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The ‘Lemon Tree Lady’ Speaks Out About USDA Threats Over TREE
Actual 'menace to society'
When life hands you a lemon tree, the USDA takes it away! And don’t even think of making lemonade with any more trees – they’ll take those too.
A special HFA interview with Bridget Donovan, aka “The Lemon Tree Lady,” USDA’s Most Wanted. Or rather, her little beloved lemon tree was. Last week, we reported the story of the USDA demanding her tree three years after a quarantine, but the real USDA mode of operation is in the details below - we can’t make this stuff up!
Did you know she was facing fines up to $60,000 and a federal raid if she did not comply? (Remember the USDA’s $4 million dollar bunnies?) They invaded her privacy, tracked her down through her purchases, and sternly warned they would get that tree one way or another. It appears she is on a “citrus watch list.”
Please read the details below – it will help you if you ever face such a situation. Bridget was no pushover – she did her very best to keep her tree and we wanted to know more. The USDA knows that most people will crumble under such threats and don’t have the funds to fight. And just how far is someone willing to go over a lemon tree?
Thanks to “The Lemon Tree Lady,” we know that scores of others face similar situations and that the USDA spies on our purchases, yards, and even into windows! This is by their own admission. Find out below what happened when people purchased new lemon trees that were compliant.
Most of our readers will detect that this was not an issue of environmental safety – her personal tree was healthy and posed no danger. The USDA wouldn’t even allow for that – they destroyed it and disrupted Bridget’s life. This is a matter of force and personal property. They think they have the authority to watch and revisit people to try to catch them in a lie (for instance, if they say their trees died).
Does anyone know of the right department to contact about this? Please share this incredible story with friends and family. All emphasis below is HFA’s.
Special thanks to Bridget for graciously sharing her story with us! Please leave her some kind words and support below.
So what happened? What exactly did the USDA want from you? Why was your lemon tree on a terrorist hit list?
I will start from the beginning.
Three years ago, I read an article in the local newspaper about Meyer Lemon Trees. It said how easy they were to grow inside, and how they brightened up the winters with sweet smelling flowers and fruit. I love gardening, my young niece shares my love of gardening, so it seemed the perfect thing to buy. I looked online, and found the company, meyerlemontree.com. It listed the states they could not ship to, and since Wisconsin was not one of them, I felt safe in ordering. It was clearly a big company, and I did not in a million years think anything was wrong in buying from them.
The tree arrived in great shape, and it just took off. My whole family enjoyed the flowers and the sweet smell, and it was very exciting to watch the lemons as they grew. I spent a lot of time on this tree. It clearly paid off because it was a very healthy tree. Then, three years later, out of the blue, I received a letter from the USDA.
It Included a flyer stating that my tree would be seized, I would not be compensated by the government, and that it would be destroyed. The fact sheet also said they verified, with federal law enforcement databases, that I was at the current address. It went on to state that while I would not face any penalties “at this point” if I were found to be in possession of regulated citrus again, I could face a fine of $1100 to $60,000. The letter asked me to call the agent from the USDA to discuss this matter. It stated the issue was with citrus greening and citrus canker.
I truly thought this was a joke, so I looked it up online. I was shocked to discover how many other people had had their trees seized, and many without any warning. The feds just showed up at their doors.
One woman had written that hers was seized, and then she was told by the USDA the replacement tree offered by the company was compliant. Then the USDA turned around and seized that, too. I bring this up because I mentioned it to the USDA officer when I spoke with her (more on that in a moment).
Since this letter arrived on a Saturday, I gave much thought as to what to do. I thought about trying to take it to a friend’s house. I had spent a lot of time and money on this tree, and it upset me that the government could just tell me they were taking it.
However, the tree required a fair amount of attention, and I didn’t want to burden someone else with that, or stick them in the middle of this. I was very angry and upset. I have never had any contact with the federal government, other than the every day things like paying taxes and such, and could not believe a tree purchased legally, three years ago, would elicit this sort of action. I thought about ignoring the letter, but based on others’ experience of having them show up announced, I knew that wouldn’t work, either.
