The film will be shown Saturday, Sept 10 at 4:30 p.m. at the Ojai Theatre, 145 W. Ojai Ave. by the Ventura County chapter of the nonprofit Weston A. Price Foundation.

“The film was shown in Santa Barbara and people in the audience were shocked,” said Joanie Blaxter, co-leader of the Foundation’s local chapter. “The issue of irresponsible government intervention with our small family farms is finally breaking wide open.”

Blaxter, who became involved after improving her own health with raw milk, is one of a growing number of local food enthusiasts angered by the government bureaucracy preventing consumers from being able to purchase food direct from the farmer.

According to Blaxter, educated consumers nationwide are driving demand for alternatives to agri-business products “at the same time that the independent farmers who can provide that food are being strangled out of business by unnecessary regulations and sometimes violent government intervention.”

“The Ojai showing will be a fundraiser for the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund,” said Blaxter, whose organization will donate the proceeds. “The Fund was established to give free legal advice to any member - farmer or consumer.”

“This film is about our civil and consumer food rights,” said Blaxter, “and farm families harmed by the overreach of government and food safety legislation.”

The film was made by Kristin Canty, a mother of four who wanted to maintain her own access to fresh, raw milk. The film tells the stories of farmers across the country, one of whom is local Santa Paula farmer Sharon Palmer, of Healthy Family Farm.

Palmer partnered with Los Angeles based “Rawesome,” a private buying club whose members owned the goats Palmer boarded. Palmer contracted to provide the members with milk and cheese from their own goats. Why and how Palmer and Rawesome were raided by food safety agents is only one of the startling points of the film.
The film called “an eye-popping wake-up call “ by the LA Times also features interviews with Mark McAfee, owner of the Fresno based, certified raw cow milk dairy, Organic Pastures, available locally, and sustainable farming icon, Joel Salatin.

If you care about what you eat, make a date for the September 10 showing of “Farmegeddon, The Unseen War on Family Farms.”

Admission is $7 for the 4:30 fundraiser at The Ojai Playhouse. For more information about the film, go to http://farmageddonmovie.com/. For more information about the Weston A. Price Foundation go to www.westonaprice.org or call Blaxter at 831-246-0162.