Rhio’s
RAW ENERGY HOTLINE
NOV., 2005
(212) 343-1152
www.rawfoodinfo.com
Hello friends and readers,
Below starting at #3 is the Andressohn Story and the page I compiled in November of 2005. it is now September of 2009, the Andressohn’s were reunited a few years back. There were a lot of conditions put in place by the court in order for that to happen. No home schooling, the children had to be vaccinated, they had to take their children to the pediatrician who testified for the prosecution 4 times a year, they could continue their vegan diet but had to add soy, 15 years probation (unheard of). The charge of neglect still stands. At this time, Lamoy wants to take the case from the Appellate Court to the Supreme Court of Florida because during the trial, her children received a battery of tests which proved that they were in excellent health. All the markers for health were in the correct range, with the exception of their height/weight. (Please see note below for explanation). With the science on her side, Lamoy says why should she let the charge of neglect of her children stand when the tests clearly show that her children are in good health and so could not have been neglected or malnourished on the family’s raw vegan diet.
To me and to the Health Liberties Network, this is a case of the raw vegan diet (and by extension vegan and vegetarian cooked diets) being put on trial and we are fortunate indeed to have Lamoy, a very courageous woman, willing to open herself up again to criticism of all kinds just to set the record straight. If Lamoy were to prevail in the Supreme Court of FL, it not only sets the record straight for herself and her family, but for the rest of us as well. If Lamoy were to prevail, we in the raw vegan community (and all communities who diverge from the standard American Diet) would have a court precedent that we could cite should we be charged with neglect by merely feeding our children raw vegan, cooked vegan or vegetarian food. We who would like to raise our families on the raw vegan diet, without government or medical interference in our lives, would do well to support Lamoy at this critical time. She has until October 15th, 2009 to file her case. She has found a lawyer she trusts willing to handle the case and see it through to the end for $14,500. in total. Lamoy is asking for donations to help her family, and to pave the way for everyone’s right to make holistic health choices for themselves and their families.
If you can find it in your heart and pocket to help her at this crucial time, please send what you can directly to the lawyer at
Marcia J. Silvers, PA
2937 SW 27th Ave. Ste. 101
Miami, FL 33133
Mark on the check “For Andressohn Case”
(DONATION INFO NO LONGER VIABLE)
Please forward this letter to anyone you think might be interested. Your donations will be greatly appreciated by all.
Our help made a difference before in reuniting this loving family with their children. Let’s make a difference now, not only for Lamoy, but for vegan/vegetarian communities.
NOTE: Children who are raised on whole, unprocessed natural food, usually do not meet the height and weight standards for American children, as they grow at a slower pace, which is what Nature intended. Average American children eat junk food, milk and meat with hormones, white sugar and flour, trans and hydrogenated fats and are fatter than they should be. Taking an average from children that are heavier than they should be results in a distorted average weight/height table. Usually the children raised on natural foods catch up in the end, but the foregoing is the reason for the discrepancy. Also, in the case of Lamoy and Joseph, Lamoy is a size 1 very petite person and her husband is shorter than she is. Small people’s offspring (you could say Asian people who eat their traditional diets would fit this profile too), do not generally meet the American weight/height tables.
_Rhio and the Health Liberties Network.
*********************
If people only knew the healing power of laughter and joy, many of our fine doctors
would be out of business. Joy is one of Nature’s greatest medicines. Joy is always
healthy. A pleasant state of mind tends to bring abnormal conditions back to normal.
_Catherine Ponder
Germs do not cause disease! Nature never surrounded her children with enemies.
It is the individual himself who makes disease possible in his own body because
of poor living habits…Do mosquitoes make the water stagnant; or does stagnant
water attract the mosquitoes? We should all be taught that germs are friends and
scavengers attracted by disease, rather than enemies causing disease…As their
internal environment is, so will be the attraction for any specific micro-organism…
The germ theory and vaccination are kept going by commercialism.
_Dr. Robert R. Gross
Nature is slow, but sure; she works no faster than need be;
she is the tortoise that wins the race by her perseverance.
_Henry David Thoreau
1) What happened to your hotline? Have I been taken off the list?
2) New Weekly Internet Radio Show “Hooked on Raw” with Rhio and co-host, Felicia.
3) The Andressohn Story as written by Steven Gibb
4) Rhio responds to letters about the Andressohns
5) Another raw-vegan family: Storm and Jinjee Talifero’s detailed response to the Andressohn family’s crisis:
The Raw-Vegan Movement on Trial
6) Feedback from Readers
7) Decision
8) A Family’s Tragedy: A Different View (Miami Herald article)
plus Links to other News Articles
Dear Friends and Readers,
In this hotline I have put alot of information about the Andressohn family’s story because what has happened to the Andressohn family (the loss of their children) is also happening to other raw families and because of this, I feel it is very important that we, as a community, support the Andressohns in prayer, good thoughts and if possible, donations. Their fight is the fight for our future in being able to raise our children in a healthful way and as we see fit… not as the state or government agencies mandate.
It is difficult to get other raw families with children to come forward to support the Andressohns because they are afraid of reprisals. I will be reporting on other cases, but don’t want to confuse the issue now. It is important to stay focused on the Andressohn case because it will set a precedent for future cases.
We hold a good thought and strong visualization.
We see the Andressohn family reunited and happy once again.
To make a donation or to communicate with the Andressohn Family:
Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn
10740 SW 175th Street
Miami, Florida 33157
THE ADDRESS ABOVE IS NO LONGER VIABLE
1) What happened to your hotline? Have I been taken off the list?
My last hotline was in January, just before our trip to California. After our return in May, we have been working furiously on the farm and also on many of our other projects which are just about to come to fruition… and so the hotline had to be set aside for a while. In the last couple of months, I have received numerous inquiries as to what happened to the hotline and people have been so kind as to say that they have missed it and always looked forward to reading it. I confess that I also have missed writing it. And so… we begin again.
2) Hooked on Raw Internet Radio Show
While my partner, Leigh, and I are working out the details of building and implementing our own internet radio network, now scheduled to launch in Summer 2006, in the meantime, I have been doing a weekly internet radio show with my friend and talented raw food chef, Felicia.
Learn all about the raw food diet and lifestyle through conversation, interviews, healthy recipes and tips on healthy living. The best in raw food talk is now as easy as a click on your computer.
Please join us every Thursday at 1 PM Pacific time, 4 PM East Coast time and, for other areas of the country or world, calculate the time the show will broadcast in your area based on 1 PM Pacific time. There will be one repeat of the show 12 hours later on the same day, and two repeats on the weekend. Some of the shows will also be archived on the website.
Please tell anyone you know that might be interested to log on at: www.healthylife.net
(UPDATE: new station: www.rawenergyradio.com)
3) The Andressohn Story as written by Steven Gibb
go here: www.rawfriends.com
click on the picture of the Andressohns
Update 2008: Since the above website is not online anymore, read The Andressohn Story by Steven Gibb Also.
Raw Vegan Baby Died of Birth Defect Not Malnutrition by Jinjee Talifero
go here: http://jinjee1.securesites.net/news/article-andressohns.html or scroll down for “The Andressohn Trial – The Raw-Vegan Movement On Trial?” by Jinjee and Storm Talifero. Also, below are pictures of truly malnourished children side by side with the cherubic faces of the Andressohn children.
4) Since the Andressohn trial began I’ve been getting letters. Below and in the Feedback section, I respond to a sampling of them.
The Andressohn’s Criminal Trial is being covered by Court TV. Check time and channel in your area.{in Winter 2005]
In a message dated 10/18/05 9:20:09 AM, W writes:
Where do you get your “facts” in this case?
Why don’t you open this up for discussion instead of just posting your opinion of what happened and saying that it is fact.
Misleading people into believing things that are untrue should be a crime.
Dear W,
I get my opinion from speaking with many people who know the Andressohns, from speaking to the Andressohns myself many times, and from examining the way the case was handled and how the Andressohns were treated by the police and government authorities.
I am not running a forum on my website, except at the time when my Hotlines (newsletters) come out. At those times I do post people’s opinion of my newsletter or of the subject at hand. There are many websites that have forums for discussion.
Why are you so hostile to the possibility of the Andressohn’s innocence? Do you have some different information to offer me?
Thank God that expressing one’s opinion in the USA is not a crime, at least not according to our Constitution.
Rhio
In a message dated 10/18/05 11:53:03 AM, W writes:
I am not hostile to the possibility that the Andressohn’s could be innocent. On the contrary, I would like to hear/see evidence that they did everything in their power to keep their beloved child from the painful and horrific death that has been alleged.
Why is it that you can be so blindly accepting of a child?s death?
All I read today was from sites such as yours, that promote veganism, and say that the Andressohn’s did nothing wrong and that people are being persecuted for their beliefs. I want to know who will be the voice of this young angle that never had a voice.
I do have friends that are raising their children vegan, and I know the trouble that others cause while judging them and jumping to conclusions.
I certainly do not want to be one of these people BUT… a child died. A child suffered, and I have not heard/seen any attempt by the Andressohns to keep this from happening. In fact I have found is that Mrs. Andressohn would not even breast-feed her child. Doesn’t this go against the natural order of things? All of the vegans that I have spoken with know that breastfeeding is essential to babies? health.
I guess I just don’t understand, as a mother, as a friend to veganism, as a proud American… I just don’t understand
Dear W,
The baby was born with two birth defects. One, it did not have a thymus gland. Humans cannot live without a thymus gland. It was amazing that the baby survived as long as it did without a thymus gland.
If you are reading newspaper accounts of the “facts” then you are not getting the truth of the situation. The newspaper accounts are slanted, saying things like the baby looked like a concentration camp victim that was deliberately starved to death by the parents feeding her a raw food diet. I don’t know what babies without thymus glands would look like, but you can’t blame the parents for birth defects… or if you did want to blame them or their diet for birth defects, then you would have to be fair about it… by then blaming parents who feed themselves and their children cooked food who give birth to babies with birth defects and there are hundreds of thousands of those cases… But, because their cooked food diet does not raise a red flag to the authorities… they do not lose their family and suffer the traumatization of separation from their children or of being imprisoned, or of not being able to work because of house arrest, or of being thrown out of their section 8 apartment, and many other indignities that they’ve suffered.
It just doesn’t make sense to blame them because we, in our limited human vision, don’t know enough about what causes birth defects to happen as yet. What causes 5 healthy children to be born (one was born after the death of Woyah), and then one not healthy? We know that frogs and toads are suffering birth defects because of the poisoning of our environment with human-made chemicals. Perhaps Lamoy was unknowingly exposed to some chemicals during the time she carried the child. We just don’t know.
The couple’s other children are (or were while in their care) very healthy. I don’t know about the breat-feeding issue. I do know that Lamoy was breastfeeding her latest child, so I don’t understand why she wouldn’t do that with Woyah. Perhaps she did breast feed and that has been misreported. I didn’t ask her that question.
Look, if you don’t want to be one of these judgemental people, as you say, why not call the Andressohn’s yourself? Talk to them in a kindly manner and they will tell you their story.
With blessings,
Rhio
Dear W.
I spoke with Lamoy Andressohn today and I asked her the question as to whether she breast fed her baby Woyah. This is her response to me. She did breast feed Woyah for 2 1/2 months but then her breasts became very tender, torn and bleeding and though she tried to heal them by applying aloe vera and letting them dry between feedings, the feedings became excrutiatingly painful because the breasts would repeatedly tear again. That is when she switched to feeding her baby almond and sesame milk (vegan substitutes for cow’s milk), coconut water and diluted wheatgrass juice.
With blessings,
Rhio
August 12, 2005
Having just read these most despicable acts against this family makes me wonder what kind of people really live in that country – are they truly from this planet!!! It’s a flagrant abuse of human rights and should be taken to the highest courts in your land.
I am going to do a western union money transfer for $100 to the family with the details on the page and if you can let them know it needs picking up that would be truly appreciated.
Lololi
London UK
Nov. 18, 2005
Dear Rhio:
Dr. Stanley Bass, a long time hygienist, and the late Dr. Gian-Curso, came to the conclusion, after studying four generations of raw vegans, that the diet can result in deficiencies which can cause severe birth defects.
The same has been found to be true with primates in zoos, such as chimps and gorillas. With a vegan diet, they do not reproduce as well.
Studies with Indians in England show that those on a strict vegan diet sometimes develop deficiencies, while those in India do not. The reason is that the food supply in India contains enough insect matter and bacteria to remedy the deficiencies. Sounds gross, but that’s the way it works.
In the wild, each chimp eats their own greens and fruit, but they instinctively share the small game, as they know that the species needs just a little for complete nutrition. They break open the bones and suck out the marrow.
I feel that this wonderful family (Andressohns) is probably innocent of any wrongdoing, but I still think it is a mistake to take on the State just to remain vegan. Raw food children thrive on raw goat’s milk. Giving them that and perhaps a few egg yolks occasionally is a small price to pay for keeping the State off your back, having your kids taken away, and being put on trial.
