Monthly Archives: May 2013

Nevada Senate Says Yes to Raw Milk in Las Vegas

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On May 28, the Nevada Senate approved a bill that will legalize the sale of raw milk in Las Vegas and across the state. The bill passed the Assembly on a unanimous vote on April 22, and was given a “do pass” by the Nevada Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on May 16. The bill is currently in enrollment.

Nevada’s current state law allows certified raw milk to be sold anywhere in the state, but raw milk produced under the authority of a county milk commission can only be sold in that county. Nye County, located just northwest of the Las Vegas metro area, established a county milk commission last year to regulate Amargosa Creamery as it began to produce raw milk. This bill would allow Amargosa Creamery to cross county lines and sell raw milk and raw milk products in the Las Vegas metro area.

The bill would also prohibit out of state raw milk producers from selling their products in Nevada – a move that would also benefit Amargosa Creamery by removing California dairy producers from the Las Vegas market and cutting back on their competition.

Most Nevada lawmakers are supportive of the bill. Although some have voiced concern about the health risks posed by raw milk, they believe it is better to move forward with a regulatory structure. The new Nevada bill requires labeling, dairy testing and liability.

Realmilk.com is a project of nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

New Book Out Today Sheds Lights on the Importance of Food Rights

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David E. Gumpert, the author of widely acclaimed book The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights and popular blog The Complete Patient, will be releasing a new book this July about the escalating battle over food rights happening across the nation.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Food Rights takes the reader on a cross-country journey, from Maine to California, examining the question of whether Americans have the right to privately obtain the foods of our choice from local farmers without the interference of regulators.

Many consumers are becoming increasingly alarmed that the mass-produced foods available in grocery stores are excessively processed and contain harmful antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals. They are turning to local food producers for free range eggs, custom-slaughtered meat, and raw milk, among other products. However, government regulators claim that these foods carry severe health risks if they don’t meet certain standards – and are mounting intense, covert-like operations to crack down on private supply chains. Although food regulation is intended to protect consumers, there is cause for concern that large lobbying groups are pressuring the FDA and state governments to unfairly target and shut down small, family-owned farms.

Gumpert’s new book offers eye-opening tales about farmers getting hauled off in handcuffs and suburban moms worried about the legal ramifications of providing their children with nutritious, natural foods. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Food Rights is a must-read for those concerned about their health and free commerce.
Read more about the book and author David E. Gumpert here: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/life_liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_food_rights:paperback

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

How Raw Camel Milk Helped Her Daughters

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In Kuwait, raw camel milk is commonly known to be a medicinal remedy for children who don’t speak. In the US, one stay-at-home mom discusses how it helped treat her daughters’ chronic health problems.

Lauren, whose name has been changed due to the controversy surrounding raw milk, is the mother of two girls. The older daughter has severe allergies to an array of food, seasonal and chemical irritants. The younger daughter had autism spectrum disorder (her diagnosis was cleared following her consumption of raw camel milk).

Lauren originally learned about raw camel milk in her research of natural remedies for treating autism spectrum disorder. She found a camel farmer in her area and went to meet with him to discuss the product and check out the farm to ensure it had safe handling practices. She brought home a small amount and began giving it to her younger daughter medicinally, in small doses. Within weeks, Lauren began to notice that her daughter had begun talking more, making more direct eye contact, and socializing with other children.
Shortly thereafter, Lauren’s older daughter experienced a severe outbreak of hives. Remembering that camel milk was also mentioned as a natural remedy for allergies, Lauren gave her older daughter a glass to drink – and the hives cleared up within 20 minutes.

Now, Lauren keeps raw camel milk in her freezer to have on hand when one of her daughters requires it. She credits the raw milk with helping to heal her children’s autism and allergies and, although worried about the possible legal ramifications of buying the milk says that, first and foremost, her job is to be a good mom and care for her daughters – and this is what helped them.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

 

We Can’t Stop Reading about Alice Jongerden’s Raw Milk Fast

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Canadian author and dairy distributor Alice Jongerden recently embarked on a Raw Milk Fast. Alice and her husband are the founders of Home on the Range Dairy, which distributes raw milk through cow sharing in British Columbia and the surrounding areas.

Alice’s own pastured jersey cow produces buckets of fresh milk daily and, after speaking with another woman who fasted on raw milk for 45 days, Alice decided to challenge herself to cleanse and re-balance her body by fasting on a diet of raw milk and milk products for four weeks. As of April 30th, Alice was on Day 16 of her cleanse.

She has been blogging about her experience on “The Bovine,” a Canadian blog about the rights and controversy surrounding consumers’ access to raw milk.

Read about her first week here: http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/what-if-you-drank-only-lukewarm-raw-milk-and-didnt-eat-anything-else/

Check in on her progress here:
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/alice-jongerden-milk-fast-day-16/

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

David vs. Goliath Court Case in Wisconsin’s Dairyland

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On May 20th, a crucial case in food freedom and consumers’ choice will go to court. Vernon Hershberger, a dairy farmer who supplies raw milk to local consumers through private buying clubs, will be tried for violating dairy licensing regulations and defying a Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection hold order to stop supplying his product.