I called the agent Monday, and she explained they had to seize the tree because the company obtained it from a vendor that had gotten it from Florida. However, I never did get a straight answer as to when/if all parts of Florida are quarantined, and how we are to know when they deem that to be. She said they seized my information from the company that sold this tree, and were tracking everyone down. I told her if this was such a threat, I didn’t understand what took three years.
What do you think of the USDA waiting 3 years after the quarantine to demand it back?
That is really what ticks me off the most – it’s not like this tree just arrived, and I was contacted about a problem. This is three years later. If the government thought this was such a risk, it’s doesn’t say much that it took them three years to do anything about it. This officer stated that I could get a replacement tree from the company.
At that point I brought up that I had read that other people had done that, had been assured those were “compliant” trees, and then they were seized. This agent did admit that happened.
I mentioned the fine I was threatened with, and she said it was on a case by case basis, and that they really weren’t going after the consumer. I asked if I got the replacement tree, how was I to know the feds wouldn’t be knocking on my door again in three years, and she said she didn’t know what to tell me. I voiced my disgust with the way in which this flyer was written, and she said it was done by the national USDA PR people and she had no control over that.
I asked if they had a warrant in order to obtain this tree, and she said no.
I asked what would happen if I declined to give it up, and she said no one had ever done that before and she would have to talk to her supervisor. I asked her to do so.
I called back the next day, and she told me that while they were hoping I would voluntarily give up the tree, it wasn’t a choice, it was an order.
I again asked what would happen, and she said she would have someone call me back. A supervisor did, and she told me that they were going to get the tree one or way or the other, and if I refused, they would quarantine it, obtain a warrant, and bring federal law enforcement officers to my house to take the tree.
She told me 2-3 times that If that tree disappeared while it was under quarantine I would be in violation.
What happens if someone informs the USDA that the tree has died – what do they do?
When I pressed her about the time I had had this tree, and what they did if other people said theirs had died, she told me they made repeat visits back, “surveyed” yards, and spotted many in peoples’ front hallways. She told me they wanted this wrapped up that week, and that if I was going to refuse, I had to tell them so they could get going on the quarantine and warrant. Oh, she also mentioned she could count one hand how many times they had to do that sort of thing, as most people relented and gave them their tree.
Did this situation disrupt your life? Did it feel like a violation?
I was so torn. I am not a quitter by nature, but at the same time I did not want my family members to be at home when law enforcement showed up with this warrant to storm in and seize the tree.
I do not have the money, either, to try to fight the government in court (which I did point out to the one agent, that they clearly knew they held up the upper hand). With utter anger I relented, and said I would give it up.
The original agent wouldn’t make an appointment after 3:00, so I had to bring the tree to work. She came into my workplace with a red hazmat bag, but my tree was so big and healthy it didn’t fit, so she took it in my garbage bag. I did snap a picture of her doing so, which I told her I was going to do. I had also contacted our local newspaper the day before, and they did a story on it.
Did you realize at the time that you were basically threatened with a federal raid if you did not comply? Because, you were…
Yes, I did feel threatened with a federal raid. I think being told they were going to get the tree one way or the other leaves little choice.
I felt utterly violated, angry, and upset. I pay my taxes, I obey the law, and this is how I was treated? I did nothing wrong. I would expect these action toward someone running a drug house, not someone who owned a lemon tree.
I don’t know for a fact they had driven by before sending that letter, but it seemed a little odd the supervisor would tell me they “survey” yards looking for the trees.
Do you believe their actions are really motivated by environmental safety?
In my own mind I do not believe they took this tree because of this citrus disease. I am not certainly selfish enough to have wanted to keep a tree if I thought it were a hazard to the nation’s citrus crops.
That disease doesn’t affect humans or animals, according to the literature they sent me. It causes misshapen fruit and yellow leaves, neither of which my tree had. And even if my tree were sick, it had been here three years – it’s a little late for them to be so hysterical over it, especially in the cold climate of Wisconsin.
What did your family and friends think of it? What did they say when you thought you might push harder to keep your tree?