We share 96% of our genes with chimps. They are not vegans, they eat insects, eggs, and small game, the amount varies from 12% to zero depending on the time of year.
Sincerely,
Kirk Gray
In a message dated 10/19/05 2:48:55 PM, Nicole writes:
Let me preface this by telling you our family does not follow a raw food diet. I feel that adults should have a right to eat what they feel is best for them. The key word in this statement is “adult”. I would be interested in seeing, if there are any, medical studies that state that a raw food diet provides adequate nutrition to growing children. Children need protein, and carbohydrates and fats to grow. Their bodies and their brains need these other types of foods. The fact that the Andressohn’s infant daughter was severly malnourished and that their other children were also severly malnourished is very concerning. You say that the infant was diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome. But per the court documents they didn’t take the children to doctor’s and gave the children some kind of wheat germ enema to cure them when they were sick. I don’t understand why these parents couldn’t see that their infant daughter and other children were terribly malnourished. Why did this mother not breast feed her infant as her primary source of nourishment as has been being done for thousand of years? This appears to be a very dangerous lifestyles for growing children who NEED nourishment in the forms of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. I will wait to see what happens in this trial but as a mother of four children I can tell you it is my responsibility to keep my children healthy and NOURISHED. This whole situation is terribly sad.
Sincerely,
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
As a supporter of the Andressohn’s complete exoneration in this matter, I will try to answer your questions as best I can.
If you are relying on the newspaper accounts of this case then you are getting an extremely biased picture.
First things first. A varied raw food diet does contain carbohydrates, fats and proteins. You can ask any nutritionist or even look it up in any good book on nutrients. Just because the food is raw does not mean that the carbohydrates, fats and proteins are missing. On the contrary, these nutrients are available in their optimal form, undamaged by heat or processing.
On my website, in the Articles section under Raw Food Concepts, there are many articles on the raw food lifestyle; some of them cover studies that have been done.
But even using one’s common sense, you can see (hopefully) that the diet of every other species on this planet is raw, except for humans and their domesticated animals. And we can also see that the animals, when they are not impacted by the rampant toxic pollution unleashed by humans, are in much better condition than any human.
More proof for the efficacy and healing power of raw/live foods can be found by studying the Gerson Diet & Protocols, The Hippocrates Diet, The Gonzalez protocols, the Weston Price studies through his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, The Pottenger Cat studies, and for the genesis of disease, the works of Antoine Bechamp, Claude Bernard and Gunther Enderlein, and many, many others. The proof is out there, but of course it is not supported by the allopaths because then they would be mostly out of business.
Lamoy (the mother), did breastfeed Woyah for 2 1/2 months, but at that time her breasts became very tender, torn and bleeding and though she tried to heal them by applying aloe vera and letting them dry between feedings, the feedings became excrutiatingly painful because the breasts would repeatedly tear again. That is when she switched to feeding her baby almond and sesame milk (vegan substitutes for cow’s milk which contain protein, carbohydrates and fats), coconut water and diluted wheatgrass juice. These are also the same items that she fed her previous babies (as well as breast milk of course) and they thrived on it.
Lamoy’s other children were given a clean bill of health. This was established through the Family Court trial last month when the Judge in the case, Judge William Thomas, denied the prosecutors the “termination of parental rights” that they were seeking. During that trial, it was proven through x-rays and blood work that the other children are healthy and NOT malnourished as reported in the press. The judge also established that once they get their children back, the children can be fed a vegan diet and the only suggestion made about diet was to add some soy milk.
The Family Court, if you are not familiar with it, holds to a much higher standard than Criminal Court (where the Andressohn’s are being tried now). In Family Court there has to be “clear and convincing evidence” either of parental competence or neglect.
In Criminal Court, if there is a “reasonable doubt” as to guilt, then they will be exonerated.
Basically, the “red flag” in this case is the fact that the couple followed a raw food diet and lifestyle. If these parents had been feeding themselves and their children the conventional cooked and processed food diet, they would never have been arrested and subjected to the indignities that they’ve had to endure. People who feed themselves and their children cooked food also have babies that are born with birth defects and they are not blamed or imprisoned for it. Such instances number in the hundreds of thousands. The sole divergent factor here is the raw food diet and the judgement of people who do not understand it or want to accept it.
Six children were born to Lamoy, one of them was born after Woyah. All five remaining children are healthy. Can we say we know what causes birth defects to occur in every case? And can we then blame the parent’s diet and lifestyle for the defects? If so, then to be fair, we would have to include the parents on conventional diets with children with birth defects, and not single out one diet philosophy over another.
Respectfully,
Rhio
In a message dated 10/24/05 11:16:58 AM, Nicole writes:
Dear Rhio,
Thanks so much for taking the time to patiently explain some of the raw foods diet to me. As I said in my email I am not a raw food vegan and was uneducated on this type of nutrition. Unfortunately for the Andressohn’s this case will bring a lot of attention to this type of lifestyle diet choice. But, hopefully by opening the discussion and by having people like you who are willing to talk about it and give information more people will become educated.
It was sad to see Lamoy’s face when the children were testifying. She obviously misses her children and as a mother I can’t imagine the devastation of not seeing her children for 2 years especially after the death of the baby. Also as a mother who breastfed all 4 of my children I wish that she had seen an IBCLC, or la leche league for help. I too had mastitis, cracked and bleeding nipples and extreme pain but with help was able to continue successfully breastfeeding.
Its tough to know what to believe. The defense says the baby had DiGeorge syndrome, but the craniofacial anomalies normally present were supposedly not there in Woyah. I wonder if they had a Doctor diagnose Woyah before she died when she was failing to thrive. I guess all that will come out during the trial. But I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me and not just attack my questions as was done by another person.
On a side note any great ideas to get my 3 older kids to eat more veggies?
🙂 My oldest likes squash, zucchini etc.. but my two girls will really only eat cukes, romaine lettuce and tomatoes. Can’t seem to entice them….although I did grind up a zucchini and put in the spaghetti sauce at the last minute to disguise it and they ate it up! I would love a resource for veggi shy kids recipes.
Again thank you.
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
I have a radio show on the internet and either this Thursday or the following Thursday (it depends on whether they receive the show on time), a segment will be airing where I brought out some of the issues we’ve been discussing about the Andressohn Family. You could tune in at: www.healthylife.net (look for Hooked on Raw with Rhio & Felicia).
The show runs Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific time or 4 PM East Coast time and at all different times around the world based on the 1 PM Pacific time.
I don’t blame people for thinking the way that they do, because, firstly, only the prosecution has presented it’s case as yet and secondly, the news articles that have come out on the case are biased. So, I’m more than happy that my “patient” explanation was able to shed some light.
Yes, I too have thought that Lamoy could have used some guidance from those organizations that you mentioned. I believe some of them even have a Mother’s Milk Bank, although, of course the milk is pasteurized, and I do not know if it is available in all areas. But, Lamoy, is still a young mother, she readily admits that she has made mistakes. I’m glad that you could perceive the love that she bears for her children on her face. She has been steeling herself and trying to stay calm and focused for the trial, but privately I know that it has been very very difficult and heartbreaking.
From what I have been able to glean from the internet on Di George Syndrome, it may or may not be accompanied by those cranio-facial anomalies that you mention. I do not know the answer to the other questions that you ask, but I’m sure that they will come out in the trial.
A good book to get, with recipes for children was written by two children (teens), Sergei and Valya Boutenko. It is called Eating Without Heating. If the Boutenko children like the recipes (which they created), I’m sure other children will like them too.
You have to be patient with children, keep introducing different fruits and veggies, some they will like, others will be rejected but the main thing is that it is consistently presented. Children will usually emulate their parents, especially younger children and toddlers. So if you are also eating or introducing raw food to your diet, they will eventually come around. Children usually like fresh fruit, fruit and nutmilk smoothies, pancakes (which can be made raw/there’s a recipe is in my book Hooked on Raw), candy made with nuts and dried fruit, and cracker and cookie type treats easily made in a food dehydrator. Veggies may take longer to get accustomed to, but not impossible. You could find a really good raw dressing or dip that they like and then serve it with a crudite; cut-up raw vegetables that they can dip into the dressing or dip. This next suggestion takes more work but it does capture children’s imaginations. Cut the veggies into shapes of stars, half moons or animals (probably too much work, but maybe for a special occasion).
If there are some raw food potlucks available where you live, that is a good place to meet others of like mind and the children can meet other children who have been introduced to raw. Children like to fit in. There is a lot of peer pressure, but if you plant the seed within them that Nature’s food will keep them healthy, one day it will take root.
Sometimes, depending on the area in which you live, there are organic farms or CSAs that have special visiting days where you can go and visit the farm and then there are the U-Pick it farms where you go and pick blueberries, raspberries, etc. This is a good way to show children where their food really comes from and to reconnect them with the source of our sustenance. Most children today tend to think food comes from the supermarket, and they are never introduced to what is beyond.
If you have access to a little bit of land, kids LOVE to play in the garden and see things grow. I’ve seen looks of absolute wonder on children’s faces when they grab hold of a carrot top and the carrot comes out of the ground in their hands. It is magical.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio
In a message dated 10/24/05 4:00:31 PM, Lou writes:
Dear Rhio:
I love your website. :-):-) Slowly, but surely, I am working my way towards a Vegetarian lifestyle. I have no desire to give up fish and eggs but we shall see 🙂
My one and only question for you is this:
How is it possible to have a baby and not have some sort of internal alarm go off after a few months of seeing my newborn is NOT gaining weight????? Especially if I have 4 healthy, beautiful children. I have a feeling that this one point is going to be the main troubling factor for the jury. From what I understand, the pictures of li’l Woyah is tremendously disturbing and powerful.
Anyway, I’m very curious to hear your response to this question.
Namaste,
Lou
Dear Lou,
I’m glad you love my website… makes me happy to hear it.
I do not have all the answers to your question about the Andressohns, but I do have some food for thought.
First, there were 4 different weights recorded by the various medical authorities. Lamoy never weighed the baby, so she doesn’t know which one is correct. Some raw food babies and children can be considered underweight, at least by “conventional” weight tables, but remember that those weight tables are based on an average, and the average in the US is really overweight. There is a really good explanation of this on the website:
www.thegardendiet.com/andressohntrial.html
The picture that you are referring to, I believe (or have been told) was a picture taken after death. (I have not seen it.) A body, especially a baby’s body, especially a baby with a birth defect as serious as lack of a thymus gland, especially a baby after autopsy, in my opinion, would shrivel somewhat. In other words it would lose water, so would not be a valid representation of what that baby looked like in life. I have seen other pictures, just of people after autopsy, that no longer were a valid representation of what they looked like in life (Marilyn Monroe is an example).
That said, there is no question that the baby was underweight as compared to average babies, but there I think that the birth defect had something to do with that and not the diet. There are thousands of babies whose mothers eat cooked foods and whose babies are born with birth defects that lead to death. If we are to apply a fair standard across the board, then they should be on trial also. But, of course, it is ridiculous to blame parents for babies born with birth defects because the cause of birth defects could be many and varied, from chemicals, pesticides, radiation and other toxics polluting our environment to karmic conditions.
Second, Lamoy was not alerted to anything being wrong because one (or two) of her previous children were also very small, underweight, and then filled out beautifully, so she thought it was just an anomaly of her own children. Also, she was not alerted because Woyah did not have a heart murmur (a heart murmur is associated with a high percentage of the cases of the condition known as Di George Syndrome). Had Woyah had a heart murmur, maybe that would have been a signal. Lamoy and Joseph only became aware of the condition called Di George Syndrome after the autopsy.
I have not talked to Lamoy directly about the subject of your question because since the trial is in mid-stream, I do not want to burden her… I think she has enough to contend with at the moment. But, when it is appropriate, I will ask her about it.
I know from a close friend of theirs that before the trial began, Joseph and Lamoy would go sit by the ocean and pray fervently that the trial would somehow serve as a way of getting the truth of the raw food diet out to a wider community. Even though it is difficult and heartbreaking to go through, even though they’ve suffered indignities and hardships, even though they miss their family terribly, they hoped to be a vessel through which the truth could pass. Did they pray that they wouldn’t go to jail for 30 years? No, only to be a vessel for the truth to pass. To me, that shows the substance of their character.
I also want to inform you that the Family Court trial that they went through in September ruled in their favor. This has not been reported even though Lamoy has talked to reporters about it.
I hope you will join with me in praying for the reunification of this lovely family.
And good luck to you on your journey to veggieland.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio
Nov. 3, 2005
Hello my sweet friend:
Please do not dismiss me or throw me out………….
I thank you for your honest response to my questions. Truly I do with all of my heart.
I suppose I must be truthful with you and state that I am in NO WAY OF UNDERSTANDING NOT GETTING WOYAH TO A MEDICAL DOCTOR AFTER A FEW WEEKS!!! I’m just not that understanding. You must understand that I do believe that our ‘Heavenly Father/Mother/G-d/G-dess’ has given the gift of saving lives to many of our ‘Sister’s & Brother’s’ of Light and Love.
