a mild-mannered cattle farmer operating a 100-acre farm tucked away in Virginia's heartland. Fisher's bread-and-butter, Golden Valley Farms, carves out the scenic countryside that's a hop, skip, and a jump away from historic Farmville, a postcard-perfect small Southern town with classical Main Street charm.
The father of five had graciously invited us down to his idyllic pasture to rehash the whirlwind of unforeseen events that unfolded over the cruel summer. It was a tumultuous time on the Fisher farm, an upheaval that threatened to upend the man's livelihood.
"Then, they tagged the meat, so that we can't touch it; we can't sell it; we can't feed our family with it," Fisher told Townhall.
Fisher's children gathering chicken eggs | Golden Valley Farms website
There, we sat in Fisher's office on the periphery of a multi-purpose barn, surrounded by sparsely scattered cardboard boxes of farm-fresh squash situated across the concrete floor and vintage-style empty half-gallon glass jugs labeled with "Golden Valley Farms CHEMICAL FREE A2/A2 Goat Milk" stickers that lined the nearby shelves, awaiting to be filled and delivered statewide.
Moments earlier, upon our arrival, we were greeted by the welcoming committee: a trio of barefoot, dirt-covered kids holding four-week-old kittens, sized smaller than an ear of corn and clutching the children's arms for dear life. One of the young boys, sporting suspenders and a straw hat with an LED headlamp strapped to it, left to fetch his father—whose workdays begin before daybreak at 5:30 a.m. and end past sundown—from the fields. The other boy, his sandy-haired brother in a bowl haircut, asked if we'll "put it on the news." Now, the children were captivated by the camera, gathered wide-eyed around Fisher after dragging a handful of upside-down milk crates over to perch themselves upon. A little girl, draped in a sunflower-colored dress, bobbed in-and-out of frame to wrangle one of the family's dogs, as Fisher hushed her in Pennsylvania Dutch.
The firestorm of Big Government saber-rattling ignited in mid-June when an inspector with the Virginia Department of Agriculture (VDAC), without warning, paid the Fisher family a visit. To date, Fisher has no idea what could've prompted VDAC's impromptu inspection on June 14, except "maybe they just finally found us through word of mouth," the farmer speculated.
What was clear: The state sought to penalize Fisher for selling meat that was not processed by a USDA-inspected facility (U.S. Department of Agriculture).
Fisher processes—an industry euphemism for butchering—his farm-raised meat on-site and sells it directly to his customers, feeding about 500 consumers and their families, who are part of a buying club. As members enrolled in the Golden Valley Farms program, they're buying into the herd of 100% grass-fed golden Guernsey cows.
"They own part of the business. They own some of the herd," Fisher explained. "My thinking was [...] We can butcher their cows, process it, and sell it to them. I told the state all of this, but they said, 'No, there's no way around that. You can't do that.' They asked permission to get in here" to search the farm, which Fisher denied. "And, they told me, 'We'll be back,' and left."
The next day, on June 15, the VDAC inspector did, in fact, return, this time with a Cumberland County sheriff's deputy to serve Fisher a search warrant. "They went through everything, house, every building, in the barn. They just raided through everything, put their nose in everything, and wanted to know every detail of everything. They went out back, trying to find all the failure they can find on a farm, which, of course, some of their stuff, which they think is wrong, is just normal stuff on a farm," Fisher stated.
"I wasn't on the farm at the time" of the full-scale raid that lasted approximately three to four hours, Fisher added.
Then, the state slapped a tag on Fisher's walk-in freezer, placing the meat under "administrative detainment" and declaring that he wasn't supposed to take any meat out of his own storage room. By the weekend, his kids were crying for scrapple, a mush of pork scraps and trimmings characteristic of Amish country, that sat behind the door on Fisher's property that should, otherwise, be open and easily accessible. The following Monday, Fisher "even made a special phone call," asking again, "if that's the way it is." And, as Fisher recounted, the VDAC inspector replied, "Yes, [you] cannot feed your family with it, cannot do anything with it."
There's "nothing illegal" about Fisher processing his own meat and eating it for his own consumption, asserted Mindy, the farm's officer manager, who oversees sales, handles email marketing, and fulfills online orders. "So, he decided he was gonna go and feed his family, and since he would most likely be fined for doing that, he decided to open up meat sales again. Because if he's going to be fined, he's going to be fined, and you might as well do it," she, wanting to go by "just Mindy," stated matter-of-factly.
