Recently I wrote about the August 19, 2019 suicide of farmer/grain broker Randy Constant of Chillicothe, Missouri. Constant had been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his part in the many years-long massive fraud of marketing and selling grains reported to be “organic” when they were apparently “conventional,” non-organic grains. These corn and soybeans were then sold as cattle and chicken feeds; secondary products like meat and eggs were then sold to consumers as pricey “organic meat, eggs and etc.”
Federal officials have termed this case THE LARGEST ORGANIC FOOD FRAUD CASE IN U.S. HISTORY. Constant’s federal case number is 18 CR 2034. You can read the indictment for yourself.
Three additional farmers from Nebraska were also found guilty in this case; their indictments are 18 CR 2058, 59 and 60. The feds say that more indictments are coming. Rather than “man up” and go to the federal pen, Constant took a lesson from pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and instead reportedly committed suicide. Other than me, hardly any other entities have reported about this massive food fraud. Do you wonder why?
The “organic” food industry is approximately a 45 BILLION DOLLAR per year industry. That is some serious coin. Don’t be naïve. Do you think that the many politically connected agricultural interests in the country want any bad publicity about that “golden goose”? Of course not! Why else do you think that this investigation has received scant publicity?
These agriculture lobbies know that, in general, the American public is not very bright and that if this is kept quiet, it will soon go away and many thousands of American consumers will continue to spend BILLLIONS of dollars on these products.
For too many folks, it seems that a higher level of education and “awareness” is in parallel with a higher level of dimwittedness. A high percentage of the population is like a large school of small bluegills in a farm pond. They will race to gobble up that worm, only to be deeply hooked.
From what I have been able to learn, for the most part the “organic” food industry relies on voluntary compliance. Sure, there is something called the National Organic Program administered by the USDA. You do your own reading about that entity. There may also be a federal program employing thousands of bureaucrats that regulates the tear strength of toilet paper torn from the roll by a left-handed, one-legged transgender blind man sitting on a ADA approved and certified low flush commode in an either-sex public bathroom.
Someone has to protect the American consumer, dontchaknow?
I know a little bit about bee keeping. I performed an experiment . I placed a poster of Mo, Larry and Curley below the entry hole on several hives. The honey bees seem to hover a bit, looking at the poster, before entering the hive. Those bees seem “happier” than the bees entering a regular hive.
The honey they produce is tastier than regular honey; trust me, I can tell. So, I am going to charge 50% more for this honey and call it “stooge honey.” The only “stooges” will be the consumers who fall for this line of bull excrement and voluntarily part with their monies. It’s similar to those toothpaste commercials; “Use product XX and you will have 43% fewer cavities.” Really? 43% fewer that what, or whom? How did you test that? You want fewer cavities? Watch what you eat and drink. Brush your teeth several times per day and use (government tested) dental floss. Gee, and to think, I do not have a PHD in food science (but I did attend U. of I. College of Dentistry decades ago).
Listen, do what you want. Purchase and consume what you want. If you believe in “buying organic,” then continue to do so. It is still a (somewhat) free society.
I have a tin foil-lined ‘fix-climate-change’ “organic” straw hat developed to protect you from hurricanes and a plague of locusts that I’ll sell to you, cash only. They’re on the shelf next to the “stooge honey.”
Heck, the day may come when someone using SNAP or any other government food program may be mandated to purchase “organic” products. Tie that in with Section 8 housing subsidies, “free” government health care, along with the soon to be coming ‘National ID Card.” Some simple tweaking of barcodes can accomplish wonders.
The next huge scam coming will be in the legalized hemp, recreational marijuana and cbd (cannabidiol) craze. This will far exceed the $45 BILLION dollar “organic food” industry. Just wait…you will see.
Bribing the right bureaucrat, hiring retired public officials as lobbyists and making timely political campaign contributions can accomplish wonders…just keep quiet about it. It’s the American Way.
‘Rantin Rich’ Gurka