My family and friends were quite shocked. I have heard from quite a number of people who read the article, and it amazes me how afraid people are – they think the government is reading our e-mails, listening to our calls, etc. It is a shame in the land of the free that people have to feel this way.
What would you say to those who stand by the USDA’s heavy actions in the name of environmental safety?
And to those who think it’s not a big deal, I ask them how they will feel when the government decides to seize something they own and value.
Would you do anything differently if it happened again?
I don’t know what what I would do it if I had to do it over again. I would like to think I would push it and demand a warrant as is my right, but I knew the tree was going one way or the other. I pushed and questioned it as best as I did, but in the end, these people, paid with our tax dollars, treated me like a common criminal.
Thanks for asking for the details. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
- No Bridget, THANK YOU
~Health Freedoms
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If we don’t stand for our freedoms, in the name of whatever popular fear the general populace has at the moment the government will slowly take our freedoms away. Bridget, you did an amazing job on your own. But people, don’t let the government act like it is a law unto itself. Find a friend who is an attorney or call legal defense firms that will stand for your rights like The American Center for Law & Justice–www.aclj.org or even (though I hate their politics) the ACLU. The government is starting with the little guy because they have the mistaken belief that they are above the law—DON’T GIVE IN–make them do it legally, through the courts or not at all. It’s like the Nazi’s in Germany, they took the rights from the little people first through seizing their guns, then they took over an entire continent’s liberties. The legal organizations above are their to fight for individual injustices and don’t make you pay. (I doubt the ACLU would protect you because they’re so liberal that they’d buy into the environmentalists propaganda—but just maybe they’d see this as so ridiculous and outrageous that even they would get in the fray). DON’T GIVE UP OUR FREEDOMS ARE WORTH THE FIGHT!!!
Ivp you are so right and it’s unfortunate that most people just give up their rights without a fight. Well I’m a fighter! I would be on a mission to let the whole world know what gangsters they are, daring to infringe on other people’s rights without just cause. I definitely would not have caved so quickly, I would have made them work to get the tree out of my hands. They may think they have the upper hand but one thing they don’t count on is the people who will fight and resist.
I don’t have a lemon tree because I’m not fond of lemons but let them come around my little 5′x8′ garden out back and start messing with my squash and green peas and they’ll have a tiger by the tail.
Besides, they don’t know me….I’m a 75 y/o granny with a temper. And I don’t consider myself among the “little guys”!!!
Seriously though, I don’t know why people become intimidated when they do have recourse. For one thing, the first thing I would have done would have been to call the sheriff in my county and had him come to my aid. Even federal agents have NO authority over a County sheriff, but most people are unaware of that fact. Go to Sheriff Mack’s website and read all about the power of the local sheriff. In fact it would be a good thing for anyone to contact their local sheriff’s office and ask him if he would protect you in such a case. I realize there are some sheriffs who are liberal minded and wouldn’t want to rock the boat, but a sheriff has no choice but to come to the aid of their citizens, so at least that’s one recourse not to be ignored.
People do not realize how useless and a waste of tax payer dollars a regulatory agency is until they are forced to deal with them. They run these agencies off tax payer dollars and then never, I repeat NEVER comply with the law. I want the USDA, the FDA shut down along with other useless agencies. They have proven to be nothing more then power brokers to mighty corporate entities and the Oligarchs who control the majority of our elected officials. The leaders of these agencies are absolute idiots and the employees who comply to these criminals leading them are weak. We are dealing with a regulatory agency right now. They are using endless amounts of California tax paying dollars to break a small business that is innocent of wrong doing. They hire unscrupulous lawyers willing to bury the other party in paperwork thus driving up the costs. Hey people, who can’t sue these agencies for damages. The law was created in the United States of America to silence the people.
A quick check of this company shows that they have a history of sending out contaminated trees. Living in Florida where citrus production is a major business and lively hood for many I and understand the need to eradicate plants that may be a diseased, even if it appears healthy. Think of it like a computer virus that sands an email to everyone in your address book, and to everyone in the receivers address book and so on. While some may not think there one little email is a problem, until you can step back and look at the bigger picture. What would happen to the price of citrus along with any product made from it if orchards were wiped out. How many years would it take to recover and at what cost? I am do not support strong arm tactics of government, but we also must look at these things from a larger standpoint and not form ‘my little tree isn’t hurting anyone’ either.