"Anybody can go and raise animals for their own family to eat. That's where I got to the point: He [the VDAC inspector] crossed the line, so I'm going to cross the line," Fisher stated. "He crossed the line by telling me I cannot feed my own family with this meat. So, I decided I'm going to cross the line, I'm going to sell it. And that's why I didn't honor the state."
"This ain't right," Fisher decided. "We're going to feed our family. We're going to feed our customers [...] We did not honor that tag. We sold some meat out of there, whatever customers ordered. Then, the state came back and saw what we did."
"They really gave me a mouthful for doing that," Fisher said. That's when the state took Fisher to court.
After photographing every inch of the farm, stockpiling pictures as evidence that the Fishers were slaughtering and selling raw meat, which the Commonwealth of Virginia claimed was "mislabeled, uninspected, and possibly unadulterated," the state summoned the farmer to a hearing on July 18 in Cumberland County Circuit Court to try the civil case. At its conclusion, a judge authorized the state to seize and forfeit Fisher's products.
Later that day, the state wasted no time pouncing on the court's order with glee. Within hours, two men backed a U-Haul truck right up to Fisher's door, cleared the premises of Golden Valley Farms meat products, and hauled it all to the dump for disposal.
Fisher was also criminally charged, accused of violating state law, Virginia Code 29.1-521(A)(10). And, on Aug. 3, Fisher was found guilty of "unlawfully possessing, selling, and/or transporting animals," a Class 3 misdemeanor, and forced by a Cumberland County criminal court to pay a fine as punishment.
Though the future is uncertain, Fisher is considering next steps, including consulting with attorneys, if the state seeks to continue targeting him and Golden Valley Farms. Fisher is one of many targets in the government's wars of attrition that drag fiercely independent farmers through shock-and-awe judicial proceedings.
Unsanitary conditions were not found at the farm and no one has ever been sick from the meat. Quite the opposite. Fisher calls the meat "medicine." Customers with allergies and medical conditions claim that their ailments are alleviated when switching to a chemical-free, certified organic diet. Fisher's food appeals to that need.
Backed by a loyal customer base, Fisher has received an outpour of support from consumers, who've written testimonies attesting to the high-quality of his products. Fisher once sold USDA-inspected meat, but that was before the government-mandated shutdowns, when access to the nearest USDA processor became burdensome during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The drive was hours away and the cost was hefty. Plus, the pandemic meant "you'd have to schedule your animals around eight to 12 months ahead of time," Fisher said, making the timing hard to predict. "So that's when the trigger pushed us to do it ourselves [...] We put an addition to the building and made a processing room and we certainly like it now," Fisher stated.
"Amish people—They don't follow the rules. That's the point," Mindy said. "So, it shouldn't be a surprise to somebody that an Amish person is not following the rules. They opt out of everything. They don't send their kids to school. They don't have to be involved in the [military] draft. They don't pay into the Social Security system and they don't receive money from the Social Security system. Why would anybody think it'd be a stretch that he wasn't getting his meat inspected by the government, too?"
"He thought he can do it himself, so why not do it himself?" Mindy questioned. "And, you know, these people that are buying from him, they're choosing to not buy USDA-inspected meat. That's their choice. They're adults. They can make choices like that."
In fact, a survey was sent to Fisher's customers, asking if they'd prefer the meat to be USDA-inspected or processed here himself. The poll came back overwhelmingly in support of the latter—92% of customers wanted Fisher to process on the farm.
Asked why he's become the consumer go-to source for meat over big-box retailers, Fisher responded: "Oh, because it's a huge differs. When you go to the store, you don't know what's in your food." Fisher went on to describe how whole carcasses of animals are often shipped into assembly-line warehouses. Though they're partly rotten and emit a putrid odor, factory workers dip the meat into some kind of preservatives, be it sodium chloride or another nitrate, to manufacture a red, pinkish "fresh look."
"And they send it off to the people. They don't care if people get sick or what happens because you can't track it," Fisher explained. "If you buy stuff from a store, you can't track where it comes from [...] So, that's why I say if you buy food from a farmer, go to that farm, ask the farmer you want to see their animals, you want to see the farm, you want to know where your food comes from. You do have the full rights. Ask for that. If you are not given it, take it as a warning," he advised.
"I want this world to have the opportunity of finding raw real food, because I've seen what you're buying at the store," Fisher said.
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.....................
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.....................
“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.”
> “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” ..................... <
Which has morphed into a more direct “I’m from the government and you will submit.”
Petty bureaucrats. Evil sniveling cowards.
The cops who carry out their orders. Enemies.
“I’m from the government, and I’m here to destroy you and everything you’ve worked for. Just because I can.”