Even if precious Woyah did die because of a birth defect…there is NO good reason to not have taken her to a doctor for months as she more than likely lingered in pain!!!!!!!!
I support Vegans and their lifestyle! But to be so arrogant as to allow a human life to expire?!?!??????? NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!
My question to you…..
Even though I have given birth to other children on this Vegan diet..my ONE childe is refusing to thrive…even though I can no longer breast feed her..I has now been 6 months and my precious baby is weighing the same as when she first was born but maybe a little bit less….6.99 pounds!!! My baby is 6 months! So…regardless to the support that may be I place………something is genuinely wrong with this picture.
What happened?!?!?!!?
Even if there were other ‘medical’ rasons……how can parents pretend to ignore the normal growth of a human baby?????????????? Vegan or not???????????
Lou
Nov. 3, 2005
I don’t think I can say anymore at this time to persuade this lady to show compassion, mercy and forgiveness to the Andressohn family. Or to consider that while one died, yes, there are still 7 others whose lives hang in the balance and matter also.
Rhio
Nov. 3, 2005
I do hope you will continue to communicate with me as I was just wanting to voice my frustration and such.
It is my true intentions to work toward being Vegans, though I am not yet there.
Is it possible for you to help me?
At this time I do love eating eggs, (most egg whites), fish and a small amount of turkey.
From what I have been learning about ‘living foods’, I do believe that I can help correct a couple of ‘issues’ that have developed for me. And my cat. Serously. Let me know what you think!
Lou
Nov. 3, 2005
Anyhoo, I’m very interested in looking into being a ‘raw foods’ vegan but I’m still eating fish, eggs and cheese at this time. Do you have any advise/suggestions for me at this time?
Thanks much for your time.
Lou :-):-):-)
Nov. 4, 2005
Dear Lou,
I would advise that you read as much as you can about the raw/live food diet and lifestyle and then little by little begin to incorporate more raw foods into your daily menu. On my website, www.rawfoodinfo.com there is a wealth of information in the Articles section, subsection Raw Food Concepts. You can also access more information by going to the Links section and scrolling down to the many links on Raw Foods.
Good luck to you.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio
5) Another raw-vegan family: Storm and Jinjee Talifero’s detailed response to the Andressohn family’s crisis:
The Raw-Vegan Movement on Trial
www.thegardendiet/andressohntrial.html
click on the link above to see the same story as below, but with the activated links
I thank Jinjee profusely for putting together the pictorial comparison between the Andressohn children and starving children. It makes it plainly clear that the Andressohn children were not malnourished or starved as portrayed by the media.
The Andressohn Trial – The Raw-Vegan Movement On Trial?
by Jinjee and Storm Talifero
I expected to have another two weeks until the trial ended and I was compiling these notes for an article about the trial. However I just found out that the trial will be ending tomorrow so I am releasing my un-edited notes below. Forgive the rushed and unprofessional format. I hope the information will help in your opinion of this trial. If you are moved to share your own thoughts now is your chance to speak out about this trial and about the raw-vegan diet on the court tv message boards at http://boards.courttv.com/ and you may write Court TV at bothsides@courttv.com and tell them your comments. Use your name and city you live in. You may want to pass this onto other raw vegans! You may also want to discuss this in the garden diet forum to which you can find a link from our main page here: thegardendiet.com While many people said the Andressohn children appeared healthy some people including their Aunt who now has custody of them testified in court that the Andressohn children looked malnourished like “a child you see in the commericals for third world starvation aid”! But was Aunt Mary really “paying attention” when she was watching those commercials? Compare the third world children on the left with the four Andressohn children on the right. Can you see the differences? see pictures here: www.thegardendiet.com/andressohntrial.html
“The Andressohn Trial”
by Storm Talifero
I’m both saddened and disturbed by the unfolding of events surrounding the manslaughter trial of the Andressohn family in Florida. In case you have not been following the sequence of events the Andressohns had a child die due either to a birth defect or as the state is saying to neglect. They had their other children taken away and they have not seen them for three years.
I myself have five children and a grandchild so of course my sympathies lie with the Andressohn family. I feel that the death of any child for whatever reason diminishes us all. And of course I see many parallels between their family and my own.
Any child at any time can be born to any family on any diet with a birth defect. It is one of the worst things that can happen to any family. When you have a situation like this and you don’t know all of the facts then the only thing to do is to have a fair trial.
The prosecution of course is trying to paint a picture of the Andressohns as totally weird monstrous beasts who starved their child to death. And the defense is trying to portray them as a deeply loving spiritual family who have experienced one of the worst tragedies a family can experience. This is the way our American legal system works. I feel that in spite of the frailties of human nature it is a pretty good system founded on fairly sincere principles by learned men of integrity.
I have been following the Andressohn’s story for months now and some aspects of it have left me deeply disturbed. The first is the fact that this case is now being tried in the media. The second is that this family has now come to represent the Raw Vegan Movement. And the third issue that I have is that once major corporations get involved behind the scenes with their ability to manipulate the media that it will be impossible for the Andressohns to get a fair trial.
The reason that I’m saying this is because of the parallel between their family and mine. We don’t use any supplements, we don’t use any dairy products or any drugs if we can possibly use a natural herbal remedy. We don’t cook our food and we just eat organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. This is because we don’t feel it is healthy to ingest the chemicals formed in foods when they are heated. We also homebirthed all of our children and we too homeschool our children. If this diet and lifestyle takes hold on a national level then there are major corporations that stand to lose billions of dollars collectively.
I believe it is possible that this is why there is such an intense focus on this trial. It saddens me that hundreds of children die every month from the effects of obesity related diseases and many other children have their quality of life diminished from the mass consumption of what we call or label “junk food” which is marketed and sold en-mass to children by major corporations. There are no charges being brought against parents who feed their kids junk food thereby endangering their health and quality of life. This is all common knowledge.
But my main concern is that I don’t think the Andressohns are getting a fair trial. And once again I think it is because of the media. For instance they brought in a witness for the prosecution who was very corporate looking with a degree in nutrition who stated all of the reasons why we need to consume milk, meat, and basically the standard American diet. Then they showed pictures of how messy the Andressohn’s house was.
I have five kids and on any given day depending on what time you bring the camera crew in you could find my house in total chaos or if we just had a cleaning party we could be the model American Family. If you came the day before Market Day then you would find my cupboards bare, because I don’t think we need to stuff ourselves every day of our lives. But if you came after Market Day then you would find the horn of plenty. I know that all of these things must come out in a trial. My concern is that when it is played in the press then it creates an atmosphere of prejudgement making it impossible to get a fair trial.
And lets face it we now live in a time where all you have to do is be accused and even if you are later found innocent you will never be able to clear your name. So it seems to me that it would only be fair that all the facts and the names of the accused were kept confidential until the trial was over. That way the jury pool could not be contaminated and if in the event that a person or persons were found innocent then their lives would not be totally destroyed by “Trial by Press”.
Or as is the case with this trial a whole movement in the collective consciousness of food is on trial. The headlines are reading “Raw Vegan Child Starves to Death, Parents on Trial for Murder”. This is after the fact that it was already established early on in previous legal proceedings that the Raw Vegan diet was not in and of itself the cause of death.
I have been a raw vegan for over thirty years and my children have been raw vegan from birth and we all enjoy an incredible level of health and I’m sure that there are many other raw vegan families who also enjoy the same who will never make the news unless something goes terribly wrong.
I guess the thing that disturbs me most is that this trial will turn into a witch hunt and people will be so afraid that their children will be taken out of the home that they will not follow their own hearts or make decisions based upon their own research.
Jinjee’s Note on Feeding Raw Vegan Children a Balanced Raw Vegan Diet:
Just wanted to add some thoughts to this. There are cases when raw vegan children become undernourished and seriously depleted. This happens when the parents don’t feed their children enough food or a good balance of foods. A balanced raw vegan diet will include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains, oils, honey, and salt. It will include fatty fruits such as avocados, coconuts, olives and purslane. It will include dark leafy greens for adequate mineral content. It will include high calorie foods such as bananas, dates, honey, tahini (ground sesame seeds) and nut butters. It will include the essential fatty acids found in flax seeds and flax oil. It will contain calcium rich oranges, kale, chard, spinach, tahini and nut milks (milk made from germinated nuts blended with water and honey). And it will include a wide variety and an abundance of fresh in-season locally grown fruits and vegetables for maximum nutrition.
As a raw vegan parent it is necessary to chart your child’s growth using standard height and weight charts that you can find online. If your child is significantly under these charts then you need to see a doctor to ensure that the child is healthy and developing properly. It is natural to be slightly under the national averages considering the national average is affected by the large percentage of overweight children in this country. It is also natural to be slightly under height when you don’t drink cow’s milk. Cow’s milk is designed to grow a 1000 lb. cow. So being under the national averages is not necessarily a bad thing. The important thing is that your child is developing mentally and is physically healthy. If your child is not doing so then you may need to adjust your diet to include more of the foods mentioned in the previous paragraph. If you are unable to follow the program above then your child may be better off eating a standard american diet than a highly restricted raw-vegan diet.
On the other hand you must be careful if introducing raw vegan children to cooked foods. Start with very natural and healthy items such as rice and steamed vegetables. You may progress to beans and rice. And then only cautiously add essene bread or other sprouted breads. If you immediately give a raw vegan child heavily processed foods, deep fried foods or animal products (meat and dairy) then that child may fall seriously ill as its body is not used to dealing with these foods. I believe this happened to the Andressohn children after they were taken from their parents.
I would advise the Andressohns’ lawyer to ask the judge and jury what if the Andressohn’s baby had died while eating a cooked food diet. Would they be there on trial right now. Of course not. Thousands of babies die every month of diseases related to the standard american diet. According to the CDC 350,000 people die each year of obesity related diseases. Should we be taking all obese children away from their parents? Should parents of obese children be sentenced to jail? Is it not our right to feed our families as we think best? And if we are sincerely trying to live a healthy lifestyle and if we are as obviously dedicated to our children as the Andressohns are should we be sentenced to jail for making a mistake? Should we be sent to jail when the coroner’s autopsy report states that our baby’s death was “accidental”?
I think the Andressohns’ lawyer should call attention to the fact that there is no law saying that we can’t feed our children a raw-vegan diet. And that there is no law saying that we have to take our children to the doctor when they are sick. We have the right to treat an illness with alternative remedies. We have the right in this country to decide if we believe in the medical profession or not. We have the right to question authority. We have the right to question corruption in institutions and take alternative measures. We have the right to think for ourselves. Did the Andressohns make the right choice? Perhaps not. If it had been my baby I would have availed myself of the diagnostic abilities of the medical community. I do not know if the Andressohns did so or not. But if they did not do so did they break the law? I believe that they did not.
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Letter to Steven Gibb, my (Jinjee) contact person to the Andressohns and their lawyers:
HI Steven,
I’ve been following as much as I can of the abundant material on CourtTV.com – I signed up to get the total access. And I have a couple more ideas.
1. They say the kids were like third world kids. They should have to prove that with photos. Just being able to see kids’ ribs is pretty normal for skinny kids. I was a meat eating child with visible ribs up until I was 14 years old. What you might want to do is tell Ellis to show those lovely pictures of the kids that you have up on your website with their chubby little faces next to some emaciated faces of third world children. I will put together the graphic if they would like.
(And how is it that Aunt Mary would see these kids without their clothes on during a Thanksgiving visit anyway! That sounds “made up” to me.)
2. If you think it might provide “Expert Testimony” I could send our documentary (its a rough cut unfinished version) as-is to show a normal raw vegan family. Our kids all run below average heights and weights too but they can out-run and out-hike most adults. The film shows this. I don’t know if you can show films in court.
Love and Hugs,
Jinjee
A Raw-Vegan Mom’s Comments About The Andressohn Trial
The Key Point:
Your honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the United States government agency called the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have declared an obesity epidemic in this country because 350,000 people a year die from obesity related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Over half of all adults in the U.S. are overwieght or obese! Over a third of all children and teenagers in the U.S. are overweight or obese! Childhood diabetes, cancer, leukemia and heart disease are increasing at alarming rates. Almost a thousand people a day are dying of these diseases. So I think it would be conservative to estimate that at least a thousand children a month are dying of these diseases. That’s over thirty children a day dying from the diets their parents feed them. If we are to jail the Andressohns then must also jail the parents of these thirty children who died today from the diets their parents fed them. If we are to keep the Andressohn children from their parents then we must also take the siblings of the thousands of children who have died this year from diet-related diabetes, heart disease, leukemia and cancer.