A healthy tree in Wisconsin that spends much of the year inside is going to harm the FL citrus industry exactly how?
I am so sorry you had to experience this disappointing abuse of power that further undermines the credibility of government.
They are doing this in places where they can get away with it, but I think it is going to catch up to them.
If the governmental agencies truly, honestly cared about the
environment and our health and wellness THEY would eliminate:
pesticides, RgBH, growth hormones in animals, vaccinations,
chemtrails, fluoride and chlorine in our water systems, Genetically Engineered crops of all kinds, Monsanto, corporate greed, politicians who work for their party and campaign contributors (not citizens), and create the FDA and USDA to be honest agencies that support the health anf rights of every citizen.
Its’ amazing how efficient and thorough the Government can be when it wants to be, and what an incredible wasteful invasive fascist mess
it can be otherwise. One example is the incredible time and effort put into justifying, creating, and maintaining wars for so many years.
Billions and billions of dollars and thousands of citizens and dead soldiers are wasted to pretend to create ‘peace’. Use those funds and soldiers to create better housing for the poor, a functional educational system,an organic food system, and rebuild this country and the world so all of us have a sane place to live…..namaste’, rachel
These stories of government authorities ruining the lives of law abiding citizens is quite frightening really. The same things are happening in Canada as well.
I dont know how to stop this. Apart from a revolution what can a person do? People in Canada have gone to court and used all of their life savings to no avail.
It seems ‘they’ want to control our lives not only from birth to death but every waking and sleeping hour.
Our countries in North America came into being because of the repressive regimes in Europe and now it seems it is reverting to that…..we want our freedoms and we should keep fighting — thank goodness for social networking – at least it informs people about what is happening as unbelieveable as it is. This has nothing to do with lemon trees – it has to do with controlling every inch of our lives!
Let me start by saying that I believe the USDA to be a corrupt organization who stand behind Big Pharma and Big Agra. However, when 3 of our trees from Meyer were confiscated, I totally understood the need to keep diseases from spreading. They had been sickly since purchase, and I was glad to have them taken by someone my husband couldn’t argue with. The agent was polite and helpful – no threats were ever made. I don’t believe that they track everyone’s purchases – what a stupid waste that would be. But what better way to find the illegal trees than to go thru Meyer’s records?
My problem now is that Meyer refuses to refund my money? The number that the USDA agent gave me worked at first, but now it’s very difficult to get through. I spoke to someone at that number back in June who promised us a refund, but we never got it. Can you provide me the number of Meyer’s owner or CEO?
Actually, the people are right. The government IS reading our emails and listening to our phone calls at any time they wish. You will not be informed that it is taking place.
I am endlessly horrified about what has happened to democracy in North America.
The end result of what the FED is doing is called conditioned reflexes. The goal of those who control the mental robots who are, “just following orders” is to condition you and everyone who hears of your situation to acquiesce to the will of an overwhelming tyrannical force. With enough repeated conditioning a large number of people can, against their conscious will, be conditioned to equate and accept force as authority. This subject is well covered in a Russian textbook that was reprinted and renamed “Brainwashing” by former American Communist Kenneth Goff.
Some years ago Tom Silver, an expert in stage and clinical hypnosis said that, “The American people are now more hypnotized than were the Germans under Hitler.” I asked him “How can we reach people with reason and logic when they have already been hypnotized?” Incidentally Pavlov, and others in the field of mind control, said that conditioned reflexes and hypnosis are the same!
