Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy Co. greets supporters after his keynote speech at the Acres USA conference. The raw milk battle in Wisconsin is becoming ever more complicated, and intense. I’ve been at the Acres USA annual conference in St. Paul this past weekend, and much of the discussion among hundreds of owners of small farms in the Midwest is about happenings in Wisconsin. Some updates:
–On the legislative side, it appears that a bill that would legalize the sale of raw milk for Grade A dairies is gaining support. The legislation, which would allow dairies with Grade A licenses to sell raw milk, butter, and cream, now has eight sponsors in the Assembly and seven in the Senate—this from Brian Wickert of the Josephine Porter Institute, a provider of biodynamic products, who is helping coordinate an aggressive consumer campaign to push for the legislation.
–On the resistance side, the planned courthouse demonstration in Viroqua, WI, in support of buyers club owner Max Kane Dec. 21 is gaining momentum. After I spoke about it to nearly 200 farmers and other attending my talk at the Acres conference yesterday afternoon, more than half a dozen came up to me wanting details about where and when. Ann Marie Michaels, publisher of several food blogs, including CheeseSlave, has put a summary together.
There are a lot of unhappy dairy farmers in Wisconsin. They’re getting close to the point of telling DATCP, “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it any more.”
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Embattled dairy farmers in Wisconsin and around the country received lots of encouragement Thursday evening from Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy Co., who gave a fiery keynote speech. He spoke about “taking back the food chain.” He advised the nearly 1,000 attendees, “The most patriotic thing we can do as farmers is rebel. Tell the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) to pasteurize themselves….The farmer will become the pharmacist for America.”
The crowd gave him a standing ovation.
I can answer your inquiry about what has happened in the Meadowsweet dairy case, though I fear I’ll be a bit off the topic of this post that David just made. While I was reading past comments and formulating an answer this latest post popped up. Anyway,
In brief review, NY State Supreme Court ruled last Nov that we were subject to the NY Ag & Mkts permitting regulations because we were otherwise making available raw milk to consumers and Judge Egan had redefined consumers from someone who purchases milk (per NY Law) to anyone who consumes.
Gary filed the brief in Sept and on Oct 22 the Court acknowledged receipt and told Ag & Mkts that they had until Dec 4 to respond. Then we will have maybe 10 days to respond to their response.
In the meantime the Court scheduled oral arguments in this case for the afternoon of Jan 13.
We have a copy of the brief and when we get the Ag & Mkt response, I promise to post them on our website.
Steve
PS The LLC continues to operate successfully.
Here is my report from Acres as well. David did a great job of reporting the current news and trends of the raw milk movement. His insights were excellent and well recieved. More and more the http://www.thecompletepatient is becoming the one stop news and discussion place for the wholefood nutritional rights movement. We must all compliment David for his balanced and well thought through writing on these critical issues.
For the last two days after giving the Key Note speech I have been approached by uncounted numbers of farmers, consumers, small and large cow share participants each sharing their stories of healing from the consumption of raw milk and other unprocessed whole foods.
I recieved the most feedback from the slide I placed into my Power Point that showed the trends of autism in America from 1992 to 2009. It showed a mount everest vertical asscent into Autism hell. In 1992 it was 1-2500 babies born…now it is 1-150 and this years data is reported to be 1-82 baby boys.
The Acres conference attendees really got it. As Dr. Phil says…is it workin for ya…
Dear….FDA….I scream to you. It is not working for us.
The sterilzed FDA direction is suicidal and we will not drink the pastuerized, GMO, GE, Standardized, pesticide abused, antibiotic abused, fake fat, fake sugar, preserved dead, long shelf life cool aide anymore. Their polices are deadend killers and the data is clear….the more you think you are helping by sterilization, the more the bacteriospaien suffers. The longer the pathogen list becomes…the more depressed Americans immnity becomes. It is an FDA death spiral.
Soils and farmers that speak of nutritional healing directly to their local consumers will save us all. Farmers will become healing true Pharmacists and break the FDA drug law that only drugs cure. I asked every one to start breaking the FDA law ( verbally using face to face connection and first amendment rights good science and testimonials from the gathering populations of real Americans that heal and prevent disease through whole food ) that criminalizes the sharing of nutritional information as being essential or related specifically to the prevention and curing of disease. Just like Hippocrates said 2400 years ago "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food!!"