The parents of obese children know from the media that they are endangering their children’s lives! The Andressohns on the other hand were trying to find an alternative to the standard american diet. They were amongst the many people who are attempting to lead a healthy lifestyle. If they were misguided or made a mistake it was not for lack of doing their best. Why do these poor uneducated defenseless people have to pay for the mistakes of our society. With the raw vegan movement being one of the fastest growing diet movements today it is the government who should be doing research on the raw vegan diet, who should be testing raw foods vs. cooked foods for nutrient content, who should be conducting research and making knowledge available on how to eat a balanced raw vegan diet and how to feed your child on a raw vegan diet.
If such studies were available raw vegan parents would be overjoyed. However most studies are funded by the industries with the most money – the cattle, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries. The government and medical industries should not accept funding from the cattle, dairy and pharmaceutical industries. Until this is not allowed we will not have real “science”, real scientific research, or even really make any progress in our search for the highly complex scientific truths about food and our bodies.
Hippocrates is the originator of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors swear when they graduate to “first, do no harm”. Hippocrates is also the author of the quote “Make food your medicine and medicine your food”. Most supplements are made from foods and most pharmaceuticals are made from herbs. However you can’t patent a food or an herb and own it. Therefore the medical industry has thrown out the study of nutrition in its relation to disease. When you ask your doctor “do you think my colitis has anything to do with my diet?” and they say “absolutely not” then you know its time to think for yourself. This is why so many people are trying alternative diets and why they are forced to as you say “experiment” on themselves and their families. In reality they are just doing what they believe is the best thing they can do. And they continually do research and improve their diets based on the information available.
When the government itself is funded in part by pharmaceutical corporations and the medical industry, when diabetes is not a disease but a billion dollar industry, then is it not the government and the medical industry who should stand trial here today for what has happened to these people. Millions of Americans are pouring billions of dollars into alternative therapies each year as they are disillusioned by the medical industry. When you go to the doctor and they don’t even have time to listen to your problem before they write out a prescription and tell you to see the secretary and make another appointment on your way out is it any wonder that more and more people are trying to take more responsibility for their own health and the health of their families?
The medical industry is slow to accept alternative health therapies. However the two extremes are starting to come together. Doctors do sometimes prescribe the raw vegan diet to their patients. (I have had people visit my raw food website on their doctor’s recommendation that they research this diet for themselves). Doctors are prescribing exercise rather than operations more frequently for many conditions. Is this because they are too inundated with patients? Or are they finally embracing holistic techniques of building health.
When we see a thin child in these times when a third of all children are overwieght then by contrast the thin child seems too thin. But being thin and short is not necessarily a sign of ill health. In fact the longest lived people in the world the orientals are generally much thinner and shorter than Americans. This may be due to their diets which are significantly lower in animal products.
Our youngest child is fifteen months old and two pounds underweight yet our doctor examined him and told us that he is perfectly healthy. She said being underweight is not necessarily a sign of ill health. In fact many people who are underweight are healthier than average. Often when people are sick they can become underweight at which time being underweight may indicate that there is a health problem. But being underweight is not in and of itself a health problem. On the other hand being overweight is in fact a health problem. It puts a strain on the heart, the elimination organs, and all the systems of the body from the skeletal system to the respiratory system to the digestive system. Some overweight people like to look at being underweight as a health problem because it can make them feel better about themselves and it can feed into their denial about their weight being a serious problem.
As I look around the court room and I see all the fat people working within it and sitting in the stands watching the trial I wonder if all these fat people feel threatened by the raw vegan diet. Does it challenge them somehow. Does it make them wonder if they need to change their ways. Do they worry subconsciously that this diet might become mainstream and then they will be called upon to throw off their food addictions? Do they fear that they will not be able to do so? Who is really on trial here? Is each one of you on trial, are your beliefs on trial, is your lifestyle on trial?
Lamoy appears beautiful, thin, calm, loving, humble, and good. Her husband appears strong, steady, poised, comforting and supportive. Her children are obviously intelligent, witty, honest, and loveable. This is not something they could have gained in three years if they did not have an incredibly solid beginning. They also have that special something, a special quality that I see people respond to in my four raw vegan children. Whereas most children walk around in a sort of hazy stupor, drugged out on junk food and television, these kids have a brightness, a quickness, – they “connect”. Even after all they have been through. I am so proud of them. As I can see their parents are too.
Can you imagine loving your child so much and not seeing them for 1000 days! I can hardly imagine one day without seeing my children. And to have to go through this on the eve of the death of ones infant! This is unimaginable horror. Such a crime has been commited against this couple I can only hope that things are put to right as soon as humanly possible. These people are obviously not murderers. At worst these people made an honest mistake. That’s the bottom line. Set them free! Reunite this family! Ask the children if they want to return to their parents and their raw food diet. I am 99% sure they will say YES! And if they say no ask the parents if they will agree to feed their children some cooked food. I am 100% sure they will say YES! But end this ridiculous persecution! It is as bad as the witch hunt of Salem!
The truth will come out. This is no longer a movement of solely hippies. I have a mailing list of over 10,000 raw vegans and people interested in the raw vegan lifestyle including fortune 500 corporate executives, celebrities, government workers, educators and military! I received over $100,000 in funding last year from private individuals to produce a documentary film about the raw vegan diet. The film is completed and we are going into talks with major distribution companies for its theatrical release.
Another Point:
There are some wonderful things in the police report which is available online on CourtTV.com. The police interviewed many people who knew the Andressohns and said that their children were thin but seemed to be very healthy, always had lots of food to eat, and were never hungry. People who knew them said that the parents seemed like good parents, very attentive and loving.
Important Question:
The children’s Aunt Mary Andressohn said that the children were sickly and in diapers at night when they came to her. We need to know were they sickly and in night-diapers on the night they were taken from their parents or did these conditions develop during their traumatic time in foster homes during the weeks between leaving their parents’ home and moving in to their Aunt’s home. We did hear that the children were rushed to emergency several times during their first weeks of eating cooked food (this would correspond with the time they were in foster homes).
Please visit http://www.thegardendiet.com to see The Talifero raw vegan family.
Jinjee Talifero
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Growth Charts May be helpful. Important points are in red text!
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http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=687
CDC Announces Publication of Updated Growth Charts For the first time in 23 years, the government has updated the charts used to track children’s growth. These charts are a staple in the offices of pediatricians and school nurses around the country. Growth charts are a reference point for health professionals and parents as their children grow into adolescents and adulthood.
The new charts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also should more accurately reflect the average height and weight of U.S. children from birth to age 3, because they are based on more recent and much more comprehensive data than the old charts for babies and toddlers. The new research found babies and toddlers to be slightly heavier and shorter than in the previous charts, and also found infants in the first few months have larger head circumferences than the older charts showed.
For example, in a previous chart, a 3-year-old girl at the 50th percentile – or the chart’s halfway point – would be 32.6 pounds and 38.4 inches in length. On the new chart, the 50th percentile is 33.3 pounds and 38.7 inches. As a result, pediatricians will classify more babies as underweight and fewer as overweight, said officials at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, which published the charts. On the new charts, a 22.5-pound 2-year-old girl would be in the 5th percentile, which is considered underweight by many doctors depending on how long the child measured. On the old chart, the same child would have been in the 10th percentile, lean but not necessarily underweight.
The new charts use government data from the last three decades about formula- and breast-fed children from all racial and ethnic groups. The old charts were based on a private study during the 1960s and 1970s that looked only at white, formula-fed children in Ohio.
The new charts were released in May of 2000 and can be found on our site.
notes:
Rayah was 16 lbs. at 18 months and it says above the 22.5 lbs at 2 years old was considered lean but not underweight. Therefore Rayah would have been considered lean but not underweight.
Due to the government’s new updated average height and weight charts based on a population in which over a third of U.S. children are overweight “pediatricians will classify more babies as underweight and fewer as overweight, said officials at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, which published the charts”. —-Study of Weight Charts—- CDC growth charts, year 2000, set 2 (most recent available, used by doctors)
Case: raw-vegan 18 mo. old boy Adagio Talifero (http://www.thegardendiet.com) weighs 18 lbs. and doctor says he is healthy. The CDC growth charts say an average 18 month old boy weighs around 25 to 26 lbs. An average boy weighs 18 lbs. at 7 months of age. So you could technically say “At 18 months of age Adagio is like a 7 month old baby”. It sounds awful yet the doctor says he is healthy and he acts like any other 18 month old except rather stronger and more co-ordinated than many. At 18 months 3% of boys are as low as 21 lbs. So my raw vegan son Adagio is really only 3 lbs. underweight at 18 lbs and 18 months old. At 11 months old 3% of boys are as low as 18 lbs. So you could also say that Adagio is like a small 11 month old.
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Case: raw-vegan 18 month old girl Rayah Andressohn
Rayah at 18 mos was 16 lbs. The average weight for an 18 month old girl is 24 lbs. The average girl weighs 16 lbs. at 6 months. So you could say that at 18 months old Rayah is like a 6 month old. That sounds awful too. Yet people who saw her at that age said she looked small but healthy, never sick. At 18 months old 3% of girls are as low as 20 lbs. So Rayah was 4 lbs. underweight at 16 lbs. at 18 months old. At 10 months old 3% of girls are as low as 16 lbs. So you could also say that Rahyah was like a small 10 month old at 18 months. This sounds far worse than it is because of how rapidly and differently children grow in their early years. Also because weight charts are affected by the large percentage of overweight children in the U.S.
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Case: 6 month old raw-vegan girl with birth defect and no longer breastfed Woyah Andressohn. Woyah at 6 mos was 6.9 lbs. Average weight for girl at 6 months is 16 lbs. Average girl weighs 6.9 lbs. at birth to 1 month old. At 6 months Woyah was like a newborn to 1 month old. At 6 months 3% of girls are as low as 12 lbs. (so Woyah was 6 lbs. underweight at 6.9 lbs. at 6 mos.). At 1 month old 3% of girls are as low as 6.9 lbs. (Many preemies or premature babies are in the same condition and yet are allowed to remain with their parents who are not jailed).
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More CDC Statistics:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/index.htm
16% of U.S. children are overweight. The average weight charts are affected by this. According to the CDC overweight children are at risk for heart disease and many other problems listed on the website above.
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Info for the attorneys (things that may help them in court):
Study of the Autopsy Report and Police Narrative Online:1.) — http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/autopsy.html Study of Autopsy Report on CourtTV.com revealed the following positives— page 8:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/autopsy.html?page=8
-“two have rickets” (older children) …according to doctor’s statement in trial this was not true. One appeared to have rickets but upon the actual test did not.
-page 8 (last sentence) autopsy report says: “It is best to classify manner of death as ‘accident'”. Autopsy report classifies death as “accident” ….so why send parents to jail? —- —
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html Study of Police Report on CourtTV.com revealed the following positives— page 8:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=8
-they were folding clothes (that’s why there were clothes strewn about)
-they were folding clothes on the floor (that’s why they lay the baby on a blanket on the floor)
-when Mr. Andressohn did CPR the victim’s stomach raised (perhaps this is why the baby had distended stomach)
-the victim was taken to hospital (it doesn’t say she was dead although elsewhere I read that the victim’s heartbeat was nonexistent when the fire department arrived).
page 10 and 11:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=10
-neighbors state the kids always have something to eat in their hands, never saw anything abusive
-(bottom of page 10) On March 10th 2003 a relative told DCF that the kids were not fed enough. A DCF investigator (Nora Calle) found that there was plenty of food (continues on page 11) and the children did not appear abused or malnourshed. The case was closed on March 11th 2003. Detective Poitier stated that a similar allegation in 2002 was also unfounded.
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=11
-page 12
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=12
-Joseph’s sister’s husband Mr. Quinones says the children were small but they appeared healthy and were never sick.
