In his satirical novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell wrote,
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
George Orwell was right – some animals are more equal than
others.
Take Mark Baker's Mangalitsa Hogs, for instance; raised on
their family farm in Marion called Bakers Green Acres. The Baker hogs are
definitely more equal than their pink, cookie-cutter consistent counterparts
who are raised just as equal as one another; sometimes in dreary, Orwellian
quarters known on some commercial farms as Concentrated Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFO). That's an example of a CAFO above. Total animal
equality. No pig first among his peers.
But Baker's Heritage Hogs, raised from birth to slaughter on
the farm, enjoy the pasture life as "dirt pigs."
According to the description on the Bakers Green Acres web site, they are finished with special diets including grains and even acorns, which makes their meat desirable to foodies and chefs. In fact, some of them rely on the pasture raised, carefully fed end product to make specialty foods like sausage or prosciutto.
According to the description on the Bakers Green Acres web site, they are finished with special diets including grains and even acorns, which makes their meat desirable to foodies and chefs. In fact, some of them rely on the pasture raised, carefully fed end product to make specialty foods like sausage or prosciutto.
It was at one of these establishments that serves up Baker's specialty pork
recently that the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) questioned a packaging issue with one of Baker’s products.
recently that the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) questioned a packaging issue with one of Baker’s products.
That led to the issuing of a search warrant, signed on Dec.
17 by Missaukee County District Judge Audrey Van Alst. Around 9:30 a.m., Baker
said representatives from MDARD, the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), and Michigan State Police Troopers arrived at his property to execute
the search warrant.
Baker said that the warrant gave them the authority to take
photos and copy records; size food in violation of the food law; and take any
other action as is deemed necessary to follow the food law.
The reason given on the warrant was that, because of the
alleged problem that MDARD had with packaging, they were searching for food
“found to be suspected to be adulterated, misbranded, a nuisance, or a risk to
the public.”
But let’s be honest here: The problem isn’t in the
packaging; the problem is with Mark Baker.
Mark, who is retired from the United States Air Force, has
been farming Bakers Green Acres for more than a decade now, with the help of
his wife, Jill, and their eight children. It is truly a family operation. It's
their livelihood - for now.
But sadly, a few years ago, the jackhammer of bureaucratic
skullduggery began to chink away at the Bakers' way of life, thanks to the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
In 2010, the DNR issued an Invasive Species Order
prohibiting "feral swine."
It went into effect on April 1, 2012. The section which the DNR contends applies to the Bakers' pigs specifically prohibits the possession of any of the following live species:
It went into effect on April 1, 2012. The section which the DNR contends applies to the Bakers' pigs specifically prohibits the possession of any of the following live species:
"Wild boar, wild hog, wild swine, feral pig, feral hog,
feral swine, Old world swine, razorback, eurasian wild boar, Russian wild boar
(sus scrofa Linnaeus). This subsection does not and is not intended to affect
sus domestica involved in domestic hog production."
We had a state department (DNR) that appears to be breaching
the levy of its authority in the name of "public safety"; and
agricultural special interests appear to be supporting that same overreach that
exerts certain force over farm animals on private land (while being careful not
to affect "hog production" - for some producers, of course).
That’s
how Mark Baker ended up fighting that department over his farm animals, even
being fined $10,000 per each pig (to the tune of $700,000).
But
why?
Why should Mark Baker have been made to give up his property - his livelihood, his Heritage pigs - by order of a rogue band of bureaucrats who wrote their own definitions of feral and domestic based on so-called "scientific" data?
His
land was certainly not public domain. His animals are quite healthy, very
marketable, and live under the husbandry of humans; and unlike these beasts off
the leash from the DNR, seem largely uninterested in busting through fences
into territory where they aren't meant to go.
He shouldn't. And as The People, we should be deeply offended and gravely concerned when our rights are so blatantly disregarded.
The
DNR, using their own authority to add or delete species as restricted or
prohibited, through the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, Act
451 of 1994 [324.410302(1)], somehow used the prohibition of feral pigs to
cross that bridge from forest to farm; from wildlife to livestock.
But since these bureaucrats are unelected and unaccountable to The
People, what do we do when they breach the levies of their authority?
The DNR should have no jurisdiction over private property at
any time. They should have no jurisdiction over any animals other than those
that are wild and live on state land at any time. Livestock is off limits. However,
because they defined "feral" and "domesticated" for the
purpose of enforcing their order, they have found a way to exert control over
private property and what might better be defined as "livestock."
Several years after Mark’s lengthy legal battle, the
Attorney General’s office dropped the case against them, saying that their hogs
were “compliant.”
(Nothing changed, by the way.)
So here we are again, with the Baker family again under
scrutiny by some alphabet soup quasi-governmental agencies – and make no
mistake my friends, Baker’s scrutiny is no coincidence. Many people believe
it’s because Mark Baker chose to do what others did not: Fight.
Following discussion outside Baker’s home, the
representatives from MDARD and USDA left without a search. There’s still time,
of course – according to the warrant, Mark says, officials have from 8 a.m. to
8 p.m. for three days from the date that the warrant was signed to execute that
search.
According to Mark, it’s important to point out that although
he’s faced issues with these state agencies over the years, there’s one group
that’s remained professional and courteous: The Michigan State Police.
“The policemen that came – they were nice,” he said. “I have
appreciated their professionalism through this thing. Every single one of them
has been good to me.”
So what happens next? Will the warrant be executed? We’ll
keep you updated as we know more details.