My open letter to Gov. officials re; the Rawesome Raid

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the California Franchise Tax Board; the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Milk and Dairy Food Safety Branch and the department’s Division of Measurement Standards; the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office; the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the Ventura County Department of Public Health; the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety.
I was deeply disturbed to read that your office contributed in the arrest three people on charges of "illegally producing, selling unpasteurized milk" on August 3, 2011.

http://da.co.la.ca.us/mr/080311a.htm

I do completely understand and acknowledge a need for oversight and regulation, yet I am stunned to see videos of both the raids at Rawesome one on Aug 3, 2011 and one on June 30,2010 - in particular the presence of a SWAT team with guns drawn. I was disheartened to see that not only was the raw milk products in question confiscated but, also their coconuts, watermelon, bison - essentially all of the goods at Rawesome. I would like to understand why your office found that necessary? From what I understand, there were no reports of anyone ever having been sick as a result of any of these food items. If there was harm done, as in the turkey meat recall from Cargill, then they should be under the same type of investigation However, your office or other authorities never went in to Cargill with guns drawn.

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/125619/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW00OqtQyqw


It is my communal understanding that in the state of California, raw milk is legal and that cow and goat shares have not been identified as illegal. Rawesome is a private club that allows members to purchase raw milk and sign a form stating they take full responsibility. It is absurd that your authorities arrest the owners of this club as if they were murderers charging them with an astronomical amount of $123,000 for bail.

I ask this most earnestly -- is it illegal, in the state of California, for a group of people to communally purchase a herd of goats or cows, and to pay a farmer to keep the animals on their farms and to milk them for the owner's consumption? If it is illegal, would you direct me to that law on the books?

I would truly appreciate a response.