This is the text of the Campaign for Real Milk appeal letter sent out in June 2006.
June 2006
Dear Friends,
It's hard to believe that we began A Campaign for Real Milk just seven years ago. When we first posted the sources of raw milk at realmilk.com, the listings filled less than one page. Today the website provides hundreds of sources for raw milk, available through on-farm sales, through cow-share and herd-share programs, and even in retail stores.
Throughout this early period in the raw milk campaign, growth has been spontaneous; and the costs associated with this proliferation of sources have been minimal and easily covered by our operating budget.
"All truth passes through three states," wrote Arthur Schopenhauer. "First it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." It is clear to us that we have reached the second stage in the campaign for real, raw milk. The forces of opposition are mounting strong resistance in the form of legal challenges, administrative injustices and even sting operations. During this period--which we are sure will pass as the benefits of raw milk become self-evident--we require financial support.
That is why we are writing to all members of the Weston A. Price Foundation to ask for a donation to assist the efforts of A Campaign for Real Milk.
But first, we'd like to thank you for all your help! Your enthusiasm for raw milk and your efforts have helped many farmers to begin providing raw milk to consumers.
And when we asked you, the members of the Weston A. Price Foundation, to send your testimonials about how raw milk has improved the health of you and your family to various state legislatures and departments of agriculture, you responded in great numbers. In addition, many of you participated in hearings and have worked to support legislative and legal efforts to make raw milk more widely available.
If we were to add up the time put in by you, our members, and by the board and staff of the Foundation, we'd come up with literally thousands of hours of volunteer effort. But we have come to the point where our unpaid labor is not enough; we also need real financial support.
If you or your children or grandchildren or any member of your family has seen health improvements from consumption of raw milk, now is your opportunity to say thank you with a monetary donation.
We've been keeping you abreast of happenings in various states through our magazine Wise Traditions and our Action Alerts. Here is a summary of those situations requiring financial support.
- Legislative efforts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Nebraska and Florida
- Legal help for raw milk farmers in Washington, Ohio, Kentucky and other states as problems arise.
- Legal advice to combat a proposed change in the Maryland administrative code that would make cow shares illegal. Should the state of Maryland succeed in outlawing cow-share programs simply by making a change in the regulations, this could have serious consequences for cow-share programs in other states.
- Funds to run public service announcements (MOV file, 19MB) for raw milk, starting in Tennessee and then in other states.
Your donations will also help pay for some important ongoing efforts. These include:
- Constant updating of realmilk.com, to keep it as accurate as possible.
- Ongoing research into the health benefits and superior safety of raw milk. Whenever we find new studies, we add them to the powerpoint presentation on raw milk, posted at realmilk.com. (If you haven't had a recent look at the presentation, please do so--this can serve as a great educational tool.) Very shortly, we will also begin lab-testing conventional versus raw milk from grass-fed cows for nutrients so we can provide hard scientific data to skeptics.
- The first National Raw Milk Summit, which we attended in Norfolk, Nebraska, May 26-27. Almost 100 attendees--most of them Weston A. Price Foundation members--met to come up with guidelines for producing and testing raw milk, to ensure a safe product with a minimum of cost to farmers. The result of this collaborative effort will be a booklet that can be used by farmers, consumers, administrators and legislators.
- Efforts to establish a legal defense fund for small family farms engaged in the production of raw milk and other grass-based animal products. Such an organization could provide great strength to our movement and ultimately be a source of income as well, but we will need seed money in the initial phases.
We receive testimonials on the benefits of raw milk daily --from asthma to multiple sclerosis, from behavior problems to growth problems, raw milk has contributed to recovery from so-called incurable disease and intractable conditions.
Most heartening are the reports we get from mothers who have given our raw milk formula to babies--the babies grow up robust and healthy, with smooth, soft skin and bright, enquiring minds. (We've included some heartwarming testimonials on the back of the enclosed donation form.) Truly, the investment we make in the raw milk movement today will pay off in untold dividends for future generations.
So please join your fellow members of the Weston A. Price Foundation in making a donation (PDF 42KB) to this vital cause--whether it is $5 or $50 or $500. . . or even $5000. We'd like to be able to say that we had a 100 percent response from our membership. Your donations will be spent wisely on the services that we need. (Remember that many of us are putting our time and energy into this effort without pay.)
Your response to this appeal will make all the difference as we continue with our patient, relentless dissemination of the facts to legislators and administrators, and as we defend the wonderful farmers supplying us with Nature's perfect food. We are up against a huge and powerful industry, but we have the science on our side and we are confident that, slowly but surely, the truth will become self-evident and clean raw milk will be available to all.
Yours in good health,
Sally Fallon, President
PS: Check the back of this letter for some interesting facts about raw versus pasteurized milk! These will make good talking points when speaking with legislators and officials.
Sally
Fallon is the author of
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition
and the Diet Dictocrats, and Eat Fat, Lose Fat (both with Mary
G. Enig, PhD), as well as of numerous articles on the subject of diet and health.
She is President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and founder of A
Campaign for Real Milk. She is the mother of four healthy children raised
on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.
A Campaign for Real Milk is a project of The
Weston A. Price Foundation
PMB 106-380, 4200 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington DC 20016
Phone: (202) 363-4394 | Fax: (202) 363-4396 | Web: www.westonaprice.org
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