Lake View Natural Dairy (LVND) will continue its four-plus year fight against the state of Minnesota when its attorney, Zenas Baer, presents verbal arguments in the St. Paul Judicial Center, room 100, in the Minnesota Court of Appeals on November 16 at 9:30 a.m.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has been pursuing this case since January 2013 when they learned that LVND owners David and Heidi Berglund were operating Lake View Natural Dairy on Maple Hill, and suspected them of selling unpasteurized/raw milk products to consumers.
The state contends that Lake View Natural Dairy undergo inspection to ensure its products are fit for human consumption. But David Berglund has argued, among other things, that his constitutional rights are being violated, citing a law enacted by the Minnesota Legislature in 1906 that allows a farmer to sell his farm products without a license.
LVND is open seven days a week 24 hours of the day. Customers come to the small milk house and purchase raw/unpasteurized milk, skim milk, cream, yogurt, butter, or vegetables (when in season) or homemade cookies, putting their payment for the products into a tin can.
While the two sides have argued in court many times, the Minnesota Court of Appeals is one of the last steps to reaching the Minnesota Supreme Court where this case is likely headed.
The Berglunds’ legal battles have been costly, far outweighing any money they make from selling their products at the farm. To pay for their legal help, the Organic Consumer’s Association (which is located in Finland, Minnesota) has set up The Farm-to-Consumer-Legal Defense Fund for Lake View Natural Dairy.
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