BIG Government ruins everything. Thee was a time whe the GOP had as part of their plank, “reducing the size of government”. Now I see McCarthy signing more spending bills. What the heck happened to the Republican Party? It’s now one Party, and all against Trump.
A friend has about 100 head of cattle. He has a hell of time getting them processed because small, local, often family-run processing operations, that are also USDA approved, are disappearing.
Finding labor is very hard for these operations, as are costs of regulations. And new ones simply are NOT opening.
My friend has to book his cattle for slaughter over one year in advance, pretty much when the calves are born
Near my hometown of Appomattox. We grew acres of food, and gave a lot away to locals.
See if this shoe fits
terrorists and multinational criminal organizations,,
EPISODE 360: THE TRUE HISTORY OF ANTIFA - PT. 1 Run Time 24m 2s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rfN3M7sE75U
EPISODE 361: THE TRUE HISTORY OF ANTIFA - PT. 2 Run Time 24m 10 s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rezL74LIVp4
+
\/
7 part video series
EPISODE 351: THE CHINA FILES - PT 1 WARLORDS OF THE REVOLUTION
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n7YMzuKdDTs
Runtime 24m 23s
/
EPISODE 352: THE CHINA FILES P2
CHAOS UNDER HEAVEN
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3zNdoVhpUwk
Runtime 24m 44s
/
EPISODE 353: THE CHINA FILES PT. 3
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4BL7mUv52mc
Runtime 24m 18s
/
EPISODE 354: THE CHINA FILES PT. 4
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uCrICuLPY3g
Runtime 24m 33s
/
THE CHINA FILES PT. 5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPcN4fIvwUE
Runtime 48m 6 s
EPISODE 444: THE CHINA FILES PT. 6
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sN2eFPdTxKw
Runtime 23m 5 s
/
EPISODE 468: CHINA FILES
- CCP POLICE ON US SOIL
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WzmRA9VM0K4
Runtime 22m 58s
/\
learn
both the Russian and Chinese Communist parties
never would have come to power in those 2 countries
with out
the Marxists in the United States
help.
They were here then
and their commie spawn are still in our government.
They are on the cusp of handing our country and the world to the CCP.
This is the history our public schools made sure we never heard.
Push this out to everyone
The usual suspects are deserving of food poisoning...
Can you name >5 unvaxxed Amish who died from COVID? Why not? They are “supposed to be” dying in droves!
The Amish didn’t lockdown, social distance, mask, or take a vaccine. It was business as usual. Few died. I offered $2,500 for anyone who could name >5 Amish who died. No takers. Just excuses.
Excerpt:
“Nobody in mainstream media will touch this story because it completely blows up the narrative. It shows that all the COVID interventions were completely unnecessary! The Amish returned to normal in May 2020. Read that again.
The Amish achieved herd immunity before the vaccines were even available.
They also have zero autism (except if the person is adopted) for the people who eschew vaccination.
Even if the vaccine worked and was safe, there was simply no reason for them to take the vaccine because 90% had already been infected in 2020. Taking a vaccine after you’ve already got natural immunity is nonsensical and counterproductive. However, in the US, we were told to get the vaccine even if we recovered from COVID. Very dumb.
How did they achieve herd immunity so fast? They did the opposite of what the CDC recommended; they lived their lives normally and used drugs like ivermectin if they got sick.”
https://kirschsubstack.com/p/can-you-name-5-unvaxxed-amish-who
I don’t care what BS propaganda they give you about supporting “families and workers”. Woke Government HATES small business.
The reason is simple: a few very large corporations are easy to control and manipulate with politics and regulation
Small guys, especially Amish who mostly ignore government rules, are the exact opposite.
One by one our communist government is coming for everybody!
Madison or Hamilton, the two competing philosophies for what America was to become. Too many chose Hamilton (strong central government based on urbanization/ centers of industry/ federal control of commerce/banking), if we had chosen Madison(agrarian society, weak central government, states and landowners retain power) we would at least have taken another hundred years to get to this point.
“The usual suspects are deserving of food poisoning...”
_______________________________
What does that mean? Who are the “usual suspects?”
From the article:
“Unsanitary conditions were not found at the farm and no one has ever been sick from the meat. Quite the opposite. Fisher calls the meat “medicine.” Customers with allergies and medical conditions claim that their ailments are alleviated when switching to a chemical-free, certified organic diet. Fisher’s food appeals to that need.”
Good way to destroy farms....Starve the rest of us..Easy to submit when your kids are starving....Remember the germans voted for Hitler, because he “”promised”” to fix their economy which was in the toilet....
This from the government who brings in diseased illegals and allows lawlessness in the inner cities.
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