A family in northeast Ohio is rejoicing today after a judge has ordered the government to return their food to their home.  It was almost a year ago, in December of 2008, that the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorain County General Health District raided the Stowers home in Lagrange, Ohio.  Officers, dressed in S.W.A.T gear, swarmed their small family farm searching for food they believed was being sold unlawfully.

I have been reporting and following this story since April of this year.  Today is a small victory for the Stowers family and for Ohioans individual rights to eat food they feel is healthy and all-natural.  The Stowers family operates a private food co-op supplying food to their neighbors that is near impossible to find at local grocers.  Their story is told here; but, the issue of a persons right to grow and sell their own food is what is at the heart of the story.

This year The Food Modernization Act became a threat to some of those rights. The Stowers and the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law have won one battle in the fight for an individuals right to choose where their food comes from.

After a year of holding the Stowers food the government is being ordered to hand deliver it back to the Stowers home where it was originally seized. Key questions remain though; including whether or not the food is still safe to eat. According to the Lorain County General Health District and the Ohio Department of Agriculture, all of the food that was seized has been properly held in freezers. If this is the case the food should still be edible. But after nearly a year passing by, you can only wonder how edible it truly will be.  If the Stowers find the food to not be edible they will seek compensation in court.  So, while the answer to “Where is the food?” has finally been answered; others questions still remain.

The amount of force used while the sheriff’s department raided the home is a concern to not only the Stowers family but to the community as a whole. In several interviews people voiced their concern for the way the raid was handled, especially since young children were involved.

This case is about a persons right to choose where they obtain the food they eat and provide for their families.  Some choose to go to bigger grocery stores with lots of government oversight; other prefer to meet the farmers growing their vegetables and feeding their animals.  Whichever side you are on should not matter.  We live in a country were we have personal freedoms.  Freedom to choose the type of food we eat is certainly one of them.  The Stowers case may be very specific, but, driving through rural Ohio and many other parts of this country you can see they are not alone.  Many people have their own chickens, grown their own gardens, and pick their own fruit; the Stowers are fighting for every one of those people in Ohio and throughout the country.

The final decision in Stowers case has not been reached yet.  The family will continue their fight in court later this month.  Details on the case can be found on here.