Poking that great big, slobbering, fat, lazy, Brown bear

Thanks everyone for all the great comments. What a range of opinions, all the way from "Are you nuts ? Why don't you just SHUT UP before they drag you away Godfather Style?" to the more supportive "You are more saintly than Joan of Arc,  and it is wasn't so warm up there, I'd stand right next to you on that pile of ridiculous governmental rules and regs books you are burning."

Ok, I paraphrased a bit, but still your comments were great craic, if you think arguing about the higher-ups is fun---and I do. I think the best comment was this (Thank you Carolyn)

  One should absolutely NOT have to be frightened to do things like sell/advertise milk under cover of night just to avoid having the imbibes funded by our tax dollars from destroying your farm and family because of an asinine “law”.

To me THAT is the crux of the matter. Yes, I could be quiet and take advantage of them ignoring me, while continuing to advertise our raw milk, (perhaps in Morse code after the sun goes down) but WHY should I be so afraid of MY government? We elected them. They are supposed to be working for us, with us, not using fear tactics to get us to behave. I have asked repeatedly for information yet still no response. While some of my followers feel I have been overly aggressive, I feel I have been rather lax.

I have yet to write to my representatives, I was trying to give the folks in the Department of Agriculutre and Illinois Department of Public Health  time to respond and I beleive over 6weeks is time enough. So, again I move ahead, chipping away in Shawshank Redemption Style, in hopes of making the tunnel a little bigger for the next person who chooses to crawl out of it.

And in regards to Michael Schmidt's struggle in Canada. His raw milk issues are huge and long standing. So much more complicated than ours. Theirs laws are different than ours and my little battle here over just ONE aspect, the ability to advertise our raw milk sales, just can't be compared to Michael's. Other than he and I are both fighting for the absolute right to make a living from our farm products, we are chalk and cheese. He is however, my own hero in regards to what he is willing to sacrifice for his own freedoms. I too am literally willing to go to jail over this. I doubt very much it will ever come to that, the headlines too damaging. "Local Yaya goes to jail for advertising her farms raw milk in the Livingston County Shopping News" Film at 11.

My point is, this is not about just raw milk. Our standing up for the right to run ads in the paper, put signs up in town, post on blogs, publish articles in magazines, is about my right to make a living as a farmer without some every-two-weeks-paid-salary-with-my-tax-money uninformant telling me that I cannot tell you

RAW MILK FOR SALE $5 a GALLON

bring your own container to

South Pork Ranch LLC

32796 E 750 N. Rd

Chatsworth, Illinois

815-635-3414