Max Kane Risks Prison for Refusing to Tell Who Sells and Who Buys Raw Milk

by Heidi Stevenson

25 April 2010

Max Kane has been charged with nothing. There is no case being prosecuted against him or anyone else for anything, not even for selling or buying raw milk. Yet, he has been ordered by the state of Wisconsin to inform on his friends. They want him to name people who sell or buy raw milk. He has refused, and for that, he's been under threat of prison.

Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is in thrall to the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), is not pursuing Kane for any crime, though they have been trying to turn him into a criminal. He's obviously guilty, of course—guilty of drinking raw milk and advocating it. Worse, though, he's guilty of refusing to give the names of people he knows who also drink raw milk, not to mention the farmers who have the temerity to sell it to them.

In Wisconsin, it's perfectly legal for farmers to sell directly to consumers in Wisconsin. More and more have been doing just that, and for good reason. People want raw milk. Like Max Kane, they've found that it's health-promoting. The powers-that-be don't like that. So, they're going after small family dairies and activists like Max. If Max gives in, they're apparently planning to go after ordinary people who are guilty of buying a contraband substance: milk in its natural, unpasteurized, state.

How Max Came to Raw Milk Activism

Max was a very sick man suffering from Crohn's disease, a conditon of intestinal tract ulceration, which results in pain and lack of adequate nutrition because an ulcerated alimentary canal cannot adequately absorb nutrients. In his words, he was "wasting away". Modern medicine could do nothing for him.

Like a miracle, Max found raw milk. By the simple act of drinking it, he has returned to health. As a result, Max Kane has become a raw milk activist. To this end, he bicycled across the nation in 50 days, eating and drinking only raw milk products, to bring attention to the value of raw milk. A movie is being made of that journey. You can see a trailer for it here.

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How Max Is Threatened by the State of Wisconsin

Max was involved in a cow share program, in which customers deal directly with farms by purchasing "shares" in cows and paying for handling costs in exchange for raw milk. He was subpoenaed by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to name people he knows who might be involved in distributing or receiving raw milk. He refused.

Max went to court without an attorney, saying that the subpoena is in violation of both the US and Wisconsin constitutions, including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In his case, the right to life is literal, since the lack of raw milk would destroy his health. He also believes that people have the right to obtain food from private sources. While that particular right isn't enshrined in the constitution, it's hard to imagine that the founders' worst nightmares could have conceived of the current persecution against raw milk producers.

The Circuit Court Judge, Michael Rosenborough, refused to rule on the case, saying that it involved constitutional issues that should be addressed by a higher court. So, Max filed a Motion of Appeal, asking for a higher court to address the issue, and a Motion for Stay of Order Pending Appeal, asking that the state not be allowed to force him to testify before the appeal has run its course.

The state's response was to declare Max a danger to the public. They filed a Motion to Compel, which would have jailed him until the appeal could be heard. This is a man with a young child and pregnant wife. He is the sole support of his family. He has not been charged with any crime. Yet, the state wanted to jail him.

On the 19^th of April, the Court denied the state's Motion to Compel and granted Max's Motion for Stay of Order Pending Appeal. So, at this time, Max doesn't have to go to jail and he doesn't have to give information on what he knows of raw milk production and drinking. But Max is not off the hook. He is free and isn't facing a raw milk inquisition only while the appeal goes forward—but there's a long road ahead. What the appellate court will rule is anybody's guess.

How Max's Story Affects You

Raw milk is under attack in every state in the US and in most, if not all, industrialized nations. Max Kane has delved deeply into who's behind it in his state. As recent events corroborate, the FDA is pushing this issue. FDA Persecutes Raw Milk Dairies: Raids Amish Farm documents one incident of many. USDA Trashes Organic: Pasture Not Required for Cows' Last 4 Months shows how the entire concept of organic is being watered down at the national level.

Max has documented significant increases in federal support for Wisconsin's DATCP, from $9.3 million in 2005 to $13.6 million in 2008. The money comes from the FDA and USDA. DATCP employees' salaries, as high as $120,000 per year, are dependent on that money. As David E. Gumpert's blog, The Complete Patient, noted, "That’s a lot of taxpayer money being paid to bureaucrats for trashing family-run dairies."

Whether you are interested in raw milk or not, this is a matter of freedom. The ability of small farmers to produce what their customers want and of people to eat what they want is being destroyed. Surely, the rights to engage in an honest business and to select one's own food are as basic as the right to free speech.

What's next? Vitamins and supplements are under attack. Herbs are under attack. Organic crops are under attack. All of these are being replaced with Agribusiness artificial food-like substances.

Max Kane is a hero for our times, fighting for the right to feed himself the food he desires, to treat his own illness according to his own desires, and for the same freedom for everyone else.

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