The EPA is equally and intimidating and disturbing as the USDA. To condense the story: The EPA demanded removal of two empty, antiquated gas tanks, underground, on the same property as our business. After meetings and threats we relented and removed tanks. Afterwhich the EPA demanded that an inspector test the soil. It took them one month to take sample, meanwhile yellow tape surrounded a massive hole, adding a liability, and then it rained. Their inspector came out and became agitated when he saw water in the hole! (rain will do that) After several phone calls to his office, they told einstein to just get a sample of the dirt. We waited another two weeks for a report that would allow us to fill the hole in. All tests came back normal with no leeching from tanks. This is the irony: There is a blacktop road that winds around the property and heads along the river road. We were informed that there was more harmful material leeching from the blacktop into the soil and carried to the river than those two empty tanks that were dormant for years. Hmmm, the EPA didn’t remove the road. We realized it was just their way of milking our cash register. The blacktop road is still there 25 years later. Their arrogance and condesending attitudes were unnecessary and definitely un-American. I salute Bridget for her courageous stand against the government. I believe a test could have been taken with the bark or leaves to determine if any disease was present. This improper trespassing on your property was uncalled for. They are overstepping their authority and use a badge to do it. All a precursor to the implementation of Homeland Security, which is violating every right of privacy we ever had.
This is so absurd and insane it should be comical. What in the world is going on in America? How did the people of this country somehow become the ‘enemy within’? Is this paranoia in overdrive or some zealous control freakish virus that is spreading in the ranks of government officials?
The upset that we all feel when we read this type of story (and there are MANY of them out there) is, quite simply, the conflict inside ourselves between what we thought was true and what we now see is the real case. We have been raised to think that we have a benevolent and representative government. We see that we do not have such a government. Our old ideas, our comfortable ideas, are dying, and we experience anguish. We see that we do not live in 1960 Mayberry, but rather in post-Constitutional America.
Here is the truth of it, metaphorically. Metaphorically, the lemon lady was being raped, and the assailant had a knife to her throat. The best response in that situation is not to resist — because she had no way to resist, not at the time. Now that it is over, she needs to prepare herself mentally and physically for the time that the same people (or their brothers-in-arms) come back. She needs to educate her children and friends about how things are.
Folks, I’m asking for help contacting Meyer, since they answer neither the email address on their web site nor their phone. Does anyone know how to reach the owners/managers?
@Rachel G
Couldn’t have said it better myself. The fed doesn’t care about our environment, their only concern is protecting big agra and big pharma along with corrupt corporations.
Why not demand that Meyerlemon that sold you the tree give you another of equal size to the one that was confiscated, or get the money to buy one from another company that isn’t shipping out contaminated trees? Another post says this company mails out contaminated trees on a regular basis so why not make their life miserable since it’s NOT the USDA ultimately that caused this misery? Go after meyerlemon.com . Even better, have the USDA write a letter for you, that’s just as intimidating to Meyerlemon, as they were to you? You admit that it took a lot of work to maintain your lemon tree. Now think about a whole, dead, orchard of them. Diseases stay in the plant and soil for years so I’m not surprised that they would still pursue this after 3 years.
I used to ride my horse through miles of citrus orchards until one day the owner said not to. Why? The dust rising from the hooves and settling onto the leaves, brushing by one diseased tree then riding to another orchard, or the hooves transporting pathogens through the soil, is all it takes for a world of hurt for the farmer. And potted plants come with soil which is another bag of worms for plant diseases as well.
I am sorry about your lost tree. I tried growing one indoors recently and it died so I know it takes a lot of work. Ironically, if your tree was thriving and it had the disease, the USDA may have missed the boat in destroying a disease resistant tree that could be used in future orchards. They should have tested the trees or allowed the owners the option of doing so if the tree was already isolated. I’d have to research citrus greening and cankor to know how contagious they are. And they have no idea where you might be in this global traveling society today. There are plenty of examples of plant diseases traveling overseas so just because it’s isolated in Wisconsin still doesn’t make it safe.
I’m not condoning the heavy handed tactics taken by the USDA. In fact, if you look at my own ‘internet history’ or facebook you can see I regularly proselytize the masses against such things.
That being said… people you need to google citrus canker. This is a very serious disease which lemons are highly susceptible to. Despite the fact it’s an indoor tree, exposure can happen on a number of levels. One infestation/outbreak in the US back in the early part of the century took over 20 years to eliminate! As it is the last policy regarding infected citrus trees of this nature is to kill the tree and ALL OTHER CITRUS TREES WITHIN 1900 FEET OF IT. That’s how serious this thing is. It’s very hard to get rid of and easy to spread. Especially with lemon plants!
