LaGrange’s Organic Food Co-op Loses Licensing Fight

"ELYRIA — Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James Burge ruled Wednesday the Manna Storehouse, a LaGrange organic food co-op, is a retail store and should be licensed as one.

Jacqueline and John Stowers have claimed their organic food store on SR 303 was not a retail store and therefore was not subject to be inspected or regulated.

They maintained their claim even after the Ohio Department of Agriculture raided the store in December 2008 and seized food, electronic devices and documents because the store was unlicensed.

Burge wrote in his ruling “Manna’s exclusion from licensure as a ‘retail food establishment’ would have no rational basis.”"

Read the article