-Ms. Butler a pediatric nurse at Memorial Regional Hospital who knew the family says (continues on page 13) that the kids appeared healthy and were never sick (Ms. Butler is the person who called DCF in 2002 believing that the kids would not survive on their diet)
page 14
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=14
Mr. Abreu, former landlord states that the children looked healthy, were never sick, that the parents seemed attentive and loving, good parents.
page 15
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=15
– (last sentence of page) Mr. Jorge Torres who Joseph helped make cabinets saw the kids a month before this investigation and said the kids all looked fine.
page 17
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=17
-DCF investigator Rose Lesniak was called (see page 16) to investigate a report that a child looked too thin. She was told to report to the Wild Oats Market where Lamoy worked. Lamoy welcomed her to come to her home and see her children. Ms. Lesniak reported that the Andressohn children were small but appeared healthy, and that ample food was present. Ms. Lesniak asked the children if they were hungry and none of them advised that they were.
page 18
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=18
-Ms. Lesniak also did two surprise visits and advised that everything looked fine and there was plenty of food. Ms. Lesniak stated that the case was unfounded and there were no signs of neglect.
page 20
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=20
Mr. Tucker who worked in the vitamin department at Wild Oats saw the victim many times and stated that she looked small but healthy. According to Mr. Tucker coconut milk is the closest liquid to break milk. Mr. Tucker knew that the victim was being fed coconut milk. According to Mr. Tucker the other children were small during infancy and the parents spent what little money they had to buy the best foods. Mr. Tucker stated that the children had healthy appetites and were never “not fed”.
page 21
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=21
-Mr. Tucker said the Joseph and Lamoy were always educating their children on how to behave and that they were well behaved
page 22
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=22
-On June 5 2003 Joseph and Lamoy were charged with Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child and four counts of Child Neglect. (how could that be legal when the autopsy report showed cause of death as “accidental”?)
page 24
http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/docs/policenarrative.html?page=24
-The victim expired at Homestead Hospital (The victim expired after being taken from the parents. Was the shock of being taken from her very attentive parents what caused the delicate child to expire? If so who should be on trial for manslaughter here? The parents wanted to go with the victim to the hospital and were not allowed to do so)
-Dr. Motte classified the cause of death as malnutrition and the manner of death as accidental.
low birth weight stats
135 deaths due to birth defects in Florida from 1996-2001
source: http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/level1.aspx?reg=12=6=109=1=4=1
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http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/tlanding.aspx?reg=12=4=0=4
Low birthweight is defined as less than 2500 grams or 5 1/2 pounds. It is also common to classify low birthweight births into moderately low birthweight (1500-2499 grams) and very low birthweight (less than 1500 grams or 3 1/3 pounds). These classifications are useful because they often correspond to clinical characteristics – increasing morbidities or illnesses with decreasing birthweight. Babies born too small are often born too soon. While the causes of low birthweight and preterm birth may be different in some cases, there is significant overlap within these populations of infants.
• In 2003, 1 in 12 babies (8.5% of live births) was low birthweight in Florida.
• In 2003, the low birthweight rate in Florida (8.5%) had not met the Healthy People 2010 objective of no more than 5.0% of live births, set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Black infants (12.6%) were about 2 times as likely as Hispanic infants (6.6%) to be born low birthweight during 2000-2002 (average)
• Compared with singleton births, multiple births in Florida were about 9 times as likely to be low birthweight in 2002.
Footnotes
• All race categories exclude Hispanic births.
• Low birthweight is less than 2500 grams (5 1/2 pounds).
• Multiple deliveries include twin, triplet and higher order deliveries.
Source
• National Center for Health Statistics, final natality data.
• Retrieved November 02, 2005, from www.marchofdimes.com/peristats. — —
Wohyah Andressohn’s weight at death was 6 lbs 15.8 ounces according to the police narrative report. Remember that this is just 2 ounces shy of 7 lbs. (there are 16 ounces in a lb.).
—-
low birth weight affects affects 1 in every 13 babies born in the U.S.
See: http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1153.asp
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Compiled by Jinjee Talifero
TheGardenDiet.com
6) Feedback
Nov. 6, 2005
The more I hear about this case the more convinced I become that the prosecution is using the Andressohns as pawns to condemn a whole diet and lifestyle philosophy. And the media, ever looking for sensationalism, is a willing accomplice to this injustice. The case has now gone to the jury. The Andressohns were talked out of testifying in their own behalf. Now we can only wait and pray for a favorable outcome.
Below is a letter from Dr. Flora who is in Florida following the case. She has brought out some other points that I was not aware of.
Rhio
Nov 6, 2005
Rhio, before, after I had fallen through the floor in VA, you had personally helped me, and now I need to ask you for help in finding Dr. Harvey Lisle for us.
This will bring you up to date on the trial. There are points that need to be emphasized, but I have all of my papers up in VA and cannot get to my addresses. Dr. Lisle lives in Norwalk, CT and he did the breakdown of food for the govt. and for some of Dr. Wigmore’s specialties. We need him also to show that the foods are adequate.
1. It is my and the witness nutritionist’s opinion that the diet was adequate (more than). The person who did the autopsy and the Medical Eaminer DID NOT EVER talk to the parents and DID NOT HAVE a list of the foods that the baby ate and the food that was given to the state was NOT EVEN ANALYZED IN THEIR LAB to determine what the nutritional components and benefits were, yet they stated in court that the diet was inadequate! Unfortunately, when a person eats raw/living foods, neither the enzymes nor the electrical current can be ‘weighed’, ‘ashed’ and analyzed, right? For instance, if I were to try to eat a baked potato, I would probably end up stuffing my face with a dozen or more and still come away feeling unsatisfied, whereas a small amount of some blueberries, watermelon or some microgreens would leave me satisfied because of the cell regenerative oxygen, living water, living energy/enzymes in the latter.
2. The prosecutor is stating that the baby’s body cannabalized itself because of malnourishment. Dr. Ehret said that a body does not eat up one’s organs in a state of fasting and that the fat disappears, but the organs remain the same. I would add, the organs would not lose weight unless parasites were eating it. In the baby, my understanding is that the organs were of normal weight for the baby’s size and other things were normal, except for the lack of thymus.
3. The person who did the autopsy said that the baby had t (thymus) -cells and that proves that the baby had a thymus. It is my understanding that t-cells originate in the spleen. Like the fact that gall stones originate in the liver. Is there anyone out there that can verify that? If that is true, then the baby could still have t-cells yet have no thymus. A famous geneticist from Miami testified that the baby had a birth defect (DiGeorge) without a thymus.
4. The coconut water that Lamoy was giving her baby (along with many other things smashed up to make a puree, and blended to make it easily assimilable) contains lauric acid which is used by the body to make the same disease-fighting fatty acid derivative monolaurin that babies makefrom the lauric acid they get from their mother’s milk. The monoglyceride monollauric is the substance that keeps infants from getting viral or bacterial or protozoal infections and supplies the bifidus-like factor that mother’s milk does. This important benefit has been largely overlooked by the medical and nutrition community. There are women worldwide who feed their babies coconut water when they cannot breast feed, along with nut milks and avocado to build up to the 50% fat that a baby needs, as Lamoy did. Without a thymus, the baby might not have been able to assimilate the ingredients from the wonderful assortment of foods that she was given, but as Annette and others testified, the baby did not look like those pictures even a week earlier. Price-Pottinger has done wonderful research on coconuts.
Joe and Lamoy have been talked out of testifying, which I personally think was a mistake, but the attacking by the prosecutor [persecutor 🙂 ] of the expert witnesses for them was scary and I hope his carefully crafted (the prosecutor’s) histrionics alienated the jury toward the prosecutor, who is doing his job well. I have been bored to tears by one of our attorneys, who seems to take forever to try to make a point and then, when he does, it seems not to be a point. I’m praying for everyone to be their best so that the truth will be able to come out.
I gave the press a copy of Steven’s photos of the Andressohn children (darling, healthy, fat cheeks, intelligent) compared to REALLY malnourished children from Africa. I hope that it was a plus. I appreciate him sending it to me. There is so much misinformation here that it’s criminal. The press keeps using wheatgrass as the only food the baby was given. They have not even bothered to find out the truth. Pray for acquittal. The judge, when he was reading the instruction to the jury, said that the only reason this is going to the jury is because the children were off the charts as far as their being of normal height and weight. When you see the parents (she is a size 1), one does not have to wonder why! They are genetically very small people. But, BIGGGGG hearts. I would like to be her baby if I ever have to ‘come back’ again. She is a super parent as far as I’m concerned and as well read as I am, perhaps.
5. The black and other colors of molds that were being fought in the apartment has never been addressed. They had to sign a release when they moved in that they would not sue the owners if they got sick. The rugs were still wet from the Kilz and chlorox and other chemicals the landlord had brought in. Lordy, I would have died. Babies are so sensitive to that kind of thing, far more than adults. I could not use Kilz on my home because of the smell and it made me sick when I smelled it in the store.
6. The fact that the ambulance attendants gave 2 medicines to the baby that were not adjusted for her mucus-free diet and size probably killed her (it would have killed me). Medicines have to work their way through the mucoid plaque of the SAD diet people, and have to be diluted for mucus-free people. When I got electocuted touching the wire in SLC, I refused 2 drugs in the ambulance and they forced saline on me and because I was salt free, the capillaries in my feet shriveled from the puckering and calcium (read “calming”) in my body went south to my urine, my feet began to get really cold and I started to die from the feet up. To intruduce something alien to a body already in stress can be fatal. If it had not been for my son, Brent, who came to the hospital and got me out of there fast, I would have died.
Thank you for letting people know about this.
Peace and love,
Dr. Flora
Nov. 6, 2005
Dear Dr. Flora,
I want to thank you soooo very much for helping the Andressohn’s get out of jail with the bail money.
I do not remember helping you in VA, could you please remind me of what I did!!!
Can I share your letter below for Part 2 of my Hotline? It brings out some points that I was not aware of such as the mold problem in their apartment and also the 2 drugs given to the baby on the way to the hospital. I was just talking to Fred Bisci yesterday about something else and he brought out the very important point that people who are on raw food could not take the amount of drugs considered as normal doses for other people, so in crisis situations, such as accidents, etc., their dosage would have to be adjusted down or they might not survive the drug, and now you point this out again in relation to your own experience and the possibility of that happening to Woyah too.
I think your points would get people thinking. My purpose is always to get people thinking instead of being sheeple.
I’m sorry I don’t know where Dr. Harvey Lisle is, but tomorrow I will call Lalita or Leola at the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico and ask them if they have a contact number for him or an address. (If anybody on my list knows, please contact me: Rhotline@aol.com
I think that it was a mistake also for Lamoy to not testify. The gentleness of her character would have surely been revealed despite the brutality of the prosecution.
We are all praying for a favorable outcome.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio
Hi,
I’ve actually been reading up on the Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn story and I disagree with what you’re telling on your website. I don’t feel the family was following all of the rules for your raw food diet. The baby that was 6 months old – died at a newborn baby weight and height. The Raw Food diet is an excellent way of life – but I don’t thiink they were doing it properly.
I do’nt think anyone is condemning them for the food they were feeding their children – I think people are criticizing them for the LACK of food they were feeding them. It’s one thing to serve your child fruits and veggies – but it’s another to use starvation as punishment. I think you need to do a little more research on this case –
Sincerely,
Chrissy
Nov. 7, 2005
Dear Chrissy,
The information that the Andressohn’s were not feeding their children is not true. In the trial testimony from several witnesses, it came out that there was always plenty of food for the children.
Perhaps you came to the idea that the Andressohn’s were depriving their children of food because of slanted newspaper headlines and articles or because of a misunderstanding of one point. Lamoy told me that one of the children liked to eat cashews and they would end up eating too many cashews and then become constipated. So, for that one child, they did ration the cashews so that the child would not overdo it. This cannot be construed in any way, shape or form as withholding the food the children needed for sustenance, as it was only to help one child not to overindulge on the nuts.
And where did you get the information that they used starvation as punishment? I haven’t heard about this? Could you tell me more?
Rhio
Nov. 7, 2005
Hi Rhio,
I have chosen to discuss the Andressohn’s tragic ordeal at tonight’s Raw Health and Happiness Society raw support group meeting. Please feel free to join us of you’d like. We’ll be at Pure Food & Wine from 6:30-8:00pm.
Be well,
Stephen Parker
Nov. 8, 2005
Dear Stephen,
Thanks for taking this up for discussion with your group because, to date, the raw food community has been very lax in their support for the Andressohns. I have been very disappointed that even with my hotline info, I have been able to garner barely a whimper, and it’s a huge list.
Rhio
In a message dated 11/8/05 11:39:26 AM, Stephen writes:
Hi Rhio,
We had a great discussion last night. I just saw on the news that the Andressohns were acquitted of manslaughter charges. Our group last night decided to give $250 to their legal fund! I’m sure that they will still need it.
Regarding the newsletter, it sounds like you haven’t heard the message I left for you last week. I am not currently publishing it so it’s ok to take it off of the listing on your site. However, I am working on two related projects that I will be happy to tell you about once they are a little more solidified.
Our group doesn’t have a pot luck; we keep talking about starting one but we haven’t gotten around to it!
Great to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Stephen
Dear Stephen,
I’m so glad that your group raised some money for the Andressohns. Yes, they do need it as they haven’t been able to work because of the trial in Sept. which took place in the Family Court and which ruled in their favor, and now this criminal trial.
Even though they were acquitted of aggravated manslaughter (which of course is a relief) there are still the counts of supposed child neglect against them which were upheld. Those charges stem wholly from the children being fed a raw food diet, so there’s where the indictment against our lifestyle choice comes in, and it has set a precedent, and we in the raw community will pay the price for it.
The other thing that needs to come out, but hasn’t, in the news articles, is the fact that when the prosecutors used the Andressohn’s own children to testify against them, they were the only ones that had access to the children. The defense had no access whatsoever. Now we all know that children can be swayed and manipulated. The first time the prosecutors went to see the children, they didn’t even talk about the case. They just brought them chocolates to eat and tried to become their friends. The following time, they also brought gifts but then they did talk about the case. So, you see, there was definitely manipulation going on there. Add that to the fact that the aunt (Joseph’s sister) who is caring for the children is hostile to the raw lifestyle and has tried to turn the children against their parents. I think the testimony of the children went against the parents but you have to remember that 2 1/2 years ago, the 7 year old was 4 1/2 and the 9 year old was less than 6 1/2 (approx.) What can a 4 1/2 year old and a 6 1/2 year old really remember clearly, especially when swayed by chocolate bearing “friends.”? [the prosecutors.]
