Michigan Dept of Agriculture Demands Destruction of 18 Homemade Oatmeal Cookies and 17 Homemade Apple Muffins

In a similar turn of events, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has filed a complaint, asking that the Livingston County Circuit Court destroy eighteen homemade oatmeal cookies and seventeen homemade apple muffins among other foods. The alleged foods were seized during a raid that appears to have happened simply because farm owner Kris Unger told them they couldn’t search his farm, though he did answer all of their questions.

This is the first time baked goods have been seized by the federal government, and it shows why there needs to be  legal distinction between the public and private distribution of food. All of this happened because two children got sick after visiting the farm, though their parents both said that the kids didn’t get sick from the farm.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has filed a complaint with the Livingston County Circuit Court asking that the court order the destruction of, among other foods, 18 homemade oatmeal cookies and 17 homemade apple muffins.¹ MDARD seized the cookies, muffins, and other foods during a September 1, 2016 raid of Dairy Delight Cow Boarding, LLC, a herd share dairy farm owned and operated by Kris Unger in CohoctahTownship.²

FTCLDF members have been subject to food seizures since the organization’s inception, but just about all of the seizures have been of either meat or dairy products; the enforcement action at Dairy Delight marks the first seizure of baked goods. The Unger case is great testimony for why a legal distinction needs to be established between the public and private distribution of food and why government agencies should leave the private distribution of food alone.

The events leading to the raid trace back to August 23, 2016 when the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) contacted the Livingston County Department of Public Health (LCDPH), informing it that two children had been infected with E. coli O157:H7 and that MDHHS had determined that raw milk was the potential source of the childrens’ E. coli. On August 26th, an MDARD inspector along with an inspector from LCDPH arrived at the farm to investigate the potential source of the E. coli. By this time, the father of one of the sick children had spoken to Unger about the illnesses; the other sick child had been with his son shortly before they both became ill. The father told Unger that he believed the illnesses had come from the consumption of tacos and that he was “pretty sure” that his son’s friend had not consumed raw milk. When the inspectors showed up, Unger answered several of their questions about her herd share operation and told them she had been in contact with herd shareholders and that none of them were sick. When the officials insisted on obtaining the contact info for all the herd shareholders, Unger told them they weren’t welcome and refused to let them inspect the farm.

On September 1st, inspectors from MDARD and LCDPH, accompanied by two deputies from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department, returned to the farm with an administrative inspection warrant. While conducting the inspection of the dairy, the officials seized the baked goods and other foods including honey, eggs, kombucha, and sauerkraut. The inspectors seized the products because they were “not properly labeled” and because they “were not from regulated sources and were being offered for retail sale.” MDARD’s position is that if a food is supposed to be from a regulated source and is not, it is adulterated.

If anyone should not have been regulated for the sale of the seized foods, it was Unger. The foods were only for sale to herd share members. Unger did not make any money off the sale of the seized foods. Most of the foods were produced by herd share members. Unger was only allowing the sale of the products as an accommodation to them.

The shareholder who made the baked goods only sold them to the other shareholders, no one else. The two dozen eggs that were seized had already been paid for by the shareholders who ordered them, but Unger was told she needed a warehouse permit to continue with that arrangement. The partially consumed bottle of kombucha taken was Unger’s and for her own consumption. When she informed the inspector seizing the product of that, she was told the product was illegal because it wasn’t labeled. Unger lives a mile down a dirt road; the only people who stop by her farm, with rare exceptions, are shareholders. She doesn’t deliver milk or any other product to anyone; all the shareholders drive to the farm. Many shareholders drive an hour or more to the farm; the milk produced by Dairy Delight is highly favored. None of the raw milk samples that Unger sent to a lab due to the illnesses tested positive for E. coli. It is likely that none of the samples MDARD sent did, either. Over three months after getting the test results, MDARD still had not informed Unger whether or not the tests were positive for E. coli.

If anyone should not have been regulated for the sale of the seized foods, it was Unger. The foods were only for sale to herd share members. Unger did not make any money off the sale of the seized foods. Most of the foods were produced by herd share members. Unger was only allowing the sale of the products as an accommodation to them.

The shareholder who made the baked goods only sold them to the other shareholders, no one else. The two dozen eggs that were seized had already been paid for by the shareholders who ordered them, but Unger was told she needed a warehouse permit to continue with that arrangement. The partially consumed bottle of kombucha taken was Unger’s and for her own consumption. When she informed the inspector seizing the product of that, she was told the product was illegal because it wasn’t labeled. Unger lives a mile down a dirt road; the only people who stop by her farm, with rare exceptions, are shareholders. She doesn’t deliver milk or any other product to anyone; all the shareholders drive to the farm. Many shareholders drive an hour or more to the farm; the milk produced by Dairy Delight is highly favored. None of the raw milk samples that Unger sent to a lab due to the illnesses tested positive for E. coli. It is likely that none of the samples MDARD sent did, either. Over three months after getting the test results, MDARD still had not informed Unger whether or not the tests were positive for E. coli.

In addition to asking for the seized foods to be destroyed, MDARD is seeking a court order permanently enjoining Unger from selling food without a license, selling food that is not from an approved source, and selling food that is either adulterated or misbranded.

In addition to requesting that the seized foods be destroyed, MDARD is asking the court to permanently ban the farm from selling food. The sad part about this is that the food confiscated belonged to the owner. So it’s doubtful the owner has been giving people food from his own refrigerator. This is another example of how farmers in the United States are getting poorly by the government.

You can read the compaint here.

You can donate to assist this farmer here: farmtoconsumer.org