Wisconsin, affectionately known as “America’s Dairyland,” accounts for over 13% of the nation’s milk production. There is a rising consumer interest in unpasteurized products, which industrial dairy plants cannot provide because it would be near impossible to ensure safe handling practices on such a large scale. As such, these large dairy enterprises have an economic interest in making sure that smaller independent farmers, like Vernon Hershberger, are unable to sell raw milk products – effectively removing the one niche market where family-owned farms can compete with the big enterprises.

Since 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has been working with the FDA to try to outlaw raw milk distribution. This case is not just a legal battle, but a political one as well. It is not just about Hershberger’s right to sell food via private buying clubs, but about the rights of all Americans to contract with producers to obtain food privately, without the interference of regulators. Hershberger’s case is a pivotal case for food rights and will set a precedent for how the raw milk industry is viewed in other states.

If you are in the Baraboo, WI area and want to show your support for Vernon Hershberger and the local farm industry, you can attend the trial. There will be public seating in the courtroom, as well as an overflow viewing room. Be a part of the Raw Milk Revolution!

More information:

http://hartkeisonline.com/2013/04/30/vernon-hershberger-case-puts-food-freedom-on-trial/

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation. See our dietary guidelines.

Arkansas Legalizes Raw Milk

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The laws governing the sale of raw milk – whether it can be sold freely or sold under the strictest of circumstances – vary state to state. This summer, one more state can be added to the list of places where consumers can legally purchase raw milk directly from the farm: Arkansas.

Beginning in July 2013, Arkansas farms will be allowed to sell up to 500 gallons of unpasteurized cow milk per month, and up to 500 gallons of unpasteurized goat milk per month, directly to consumers. It will still be illegal to sell unpasteurized milk at farmers markets or other retail outlets. Under the new law, farmers will be required to post a sign on the farm and label unpasteurized products with a standardized label noting that the milk is unpasteurized. Neither the farm nor the cows will be inspected by the state, and the buyer assumes all liability should any health problems arise from consuming the raw milk.
This new law is not only exciting for the consumers who rely on raw milk’s nutrients for health benefits, but also for the farmers who see economic opportunity in taking advantage of the emerging raw milk market – raw milk often sells for $6-$8 per gallon. As the market continues to evolve and more farms begin to offer unpasteurized products, it will be interesting to see where costs stabilize and how farms brand themselves to stand out from the herd.

See article in Arkansas Online:
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2013/apr/28/law-selling-raw-milk-has-some-over-moon-20130428/?business

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

National Farmers Union Endorsement a Huge Win for Raw Milk Advocates

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In March 2013, the National Farmers Union, which represents farmers and ranchers in all states, adopted pro-raw milk policies at its 111th Annual Convention.

Delegates from California, Pennsylvania and other northeastern states called for access to raw milk for all consumers, the end to the ban on the interstate sale of raw milk, and for responsible production standards for raw milk producers – including single source production to assure that consumers know the farm and handling practices from where they buy their raw milk. During their deliberations, convention delegates heard consumer testimonials and scientific research behind raw milk consumption. They discussed the economic success of the emerging raw milk market and whether the health benefits outweighed the health risks.

By the end of the conference, the NFU had decided to move ahead with pro-raw milk policies, which is a huge step for consumers and dairy farmers alike. The sale of raw milk is still outlawed in several states, despite high consumer demand and prosperous sales from local farms in other states that are able to supply it.

Listen to an in-depth podcast about what the NFU’s decision means for the future of raw milk, how delegate Mark McAfee successfully helped to convince the NFU to endorse raw milk, and what the American Farm Bureau’s stance on raw milk is, here:

http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/news_wp/?p=6654

Read the press release here:
http://www.westonaprice.org/press/national-farmers-union-endorses-raw-milk

The Campaign for Real Milk (realmilk.com) is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation.

Got Diet Milk? Dairy Industry Petition to FDA Sparks Consumer Outrage

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Aspartame-FDA-Labeling-PetitionThe International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to drop its requirement that dairy products containing artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, are prominently labeled for consumers.

Aspartame is a main ingredient in reduced-calorie foods like diet soda and sugar-free chewing gum. Although manufacturers of aspartame continue to assure the public that the ingredient is safe and aids in weight loss, several independent studies link the ingredient to an alarming number of scary side effects, including weight gain and increased blood sugar, headaches, degeneration of nerve cells and cancer.

The dairy industry wants to add aspartame and other artificial sweeteners to flavored milks and other products without labeling the bottle in an attempt to lure children to selecting those drinks at school. If this petition passes, it would mean that any time you reach for a jug labeled “milk,” that milk could include dangerous artificial sweeteners but you wouldn’t know for sure until you read the ingredient list in depth. This isn’t just an inconvenience for adult shoppers, but an irresponsible and dangerous decision that would directly affect underprivileged children, who depend on school lunches for the bulk of their nutrition.

The FDA has opened the topic up to public discussion, and is accepting comments online until May 21, 2013. Submit your opinion to the FDA here: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm347194.htm

Listen to an in-depth podcast on this controversial issue here: http://hartkeisonline.com/2013/04/10/got-disgust-aspartame-in-dairy-products-with-no-warning-label/