Thank you for your efforts in behalf of the Andressohn’s.
Rhio
Nov. 7, 2005
Hi Rhio,
Thank you for picking the newsletter back up and letting us know what you and Leigh are doing ~ I have no doubt the farm is
keeping you busy!
About the Andressohns ~ I am glad they have been acquitted for the death of their child and sorry they have been charged for their other children.
The point this incident brings to mind is how important it is for individuals practicing the raw and living food diet and lifestyle to be continually educating themselves on raw and living nutrition. I’m still learning myself, and am interested in gathering a compendium of resources and information on the topics of pre~ and postnatal nutrition, and nutrition for infants and children.
There are a few resources I know of for raising raw kids, and thriving throughout pregnancy on raw and living food nutrition. They are listed as follows:
Baby Greens: A Live-Food Approach for Children of All Ages by Michaela Lynn and Michael Chrisemer
Conscious Eating, by Gabriel Cousens (contains a chapter on nutrition for pregnancy)
Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, by Gabriel Cousens (contains a chapter on live~food babies and children)
[These books are available on this website, Rhio]
Educational Program: Master of Arts in Vegan & Live Food Nutrition through The College of Living Arts, offered by Gabriel
Cousens and Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, et al.
http://treeoflife.nu/education.html
I am sending this to Jinjee Talifero as well so she can add the web pages and e-books containing information about pregnancy,
birthing, and child~raising on raw and living food nutrition. (Thank you, Jinjee and Storm!)
Thank you for your help in getting the words out there!
I look forward to sharing information, inspiration and joy.
Love and blessings,
Megan Riley
Nov. 10, 2005
Highlights of my (Rhio) telephone conversation with Annette Larkins:
Last evening I spoke with Annette Larkins (www.annettelarkins.com) who brought me up to speed on the doings in the courtroom as she had served as a witness for the defense in both trials. Annette said that her feeling was that the conviction for negligence was because the children were never taken to the doctor. Annette feels that if they had been taken to a doctor for checkups, etc., that there would never have been a conviction because the children were healthy. Annette shared that Lamoy was disappointed in the decision because she wanted to be exonerated on all counts, but Annette counseled Lamoy that at least now they know they will not be imprisoned for 30 years. While there may still be some jail time, the feeling is they might receive very little or just probation. In any case, the decision paves the way for them to be reunited with their children, although there is still a ways to go. The sentencing is scheduled for December 15, 2005.
I told Annette that I was disappointed in the raw community’s response to this situation – while there was some support for the Andressohns – it was nowhere near where it should have been. The conviction sets a precedent in the court for other raw family’s that have lost custody of their children. The raw community will pay a steep price for their lack of interest/support in this case. What caused this lack of interest and apathy?
We are living in an era of incredible upheaval, worldwide. There are wars going on with thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians being killed; there are soldiers losing arms, legs, eyes, sanity; there is depleted uranium radiation polluting the war areas and spreading around the world; there is mind-boggling corruption; the planet itself seems to be in rebellion against the “human parasite” (a term used by Kurt Vonnegut recently). It’s enough to make you want to bury your head in the covers or forget all about it in brain-numbing TV.
I don’t know if this had anything to do with the apathy or if the raw community is just too self involved at the moment to see the whole picture of how the Andressohn decision could affect their lives in the future.
With the raw food movement’s potential to explode into the mainstream consciousness in the next few years, the need for a viable structure to support our lifestyle becomes really important. We need doctors, nurses, nutritionists, lawyers, judges, reporters, writers, scientists, researchers, etc. who are knowledgeable about and supportive of our lifestyle, so that when people run into situations such as the Andressohn’s they will have the support network needed to defend them. Just as the cooked food, drug and allopathic model is accepted as legitimate in people’s minds. We, in our community, need a raw food, drugless and wholistic model that will be made legitimate in people’s minds. While I choose the second model, I acknowledge that others have the right to choose the first model. There needs to be freedom of choice in health matters, just as there is in religious matters.
Annette said that the last time she saw baby Woyah was four days before her death when the Andressohn’s came to visit and they enjoyed a meal together while baby Woyah lay peacefully asleep in her bed. It was an enjoyable visit and they were all looking forward to their next visit when Annette promised to make a raw pizza. Annette said that she was in her bedroom four days later when she turned on the TV and the news of Woyah’s death was flashed on the screen. Annette says that she holds the vision of their next visit when they will all come together to finally eat that raw pizza. Let it be, Let it be. Amen. Rhio
ps: An interesting and funny side note. Annette, as some of you know is a 60-something 30 year old. That is, she looks much younger than her biological age. When the prosecutor found this out, he said he wanted some of that. He gave Annette his phone number and is interested in learning more about the raw food diet. Wouldn’t it be something if he lived to regret his aggressive prosecution of this loving family!
In a message dated 11/11/05 8:54:53 AM, KHRANZI writes:
Hi Rhio,
I have been writing back and forth to Steven Gibb about the Andressohn case, and also spoke at length to Andrew Field, their defense lawyer. As I mentioned a short while back, Matthew Grace and I are working hard at trying to organize a Coalition for Parents Rights so that this type of situation will not happen again without a huge response. We now have a mission statement and are writing about an article on our plans. When finished, would you be able to include it in your hotline? Thank you again for the wonderful work you do for the raw food community!
Warmly,
Karen
Nov. 11, 2005
hi rhio it is great to have your newsletters back again- i have not yet had the time to read them but am saving them so i can give them the time and attention they deserve. I trust you are both well and thriving.
warm regards
Dorit
In a message dated 11/12/05 3:17:16 PM, Lois writes:
Rhio, I would love to send you $100.00 for your book and as a donation for this dear family, the Andresohn’s. However, I can’t use a credit card, so was hoping I could send you a money order? I will need a mailing address though. I am Lois _______________
Thanks for helping out this dear family through your recipe book.
Lois
Dear Lois,
Oh, thank you sooo much. You can send the money order made out to: Lamoy Andressohn
and send it to me at:
Rhio’s Raw Energy
PO Box 2040
Canal Street Station
New York, NY 10013
(ADDRESS NO LONGER VIABLE)
When I receive it, I will forward it on to them and send you a signed copy of my book, as promised, to the address you have below .
Please hold the good thought that the sentencing on December 15 will be light – probation only. They’ve suffered enough.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio
Nov. 12, 2005
Hi Rhio,
Thanks for sending me this information about the Andressohn’s trial, It all doesn’t make much sense, here a family is giving their children the best food possible while thousands of parents are getting away with feeding their children processed dead foods with no nutrition or artificial nutrition, laced with chemicals and pesticides resulting in unhealthy overweight children causing disease and sickness at a much younger age. How a child must suffer from being overweight. These are the parent’s that should be on trial. There is enough information out today for parents to know the foods that are healthy for their children.
THANKS FOR ALL YOU ARE DOING!
PATTY
In a message dated 11/11/05 11:34:10 AM, Madelyn writes:
this sounds like one big fanatic negligent soup for about a dozen reasons
– – perhaps not intentionally but nonetheless negligent.
when food or anything else becomes your religion, it is not a good sign
madelyn
Nov. 12, 2005
Name them.
Rhio
Nov. 12, 2005
Rhio: Oh, so many distortions and biases in the letter below, but I asked for it didn’t I? But it’s good to see how people are thinking about the situation to try to understand their reasoning.
Madelyn: rhio, let’s be real. if you don’t have a decent paying job, don’t have 4 kids. u don’t take babies out at midnight to pick fruit because that is when u get home from your odd job. u need to do more than just pay the electricity to have children.
Rhio: Who said it was midnight? I didn’t hear anything about midnight. The moon comes up before midnight. And I have been known to work in my garden after dark too. What’s the big deal? It sounds charming to me and many who knew them said that they were a very close-knit family who always went everywhere together. But your statement here also shows bias against poor people and what they need to do to take care of their families which I will address last below.
Madelyn: when her son had his cashews rationed ’cause it made him constipated’, could she have afforded some figs for him? did she give him nething else to eat instead of the cashews? appears that this was a regimented woman who did not recognize the extent of his appetite because she could not afford to satisfy it.
Rhio: Of course she could and did give him other food. The social workers who visited the home said there was plenty of food there.
Madelyn: if you can’t afford health care for your kids, don’t have them. it is one thing not believing in conventional health care remedies and another not having options. when a 5 month old baby is only 7 lbs, it means the baby is not thriving due to a cause. this is a mother with several other children so should not be surprise to her unless her judgment is warped. in the very least get the baby examined and tested and then choose to ignore conventional medical treatment but seek other remedies and have information on your baby’s life. u just don’t see a 7 lb baby at 5 months and go about business as usual soaking your almonds and sprinting your other mal nourished kids. the first 6 months of a childs life is critical in the area of nutrients. but even if the baby was not nutrient deficient, if the baby is not thriving, you need to seek professional help to gather information as to why.
Rhio: Again the bias against poor people and what they can or cannot have/afford (my answer below). According to eye witnesses, the children were small but looked healthy and were never sick. According to the Andressohn’s previous experience with their other children, their children were all small at first, as was Lamoy herself when she was a baby. Lamoy is a size 1 woman. This is very small, tiny. It’s probably not in her genetics to have large babies. The Japanese people and some other ethnic groups are very small and I imagine their weight charts are different from ours. Was this taken into consideration?
Madelyn: but honestly, if tests showed this baby was nutrient deficient, they wouldn’t have given the baby them neway because it was against their religion, they couldn’t afford it and it wasn’t part of the regimen. this is a family in total denial hiding behind their religions beliefs, chemical fanaticism and regimentation.
Rhio: So you’re thinking that if they had had their baby tested and it was found to be nutrient deficient that they wouldn’t have acted upon that information? That’s nonsense. And what do you mean by chemical fanaticism? I don’t understand this statement.
Madelyn: religion is great but it is vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.
this is not about the type of food they were feeding their kids but the quality and variety of food which they obviously could not afford. raw does not have to mean emaciated.
this is not about their decision not to vaccinate their kids but about that their children were not thriving to the point of death and they
couldn’t surmise nething wrong because they were busy picking tangerines by moonlight and soaking the tannic acid from the almonds. or, refusing heath care or not seeking it because they couldn’t afford it.
i am sure none of this was intentional on their part but none the less negligent with a capital N.
is wheat grass juice appropriate for a newborn? who made that one up?
like nething else, fanaticism and negligence either by intention or ignorance lives in the raw community also.
Rhio: Many distortions here. Might as well call animals who eat raw food fanatic and negligent — of course that would be all of them, when left to their own resources in Nature.
The Andressohn children were not at the “point of death”. In the Family Court trial it was proven through blood and other tests that the children were in normal health, though at slightly lower weights than what our weight charts dictate. I already addressed this above. Jinjee did a very good investigation of this. You can find it on: www.thegardendiet.com/andressohntrial.html
In the Family Court trial the judge did not grant the prosecution’s request for TPR (termination of parental rights) because of what? Because the judge did not find “clear and convincing evidence” for any wrong doing. There was plenty of food – your repetition of the contention that they were depriving their children of food because they could not afford it is wrong and unfounded. Lamoy worked at a health food store, she had access to food, they were shopping at health food stores. They had access to food from neighboring farms. THEY BOUGHT FOOD FOR THEIR FAMILY. Wheatgrass juice is not a food that I would necessarily feed to a baby though it is nutrient dense, BUT does anyone on this list think Gerber’s is appropriate for babies? I surmise that in their effort to get the best for their baby after Lamoy could no longer breast feed they added diluted wheatgrass juice, as well as almond and sesame milk and other items to her diet.
Madelyn: when i was a raw vegan i became very sick. all the raw vegans told me it had nothing to to with my diet cause you get full nutrients from being a vegan. i went to the doctor (a rare occurrence for me because i don’tl ike them). i was tested and learned i was b12 deficient. since i don’t fare well with supplkments i made an immediate decision not to be a vegan nemore and in 3 months was fine. balance. judgment. when u see something isn’t working, u gotta change it,
Rhio: I am sorry that you became sick as a raw vegan, but there are many raw vegans that are healthy and thriving. You could have found a solution to your anemia through consuming more greens, pollen, a wider variety of vegetables, some home grown vegetables, some fermented foods and Jerusalem artichokes to get your intestinal bacteria balanced and other items rather than immediately going back to consuming animal products. Hey, but that’s your choice. (This statement is not to be considered as medical advice, only as an observation.)
Madelyn: they saw it wasn’t working for the newborn and they kept going on in denial. that’s negligence.
Rhio: Nonsense.
