An open letter by John Klar:
I am writing to disagree with a letter to the editors of the Deerfield Valley News and the Valley News titled “Food festival offers platform for misinformation.” Jenevra Wetmore of Strafford wrote that this year’s December 12-14th Liberty Food Fest in Bellows Falls
“….will host at least two public figures who have a record of spreading misinformation about COVID-19: Margo Baldwin and Joel Salatin. I believe that the public should be aware of the background of these speakers before paying for an event ticket. I would also encourage the residents of Rockingham and Bellows Falls Opera House not to platform these speakers by hosting the event.”
The letter criticizes Margo Baldwin for publishing a book by Joseph Mercola about vaccines, and condemns Joel Salatin for “downplay[ing] the seriousness of COVID-19 and claim[ing] that masks are not effective. He promoted false content on his blog….” These complaints are misplaced – this is an event about food and farming, for which Joel Salatin and Margo Baldwin (whose company has published hundreds of titles devoted to farming and homesteading) are eminently qualified. Joel Salatin is literally “the most famous farmer in America.”
The Liberty Food Fest has nothing to do with vaccines. There are a total of 18 speakers, including Vermont Lieutenant Governor-Elect John Rodgers, indigenous environmental rights activist Winona Duke, and health educator and aquaponics expert Yemi Amu. The event features local businesses and restaurants, including food sold at the venue by Julian Johnson, aka “Jamaican Jewelz.” There is an exclusive movie showing on Friday evening (“Off the Grid with Thomas Massie”), and food, crafts, and gifts from local artisans will be available on both days. The Opera House likely receives a fee for the use of its facilities to celebrate food, which is then used to support and preserve the building. Yet, Jenevre Wetmore advocates preventing this public facility from hosting any of these speakers, farmers, or local businesses because of what Joel Salatin allegedly said about vaccines years ago….
Jenevre Wetmore boasts a master’s degree in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School and is Executive Director of Sustainable Woodstock, a 501(c)(3) entity that claims one of its goals is “improving long-term food security.” It is unseemly for the leader of a supposed sustainability project to so aggressively and unfairly attack another nonprofit’s event that is themed around local food security, let alone call for unconstitutional restrictions of others’ clear free speech rights.
Jenevre ends their unfounded attack by calling for the Liberty Food Fest to be banned from using the Bellows Falls Opera House:
“The Liberty Food Fest will be held at the Bellows Fall Opera House. An event that platforms speakers like Margo Baldwin and Joel Salatin should not be hosted in a building that is owned and operated by the citizens of Rockingham. Hosting these speakers sends the message that the town endorses their views, and further spreads misinformation.”
This is false disinformation: the use of public spaces is not government endorsement of speakers’ views unless the government filters content as Jenevre counsels. It is further disinformation to dismiss “their views” about food security and the importance of regenerative agriculture (topics on which they are both established experts) based on alleged vaccination misstatements made years ago (or, in Margo’s case, a single book her company published by someone else) and that have zero to do with this event’s itinerary.
It is unconstitutional for government to filter event content at public facilities in the fashion Jenevre proposes. So-called “disinformation” is protected free speech – even Jenevre’s call to use public property to violate others’ liberties, and these perverse attack letters against an educational food and farming event. Dumb speech like Jenevre’s is protected, so why shouldn’t smart speech by educated people (and their constitutional liberties) be protected, too? Or should Vermonters boycott any activities by Sustainable Woodstock because their Executive Director – not a visiting guest – writes baseless wackadoodle attacks against other nonprofits doing good work? That’s not historically the way Vermonters discuss issues – Leave it Better, the host of the Liberty Food Fest, states at their website that “We listen to everyone, all sides; Our community is part of our creative process; We combine different points of view to make something better; We greet new ideas with curiosity.” Perhaps they don’t do that at Sustainable Woodstock under Jenevre the Slanderer, but that’s what we do at Liberty Food Fest – I will be speaking on Friday and Saturday about food and its importance for all people and their cultures.
Perhaps Jenevre should attend the Liberty Food Fest in Bellows Falls on December 13 and 14 – they might learn something.
The author is a Brookfield best-selling author, lawyer, farmer and pastor.