Where was the blue bus? 
Dear Members:
As you probably already know, the Tuesday Blue Bus did not make it to Toronto this morning. We did load it and we did attempt to leave the Farm at 8 a.m. as usual, but such was not to be. At the end of the laneway, the bus was surrounded by a swarm of armed Ministry of Natural Resources officers approaching from all directions. They presented Michael with a search warrant and, for the next seven and a half hours, investigators searched, questioned . . . and searched and questioned some more.
 
The six of us who were on the Farm gathered in the kitchen and there we stayed for the duration, each visit to other areas of the house or outdoors only permitted if accompanied by an officer. Two investigators from the Ministry of Finance also arrived and spent several hours in the office, eventually leaving with one computer hard drive, its monitor and keyboard, back-up CDs and boxes of paper files. The investigating officers were very polite, respectful and, somewhat surprised, it seemed, at our friendliness and cooperation.
The Farm crew were, as always, paragons of cool and good humour, although there were those among us who did bemoan the fact that we had no cultured milk for our cereal or cream for our coffee. Every last bottle was on the bus and, having been confiscated, off limits! But, then, there was Michael being questioned while he was filming his interrogators and his son Markus filming it all behind him. Talk about cool! And so the milk and the processing equipment are gone . . . and we await whatever . . . trusting that, together, we may bring some element of sanity to the current situation that does not permit consumers who have done their homework the right to make informed choices concerning their food and how it is produced.
 
We want very much to express our hearfelt appreciation to all of you who have called and are thinking of us and, of course, we very much regret not being able to "get through" to provide you with your week's supplies. We did our best to spread the word from the confines by which we were restricted. Fortunately, we were able to notify the media, some of whom were on the spot very quickly, followed by others throughout the day. We have now been advised that this afternoon a new association for Free Choice in Quality Food has been formed. Its first purpose being to support the Farm by means of an education campaign and fund-raising. A good way to end an otherwise challenging (and somewhat ludicrous) day.
On behalf of everyone at Glencolton Farms, I thank you for being with us. We will do our best to keep you informed . . .
Beverley Viljakainen
Glencolton Farms
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead
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And we call it democracy! Bah!