Now, I’d like to address your bias towards the poor and I’ll leave it there since I don’t have the time to explore your bias towards religious beliefs.
The majority of the poor do not choose poverty for themselves. To understand poverty worldwide you have to inform yourself about the Enclosure Movements of the 15th, 16th centuries in Europe and which continues up until the very present time in some countries. The Enclosure Movements threw millions of peasants off their land because the elites wanted to use the land to graze sheep to supply the growing and lucrative export market for wool. Millions of people were disenfranchised and displaced into the cities just in time (is it a coincidence?) to supply cheap labor for the industrial revolution. In the last 12 years, 28 million people have been “enclosed” off of their land in Brazil and herded into the ghettos. In our country due to government negligence, misdeeds and corruption, tens of thousands are being displaced from their homes right now in New Orleans as a new strata of poor is being created.
Now if the above seems far fetched and you want to know what does all this have to do specifically with the Andressohn’s? Lamoy is from Jamaica. She probably would still be in Jamaica if our government hadn’t created a strata of poverty there through the International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans with obscene interest rates and even more obscene conditions attached, that succeeded in pulverizing that nation’s economy and people. You can get the whole story in a movie on dvd called “Life and Debt”. Many Jamaicans and other ethnicities have sought refuge in the US after our policies have devastated their country’s economies. The economy of Argentina crashed in 2002 after a 20 year association with the IMF. All these things are connected.
So to blame the poor for being poor and then to say they should not have a family until they are able to afford it is an elitist attitude that would seek to deny the poor the riches of family life and love that is within their reach.
The rich accumulate wealth on the backs and labors of the poor and middle class and many of them are so greedy they don’t want to give back even a decent living wage. Look at the devastation that Wal Mart has wrought in US communities, such that some communities are finally barring them from coming in. And in China WalMart gets away with paying 13 cents an hour to the workers who make toys for American markets, it’s wrong and you know it. Poverty here and around the world is all connected.
And this whole pattern of greed follows through with health care, education, etc.
Below find a few quotes on enclosure movements.
from Land Rights Movements by Prof. Dan Bromley:
“The early South African regimes were not materially different from those found elsewhere. But following World War II, when colonialism went out of style, and when many nations embarked on a more congenial relationship with their native inhabitants, the government of South Africa took a decided turn away from liberalization. Forced removals, usually in the middle of the night, resulted in the relocation of approximately 75 percent of the total population into “homelands” comprising less than 14 percent of the land. These black homelands were then governed by puppet black rulers propped up with financial and military assistance from Johannesburg. The intense population pressure in the homelands, coupled with the withdrawal of male workers to the mines and factories, left the homelands bereft of its best workers, and destitute. Poverty compounded the problems of natural resource degradation.”
from Colonised Land, Colonised Mind by Alastair McIntosh:
“One of the countless harrowing accounts of the Clearances is from Catherine MacPhee of North Uist. She speaks with the bardic power of an Old Testament prophet:
“Many a thing have I seen in my own day and generation. Many a thing, O Mary Mother of the black sorrow! I have seen the townships swept, and the big holdings being made of them, the people being driven out of the countryside to the streets of Glasgow and to the wilds of Canada, such of them as did not die of hunger and plague and smallpox while going across the ocean. I have seen the women putting the children in the carts which were being sent from Benbecula and the Iochdar to Loch Boisdale, while their husbands lay bound in the pen and were weeping beside them, without power to give them a helping hand, though the women them-selves were crying aloud and their little children wailing like to break their hearts. I have seen the big strong men, the champions of the countryside, the stalwarts of the world, being bound on Loch Boisdale quay and cast into the ship as would be done to a batch of horses or cattle in the boat, the bailiffs and the ground-officers and the constables and the policemen gathered behind them in pursuit of them. The God of life and He only knows all the loathsome work of men on that day
“Such cruelty was actually inflicted across much of Europe in the past. What distinguishes the Scottish Highlands and Ireland is its recency. Closeness to the folk memory is why these places are now taking the lead in effecting land restitution.”
Nov. 14, 2005
hi rhio:
thanks for your heartfelt and detailed response.
no matter what arguments u give, it is clear to me that she did not do enuf for a baby who was not thriving. a newborn baby can not negotiate and relies on her caretaker. there is a HUGE difference between a mother who has small children and a baby who is not thriving. 7 lbs at 5 months is a huge red flag. huge red flag. just because mommy is a size one it does not make that weight normal for a baby at 5 months. the first 6 months is a critical time for newborns. and wheat grass is poison to a newborn.
your argument for justifying feeding a newborn wheatgrass because some people feed their babies gerber is a poor one. her ignorance and denial placed that baby at risk. not even a midwife would tell u that is a normal weight for a newborn.
as for my problems being a raw vegan, i ate plenty of greens and know all about pollen, Jerusalem artichokes, etc. my deficiency was arrested and i am very glad i did not take any more chances being a vegan. i am a strong believer that persons on a raw vegan diet should have their homocysteine and b12 levels tested periodically before irreversible nerve damage and heart problems arise. the majority of vegans are not thriving long term. and many of them who do are lying about being 100% vegan. they take periodic bites of the liver they feed their cats, bites of cakes made with egg etc.
show me a Japanese mother of 5 who is a size 1. this is no trend in japan.
and i know plenty of jamaicans. being a size 1 has nothing to do with jamaican culture.
and i never said they should not have had a family because they r poor. i said they should not have had 4 kids.
madelyn
Nov. 12, 2005
rhio
you are invited to join serenityspaces@yahoogroups.com and post all your announcements there as well as the newsletter so it will reach a wider audience. My email list has grown beyond the point where i am able to fwd these very important announcements so i started a grp where people can post things themselves
all the very best
Dorit
c/o Serenity Spaces
310-854-2078
http://www.serenityspaces.org
Nov. 13, 2005
Dear Dorit,
I think it’s wonderful that your group has grown so much.
Remember, that my posts have political content, and that shakes up some people in the raw community and I don’t want to be the cause of you losing any people on your list. My recent 3-part hotline lost me 15 people … but I also gained a few new ones. So let me know what you think, because of course, I would be happy to spread my hotlines around.
Thanks,
Rhio
Rhio,
I believe that if people do not like the message then they will not read it -simply that – i am not concerned about the outcome i believe that your voce is crucial and what you convey is very important- in any case, the people in the grp who have already signed up can opt not to read whatever they do not wish so pls feel free not to censor yourself and thanks very much for this very worthy contribution you are making
Dorit
Nov. 20, 2005
From Steven Gibb
Steven: Lamoy said this after I asked her how she felt about what was going on…
Lamoy: I’m honored that God chose me instead of someone else. I’m not sure why God chose me but knew it was for bigger reasons than I could comprehend. I’m not upset or mad at the people who are doing this to me because they feel they are doing what they are trained to do to protect me and my children. I don’t like being on the hot seat but know I have to do this for the children of the future.
In a message dated 12/8/05 2:43:38 PM, info@rawfriends.com writes:
Rhio, this is the type of e-mails [see below] I get and have no patience to answer when they have all the facts. How would you address this?
Steven
I read your story about the family with the neglected children, and alot of what was written was wrong.
For adults to live on a raw foods diet is not wrong if they choose to do so, but many vitamins, minerals and proteins, and calcium is missed with this type of diet for children to grow normally.
If these children were so healthy as you say, why were they grossly underweight, and have distended bellies? Why were their arms and legs abnormally thin? If they were so healthy, why did they begin to gain weight after their father’s half sister began to feed them proper food?
Your claim that the children all became sick after eating meat and potatoes, and coming down with flu like symptoms is very typical after being starved. The body reacts like this after eating foods it is not familiar with. If a person goes on a 40 day fast, after eating again will have diarrhea and stomach pains until their body adjusts to the food. The food creates gases in the stomach until they adjust.
Nothing you can say will make me believe these children should be returned to their parents. Perhaps they thought what they were doing was best for the kids, but it wasn’t. If it was right, the kids would not have been underweight. The children said they were punished for telling their parents they were hungry. This is not normal behavior on a loving parents part. If they were loving and concerned as you say, they would have made adjustments to their diet so the kids were not hungry all they time. The children were given enemas all the time. On a raw foods diet there is no need for that because there is nothing in that type of diet to plug up your colon.
If the children were so “healthy” as you claim why were they all in diapers? They peed and messed themselves at night because their muscles were so weak from malnourishment they could not work properly. On a raw diet, there is nothing much to poop out, so most of the waste would be liquid.
Be careful when you are defending parent’s right to feed their kids as they want. Some parents do things out of religious beliefs and are so crazy about these kinds of diets they just use no common sense. They are so wrong while thinking what they are doing is right because they are deceived. Don’t forget that the half sister testified her half brother had these diet beliefs because of being Black Hebrew.
There isn’t anything wrong with adults going on any type of diet they want, but it is wrong for the children because living on those foods alone is malnourishment, no matter how you look at it.
They homeschooled because they knew their children didn’t look right, and were malnourished and they didn’t want school officials sticking their nose in their lifestyle. They also didn’t immunize and take their kids to the doctor because of interference with the pediatrician. They hid their kids from the public because of their terrible beliefs.
You believe that parents have the right to live whatever lifestyle they want and nobody should interfere. They do when they are not starving their children. They don’t when they are part of a cult who believes you cannot eat anything other than raw foods. When your children look like third world babies, you do not have the right to have whatever eating beliefs you want.
Apparently the court thinks so also, because they have been charged with neglect of their other children.
From a concerned reader.
Dear Steven,
I have answered letters similar to the one you sent, but with one important difference. The person in this letter is intractable and says “Nothing you can say will make me believe these children should be returned to their parents.” So, there is the answer. i would already be forewarned that this person has their mind made up and so it would not be worth the time and effort to answer their distortions.
To see some of the letters that I did answer, go to my website and look in the Nov 2005 Hotline.
Have a wonderful New Year.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio
Raw Inspiration – 11/13/05 – Andressohns Not Guilty!
********************************************
The raw-vegan Andressohn couple have been acquitted on charges of manslaughter of their infant but found guilty on four counts of child neglect of their older children. They could face anywhere from 20 years to just probation to be decided on December 15th. Their lawyer told me if he had received my graphic showing the Andressohn children next to third world children earlier it may have helped (see http://www.thegardendiet.com/andressohntrial.com ). They will use it in the next court battle. I think the DVD release of our film is timely as it answers a lot of questions raised by the trial in regards to the issue of the raw vegan diet for children. Our film is now available on DVD from http://www.BreakthroughTheDocumentary.com Full NBC story on the Andressohns: http://www.nbc6.net/news/5281668/detail.html
Jinjee
December 31, 2005
Dear Rhio:
I thought you would like to know that today I received a letter from Lamoy Andressohn. They received the financial contribution from our group, The Raw Health and Happiness Society, and she wrote to express her gratitude. In her letter she expressed excitement over the prospect that she might soon be reunited with her children. She also expressed her joy over their baby that has been born in the interim of their ordeal.
This Monday I’ll be sharing Lamoy’s letter with the group. We’d love to see you if you can make it. We meet in the private room at Pure Food and Wine, Monday, promptly at 6:30.
Happy New Year!
Ciao,
Stephen Parker
7) Decision
Parents Acquitted In ‘Raw Food Diet’ Baby Case
Parents Acquitted Of Manslaughter
In a split decision Monday, Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn were found not guilty of manslaughter
in the death of their 6-month-old daughter. But the couple was found guilty of criminal neglect
against their other four children. The Andressohns said they hope to be reunited with their children soon.
NBC6.net November 7, 2005
UPDATED: 11:07 am EST November 8, 2005
MIAMI — Two parents were acquitted Monday of aggravated manslaughter in the death of their 6-month-old daughter, whom prosecutors argued was malnourished because she was fed a strict raw foods diet.
However, Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn were found guilty of four counts of child neglect for each of their other children, who were also on the diet. The parents face anywhere from probation to 20 years in prison at sentencing set for Dec. 15. The jury deliberated two hours.
Defense lawyers say they will argue for no jail time for the Andressohns, and say they should instead stay with their baby who was born since they were charged in this case and eventually be reunited with their other children.
“They will be reunited with their family. That is my goal,” defense lawyer Ellis Rubin said. “They’re already under a family plan that, if they obey, they’re going to get their children in a year.”
The couple thanked God after the trial and said they considered the split verdict a victory. The four other children, two boys and two girls, are now in the custody of an aunt. The Andressohns said they haven’t seen them in more than two years.
“I can’t wait to see my children,” said Lamoy Andressohn, who remained free on bond with her husband.
“I do consider it a victory, although, our daughter’s still not here,” Joseph Andressohn said.
Assistant State Attorney Herbert Walker III said he was surprised and disappointed by the verdict because he thought the child neglect charges were harder to prove than manslaughter.
Woyah Andressohn weighed about 7 pounds, half the normal weight for her age, when she died in May 2003. Prosecutors said the unorthodox diet of wheat grass, coconut water and almond milk caused the girl to starve to death. The Andressohns ate and fed their children only natural, uncooked foods.