Meyer didn’t do their due diligence with following local, state, and federal ordinances (which can be a pain but in this case actually served a purpose) and as such the end user was slapped with a shot in the face saying “Give us the tree or your wallet gets it.” The fact is that meyer is the one who dropped the ball here. They either didn’t know or didn’t bother to care about what they needed to do to sell these trees safely (and yes – there are ways to do that). The federal government was unfortunately doing what we pay them to do. To overwatch a potential threat to the food supply and then act like an overzealous security guard when they had to actually remove these things from the mainstream. Please understand that I completely disagree with the USDA’s actions on a number of levels in this case and many others. But this wasn’t just some blind “hey let’s steal a bunch of fruit trees from the poor, downtrodden small folk”. This was a “let’s stop a disease outbreak before it can happen and possibly threaten our food supply.”
K,
You can get a email response from meyer at their contact webpage.
I was told by the USDA agent that meyer is approved to replaced the trees.
They apologized as they too were surprised by the confiscations.
They sent me an email that allowed me to reorder my replacement tree. I was told that since this problem vendor they used they have had all their vendors approved by the USDA. They told me to keep my USDA approved tags that come on the tree with the tree Forever. This is so if there is ever a re-inspection by the USDA there would be no questions.
“A healthy tree in Wisconsin that spends much of the year inside is going to harm the FL citrus industry exactly how?”
Can you guarantee that she will never move? Can you guarantee that she will never sell the plant? That she will never sell the fruit? That no one would ever get one of the seeds?
I may not agree with the tactics but one persons right to keep a Lemon tree can not be put above the safety of the entire us citrus crop. The government can’t be in the business of testing each tree, if it comes from a batch of contaminated trees it has to be destroyed.
Again, I think their tactics are bad and I hate it for the woman who had invested so much time and effort into raising the tree but this is one of those “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” moments. We so easily forget history, but there was a time when crops were ravaged by disease because of people bringing in diseased plants from other countries. There were food shortages and people died. When you walk into a grocery store and it is always stocked with whatever you want you need to think about that the these laws, while not always fun, are what allow that to happen.
The repeated references to the rest of the article (‘in the details below’, ‘Please read the details below’, ‘Find out below what happened’) and the rambling delivery of the introduction are going to annoy people instead if intrigue them into reading the rest of the article. Just state the facts clearly and concisely and get on with it.
Let us all pause for a moment and consider how many raving bureaucrats would need to be tarred and feathered each year to keep the others in line. I’m guessing a mere handful would suffice.
Welcome to U卐A
Well… one way to get around this is to grow your own. Buy a lemon at the grocery store… take a seed (or two) and stick it in the ground. I have 2 small citrus trees growing in a flower pot right now and the only way to tell what they are is to crumble the leaves and smell the DELICIOUS ODOR ! I think one is a grapefruit and one is a lemon or lime but not sure which.
These should be in compliance with everyone as it hasn’t come from any outside source other than the actual lemon. But who knows for sure?
The Government has gotten TOTALLY out of control with issues of our property. They want to know everything from what we eat to what kind of toilet paper we use. Next thing is they’ll come in and survey how we wipe our bottoms. grrrrrr
I am INSULTED and OFFENDED, but unless I’m Muslim, the government doesn’t care…
Becca
I What an awful situation.
Great article.
Why not please include the names of the USDA agents – along with their office address and phone numbers.
USDA is financed by our tax dollars. All taxpayers have an obligation (not just a right) to know exactly USDA is doing with the money that we gave them.
For example, since USDA has offices all over the world, one zealous agent can cause a lot of diplomatic problems for all Americans.
“JOB CREATION SCAM”
I very much doubt this has much to do with protecting the citrus industry, a more probable explanation is that the USDA, aware that government spending is tight these days, and USDA officials are in line for redundancy, have come up with a ‘scam’. Because the Citrus Department is very likely to be downsized in the near future, they are deploying the standard tactic of creating unnecessary work for themselves in order to fool the auditors that they are too busy to lose staff.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Information Hotline: (202) 720-2791
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Give these guys a piece of your mind.