I especially requested that as the FDA raids our farms and confiscates our raw milk….have that Video camera ready and have your email list of consumers ready….so they can show at a moments notice and catch the criminals in the act…..this will make news. This will be the straw that breaks the FDA and exposes them as the bioterrorists that they are.
Yes…I said "Mr. Sheehan Go Pastuerize yourself….preferrably Ultrapastuerized".
All the best from very cold and beautiful Minnesota.
Mark McAfee
Soils and farmers that speak of nutritional healing directly to their local consumers will save us all. Farmers will become healing true Pharmacists and break the FDA drug law that only drugs cure.
I just want to relate what was said to my mother and I Thanksgiving Day when we were talking about our visit to Marks farm and meeting Sally Fallon, and talking about whole foods including raw milk: That what we were talking about sounded like ecological snobbery. So, the very practice of ecological snobbery prevents many from facing the fact that they could improve their diet with more whole foods and less industrialized fare because it is just too inconvenient to do so. When you are sitting at the table with people like this you are made to feel like back-country hicks who are so out of touch with the rest of the real world. Later, my father told my mother that the hostess leaned over to him and whispered that she had used margarine in the mashed potatoes. Not only do these people refuse to even consider trying more nutritional foods, they act in a passive-aggressive manner in order to disparage the idea that real food just might be a better way to go than drugs. Needless to say, even though these people have been our friends for many years, next year I think well do Thanksgiving at our own home.
Requiem for the Dollar by James Grant
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342404574575761660481996.html
From 1989 http://www.runet.edu/~wkovarik/papers/north.html
"Emotional writing has done science a lot of harm in the past, and good scientists have learned to despise it. And yet, we can’t afford to shun the power… The (emotional) form has the power to reach across the great chasm and touch the nonscientist, and change minds."
This method is still used today. Misleading and can be out right lies.
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodbeverages.html#milk
Towards the end a brief history of milk.
it was abraham lincoln who referred to the failures that history can teach us and that if we ignore them we are doomed to repeat them.
Golden words….awakening words. Words to live and thrive by.
Mark
Bob Hayles
http://www.JuicyMaters.com
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20091206/OPINIONS01/912060312/1006/opinions/Going-after-family-sends-wrong-message
See the latest pics of the faces of the criminals and their toxic cow in Missouri. It would seem like the two pretty young farm girls Kazi 17 and Katie 21 are the worst of the mob for the "undercover agents" where able to get them to violate The Peoples Law. Or Commercial law or Corporate law or Merchant law or law of the Sea or Roman law if the curtain where to be pull back upon our system of law that we are subjected to what would we call it? I sure don’t know but it is not a pretty picture!
http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan108.htm
The small food producers are the BULLS EYE as we have painfully observed firsthand over the last 3 years.
"The enemy within is more to be feared than the enemy at the gate" Cicero Is their any ring of truth to that theses days???
"Cargill spokesman Mark Klein says. It has been suspended from the school lunch program three times, twice for repeatedly failing to produce ground beef that was free of salmonella,"
Twice in less than 6 months and they weren’t shut down, why the disparity? I do hope that Mr Marlar sues and owns cargil. Then perhaps he’ll clean them up?
David G. on Bob’s blog: "Farmers cant win this battle for food rights by themselves. They need the support of consumers, willing to put themselves on the line, even in some cases subjecting themselves to arrest."
Isn’t this how some revolutions begin? Strength in numbers.
Unfortunately I’ve seen where people won’t stand up for what they believe, they complain and do nothing. when I worked for the state dept of health, we were forced to pay monthly dues to a useless union-seiu 1000 (my first and only dealings with a union). It did not represent the dept of health nurses. The contract treated the DOH nurses like the redheaded step child. The DOH nurses made $20-30000 less that the corrections nurses. I went to the meetings and I was the only one who spoke up. I brought proof that the union was not looking out for the DOH nurses, etc etc, Many emailed me and came to my desk to "support me" yet I think less than 5 actually tried to help. Boot the union? Yes there was a way, it required many to actually get off their duffs and participate…didn’t happen.
With food involved, I believe the participation will be greater.
An interesting view on the causes of autism.Anything that causes an abrupt drop in blood ph(the negative electrical charge on red blood cells keeps them from sticking together)can cause small strokes because the small blood vessels are clogged by clumped blood cells causing a cutoff of oxygen to many parts of the body especially in the brain.He mentions that foods can also have this same effect.
I wonder if they are also associated with primary cold agglutins that appear in the elderly?