“This is a person who didn’t grow and thrive because she was not fed the proper nutrients,” Walker said in closing arguments.
He added that the Andressohns’ religious beliefs didn’t permit “medical treatment or services for their children.”
The couple’s defense was that the girl had DiGeorge syndrome, a rare chromosomal disorder in which a person is missing the thymus gland that produces T-cells necessary for development of a healthy immune system. That led to her death, their lawyer argued.
Rubin also argued that she might have survived if a Homestead police officer and paramedics had taken her more speedily to the hospital instead of trying to revive her.
8) Family’s Tragedy: A Different View
Family’s Tragedy: A Different View (Miami Herald)
by David Kidwell and Tere Figueras
New York, July 2003: Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn live a poor, unusual, dedicated life.
They pick tangerines by moonlight.
They soak buckets of almonds overnight to remove all of the tannic acid — a substance that tints river water brown — before beginning their frequent ritual of making almond milk with a complex brew of ground almonds, flax, coconut water and sunflower seeds.
They spend hours every day shopping or searching fields for the right foods, cleaning them and preparing them with the single-minded notion that nothing impure — no chemicals, no processed sugar, no animal fat — should enter the bodies of their children.
”It takes work to live a life like that, hard work,” said Kristi Doyne-Bailey, 40, of Homestead, a close friend. “These people are the most dedicated people I have ever met when it comes to their children. That’s what makes this nightmare so hard to believe.”
On June 6, Joseph, 34, and Lamoy, 27, were jailed on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child — defined as child neglect or abuse that causes death — and four counts of neglect. They face up to 30 years in prison on the manslaughter charge.
Prosecutors and police say the Andressohns’ misguided dedication to a diet of raw fruits, vegetables and other organic foods deprived their children of important nutrients.
Authorities contend the Andressohns watched their daughter, Woyah, wither away in their Homestead apartment and that when they finally called for an ambulance, it was too late. When she died May 15 at just 5 months old, she weighed 7 pounds, less than half the weight of the average girl her age.
Their four other children — Yahshwa, 6; Mykahya, 4; Behyah, 3; and Rahyah, 1 12 — were also malnourished and underweight, authorities say. The state placed them in foster care and does not want them going back to their parents.
Friends of the family say this is more than they can fathom. Of all people, they believe, the two who could never be considered bad parents are Joe and Lamoy Andressohn. In their minds, Joe and Lamoy are guilty only of caring too much.
More than a dozen people interviewed with ties to the Andressohns — former landlords, co-workers, close friends, minor acquaintances, even neighbors (who anonymously reported them to the Florida Department of Children & Families more than once) — portray the couple as dedicated parents. Some spoke to The Herald on condition they not be named because the Andressohns did not want them speaking publicly.
”I’m not saying no mistakes were made. They should have had a raw-foods doctor a lot sooner,” one friend said. “But until the end, that baby was alert and happy, and they just didn’t see it coming. We are all convinced there was something else wrong. To blame this on their diet is just not right.”
INFANT’S LIFE
Prosecutors say they took into account the Andressohns’ apparent dedication to their family but that the life of an infant is worth too much to overlook their negligence.
”To forgive the starvation of a child as if it’s nothing more than a petty traffic violation is very difficult to fathom,” said Ed Griffith, spokesman for the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office. “The fact a 5-month-old child starved to death in the custody of her parents is a sad comment about parental concern.”
Despite what authorities say, friends contend the children were bright and healthy, and a lawyer advising the Andressohns has said they want an independent autopsy. They believe some other condition must have killed their child.
Joe and Lamoy married in March 1995. He was 26. She was 19. He was born and raised in Miami by Puerto Rican parents. Lamoy was born in Jamaica and came to the United States with her family. Joe has been paying child support for a 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
Life was a financial struggle from the beginning. Both had entry-level retail jobs, often in health-food stores and markets.
For several years in the late 1990s, Joe worked at a booth at an Opa-locka flea market, selling trinkets, incense and vitamins at a store called The Mushroom. He made $300 per week.
Their first son, Yahshwa, was born Sept. 21, 1996. Within a year, the couple were living in the backyard apartment of a longtime friend of Joe’s parents, Emilio Abreu.
”They showed up one day with nowhere to go,” Abreu recalled. “I’ve known his father since we were knee high, back in Puerto Rico. Joe was always a good boy, so I let him stay.”
The Andressohns left in 2000. They now had three children. For a time, according to employees of Wild Oats, the family lived out of their van. Joe lost his job at the Miami Beach branch of Wild Oats because of chronic tardiness, according to Sonja Tuitele, a Wild Oats spokeswoman.
INTO LIFESTYLE
By then, the family was into the natural-foods lifestyle full tilt.
”Joe mentioned once that he was really overweight, 250 pounds, and had a lot of complications,” said Annette Larkins, a raw-food enthusiast who befriended the Andressohns when they came to one of her seminars. “They tried a living-food diet, and things immediately started getting better.”
The deeper they delved into eating only uncooked and vegetarian foods, the better they felt, friends said.
The Andressohns also adopted a religion that supported their choice, friends said. They became Hebrew Israelites, a faith that preaches blacks are God’s chosen people and espouses natural eating.
TAKEN EVERYWHERE
The couple would take the children everywhere they went — shopping, picking fruit and vegetables, everywhere. The time they had and what little money they made was consumed supporting their diet, although neighbors said they took an April trip to Disney World.
Lamoy’s third and fourth children were born while she was working behind the juice bar at Wild Oats in Pinecrest. She left after the birth of her first daughter, Rahyah, on Oct. 25, 2001.
Doyne-Bailey, a former co-worker of Lamoy’s, ran into the whole family at Wild Oats recently. They got into a long discussion about home schooling.
”She knew that I do it, and she and Joe were asking me all kinds of questions,” Doyne-Bailey said. “She really wanted to do it right. She wanted a program, a curriculum, and she wanted it to be something the school district would support.”
Less than a year ago, the family moved to a Homestead apartment complex.
Neighbors described Lamoy as soft-spoken and reserved but a mother who liked things regimented.
EXERCISE PROGRAM
Besides home schooling, the family also followed a regimen of daily sprints through the small courtyard, push-ups and jumping jacks.
”You would see her running around, too, right up until the baby was born,” neighbor Lorette Miller said.
All five Andressohn children were born at home, the first three with the help of a midwife. Joseph delivered Rahyah and, on Nov. 26, Woyah.
None of the children was vaccinated. Friends said the Andressohns saw doctors as good for healing wounds or broken bones but nothing more.
Miller, a devout Christian, said she often tried to discuss religion with Lamoy — but met stormy resistance from Joe.
”We got into it one day outside,” Miller said. “He told me Jesus was a lie, my religion was a lie.”
Miller said she disagreed with the Andressohns’ lifestyle — the diet, the religion, the aversity to doctors — but acknowledged the Andressohns seemed like good parents.
PARENTAL PRESENCE
Joe worked odd jobs and would relieve his wife after coming home from work.
”Their electricity was paid for, their kids were never left alone. How many parents around here can say that?” Miller said.
Still, neighbors reported the Andressohns to the child welfare agency more than once. Complaints about the children’s eating habits came in February and March. During a March visit to the home, when a DCF investigator asked what Woyah was fed, Lamoy produced a baby bottle with wheat-grass juice, according to DCF records.
The accepted wisdom is that breast milk — or formula derived from milk or soy — should be the primary food for an infant’s first year. Despite this, the investigator concluded there were no signs of neglect.
The administrator who ran the DCF’s Miami district at the time called this “a critical lapse.”
On May 11, the DCF got another call.
DOCTOR ORDERED
”They are very thin and their stomachs look bloated,” the report said about the children. The next day, a DCF investigator told Lamoy to take the children to a doctor. The investigator said she needed to see Woyah, who at the time was out of the home with her father. But no one from the DCF saw the baby from then on.
Woyah died three days later.
That day, her siblings were taken by the DCF and put into foster care, where they have stayed on a vegetarian diet but have begun to eat cooked and processed food. They are slowly gaining weight, authorities say.
The Andressohns have contended in court that their children’s health is suffering because of the new diet.
Their friends say the Andressohns have been made a scapegoat for the DCF, which has been under constant criticism since it lost track of 5-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson more than a year ago. Wilson has not been found.
‘It’s really convenient for them to be saying that it’s all the parents’ fault now,” one close friend said. “But if these kids were so starved and emaciated, why didn’t DCF see it in February and March, when the neighbors were calling?”
The DCF has fired the investigator who visited the home May 12, as well as her supervisor.
The agency has declined to talk about the case because it has not completed its investigation.
Joe and Lamoy remain in jail, unable to post $100,000 bond each.
On June 7, while passing the hours before a court hearing, they sang with friends in the courthouse lobby. They sang This Land Is Your Land, but with the word ”fruit” instead of “land.”
No matter how Woyah died, friends say, the Andressohns should not be in jail.
One friend, Susan Miller, cried when she was told of their arrest.
”I remember the last time I was with them as a family,” Miller said. “I saw the baby. She was happy and alert, and I know that my human instincts would have alerted me if something was wrong.
”We all went out to pick tangerines by moonlight, because that was as soon as Joe could get off work,” Miller said. “Everyone was happy and having a great time.”
Herald staff writer Sofia Santana contributed to this report.
8) Links to other News Articles
Nutritionist Testifies Raw Food Formula Could Be Adequate For Baby
Defense Expert: Baby Died Of Natural Causes, Not Malnutrition
Boys Testify in Parents’ Trial Over Baby Sister’s Death
Defense: Birth Defect, Not Vegan Diet, Caused Baby’s Death
Couple Accused Of Starving Baby To Death Barred From Seeing Children
And, One More Letter:
In a message dated 1/18/06 12:14:38 PM, Dwight writes:
Hi, friend. I was following the case of the Andressohns but I lost track of what the latest situation is on this case. I am in full support of the Andressohn’s right to live a lifestyle of their own choosing as long as they are not forcing an extreme diet on their children. I recall reading somewhere that the Andressohns chose their lifestyle as part of their religion. It amazes me that the court system in our country would pursue a case like this when our federal and state governments do nothing to stop the abuses in fanatical Mormon communities where young girls (13 and above) are forced to marry uncles and other close relatives. Justice has truly fallen in the streets of America.
While I agree with the right of people to be vegans, I was concerned about one thing that I saw during the court trial as reported on Court TV. I believe the older boy was questioned and he stated that he was always hungry. I don’t agree that parents should withhold food from children simply to follow a particular kind of diet. Our diet should be of a nature to curb our hunger and provide the adequate nourishment we need. I know many vegans and they are quite healthy and energetic. But I also know vegans who carry their diet to extremes and deny their children an adequate diet. So it is not just a matter of a vegan diet. It is a matter of providing a proper vegan diet. If the parents in this case fed their children only enough to surive on, and the children were constantly hungry, then I think the parents may properly be classified as extremists or fanatical.
A few months ago when the case was featured on Court TV, the program never (to my knowledge) reported on how the case turned out. Is it still in litigation? If so, what was the outcome?
Thanks for your efforts in behalf of the Andressohn family.
Dwight Turner
February 12, 2006 11:26:17 PM EST
To: Dwight
Subject: from Rhio about Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn
Dear Dwight,
The Andressohn’s were acquitted of any wrongdoing in the death of their daughter, Woyah, but were convicted of negligence in the care of their other children.
They were spared serving any more jail time, but are under 15 years probation and there are some other draconian rules that they have to follow, such as they have to get their children vaccinated and they have to send their children to public school and can no longer home school them and the diet for the children has to be approved by a nutritionist (this last one is ok with me as long as it is a knowledgeable nutritionist)
They are allowed to see their children regularly now, and will be able to get the family back together soon. They are following all of the parameters set by the family court (not the criminal court) to get their children back. As far as the criminal case is concerned, they are planning an appeal because their children were not neglected nor were they undernourished in any way and in the family court it was established, through tests, that the children were not malnourished, although they were underweight by our US standards but the mother is Jamaican and very small at a size 1, so it is only logical that her children would be a little smaller than the average American.
The children were not hungry. Don’t forget that children are vulnerable to manipulation and the defense had no access whatsoever to the children BUT the prosecution did have access. Does that seem fair? I believe the children were manipulated to say they were always hungry. One of the children did overeat on nuts and then would get constipated so for that child they did ration out the nuts a bit, but the children definitely had enough food.
For more information on the evolution of the case and to see pictures of the children as contrasted against truly starving children, go to my website and click on the link on first page that says Andressohn Family. The whole story is there. (here above)
The Andressohn’s have been financially devastated and if you have any spare bucks, please send it their way. They were thrown out of their home and are in debt.
I will be doing a radio show with the Andressohn’s soon so keep posted at:
TribecaRadio.net
for the upcoming show.
Thank you for your interest.
With blessings and peace,
Rhio