Alvin Schlangen, a peaceful Minnesota farmer and volunteer manager of Freedom Farms Coop, connects people with the foods of their choice from local producers. He believes in a food system in which small family farms do what is best for the environment and the animals, and in doing so we get the products that are best for people. Alvin volunteers his time to facilitate a system where the money from the consumer goes back directly to the producer to be put back into the land.

Sounds great, right? Only problem with it: Big Business thinks that Alvin and others like him are stealing their market shares, so legislators get lobbied and state and federal agencies are used to run Alvin, and the small family farms he supports, out of business and even put them behind bars!

Over the past two years, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has illegally raided Alvin’s van, warehouse, and farm multiple times. Thousands of dollars worth of food has been needlessly stolen and detroyed.

The state has now brought multiple misdemeanor accounts against Alvin in multiple counties. If convicted of these charges, Alvin is facing hefty fines and years in jail... his crime? Helping to connect consumers to the producers and foods of their choice.