Solitary trees don’t blight the forest, MONOCULTURE is the source of these disease problems and they know it!
That’s terrible! I do think that this situation could have been handled a little better. I think it could have been sufficed to test the tree instead of confiscating it if the tree was looking healthy and you’ve had it for 3 years, obviously there was nothing wrong with it. But, I also understand that tree sickness’s are hard to control.
you could have taken cuttings from the tree before they took it and you could have still had a part of your tree. I would not think they would know you did that since they only wanted the tree. Then in 3 more years you would have had another beautiful tree.
I am very sorry to hear about your problem i would have fought them harder and made them struggle more to get the tree. just to piss them off.
Sorry about your tree but from other information, it seems to have been taken to prevent the loss of a loss to the lemon industry. You should read all the presidential orders that take away all our freedoms. In an emergency, everything you own can be taken without any way to give recovery of value, even your food and water! The way to take your lemon tree began in 1940 and wound up in the Supreme Court. Please go here and read what happened. I think you will be as shocked as I was.
http://www.naturalnews.com/030799_food_freedom_Wickard_vs_Filburn.html
Are any of you aware of what can happen if a plant that has a specific disease is moved to another area where it didn’t exist previously?
Complete and utter devastation of whatever impacted plant.
You’re talking about “freedom” because some woman has to give up her lemon tree–a lemon tree that came from a nursery that was contaminated. And you’re all acting like this is the second coming of Hitler.
Well, you tell it to people who make their living off of citrus trees. Ask them if this woman’s “freedom” to own a diseased tree outweighs their need to stay in business.
Then maybe you’ll all realize this foolish woman is just after her 15 minutes of fame, and you’re all so caught up in your indignation to realize there’s a reason why diseased trees have to be found and destroyed.
http://saveourcitrus.org/
I understand why the tree owners are angry but they should be angry at the people who sold them the tree not the government.
What if your neighbor had a cat that carried tuberculosis or small pox or something that could infect people? Would you want to protect their freedoms or your own health? I think the country has a right to protect it’s farms from infectious diseases.
Hi Folks… Learn your rights..
The United States exists in two forms: The original United States that was in operation until 1860; a collection of sovereign Republics in the union. Under the original Constitution the States controlled the Federal Government; the Federal Government did not control the States and had very little authority.
read more http://www.republicfortheunitedstates.org/
To say that these regs. are what keep the stores full of fruits and veggies is funny. What keeps the shelves full are the herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and plant engineering\mutation. I read a study awhile back, sorry no link, that it takes almost 10times the amount of raw spinach today to get the equal nutrition as it did in the 50′s. This goes for all agriculture to some degree.
If someone from the government tried to take anything of mine without a warrant, I would introduce them to my Mossberg. If you ain’t got a warrant, COME AND TAKE IT.
Shelly, I respect your right to your opinion, but I can assure you I am neither “foolish” nor after 15 minutes of fame. This is the first time I have ever had a story done about anything in my life, and I will be very happy to never have anything occur again.
Before you are so quick to pass judgment, the USDA did not know for a fact the tree even came from a contaminated area, nor did they know it was sick. It exhibited none of the symptoms, and would not allow testing. And since I had owned it for three years, it couldn’t have been too urgent a matter if it took them that long to do anything about it. They were just seizing all of them, and then went back and seized some of the replacement trees, after assuring people those were acceptable to own.
So, please, don’t be so harsh on people when you don’t have your facts straight.
Hey bet they are reading the comments looking for all you lemon tree owners
So much for the “change”
The biggest stand people can make for their freedom is not accepting monetized debt ie. FEDERAL RESERVE(a private bank) NOTES as money.
Also learn the difference between public and private law, and look in a legal dictionary the definition of PERSON, statutes and CITIZEN.
I’m not sure why people are getting so bothered by the possibility of a lemon tree disease when the entire country is infected with GMOs – which are going to devastate a lot more than lemons, and there will likely be no recovery from that one.