Wisconsin Raw Milk Activist Wins Important Court Victory

April 20, 2010

MADISON, Wis. — The state of Wisconsin’s motion to compel Max Kane, a raw milk activist,
to reveal the identities of farmers and consumers involved in private
transactions was denied yesterday by the Honorable Judge Michael
Rosenborough. The judge had the option of ruling Max Kane in contempt of
court for his silence, but instead allowed the case to proceed to the
appellate court.

Since December Kane has lived under a court order to provide information
sought by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s
DATCP) attorneys. On March 18, with the aid of attorney Elizabeth Rich,
Kane filed a motion for a stay of that order in the Vernon County Court
House in Viroqua, Wisconsin. His request for relief pending appeal, was
heard Monday. The judge granted the motion.

On four occasions, in hearings and depositions, attorneys for the
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection have tried to
extract information from Max to aid them in targeting a number of small
family dairy farms they suspect of selling raw milk. Incidental sales of
raw milk from the farm are legal in Wisconsin, however a new, strict
interpretation of the law by DATCP amounts to a virtual ban on sales. Last
year, the agency decided that an incidental sale is a one-time sale,
meaning that if a dairy were to sell the milk to the same customer twice
they would be breaking the law. Today’s victory will allow Max’s case to
be heard in an appellate court. He is currently working on his appellate
brief with legal counsel.

Ultimately, Max hopes to obtain a Supreme Court verdict on the civil
liberty of unregulated farm-to-consumer direct trade. More and more,
health minded consumers are seeking out traditional foods from farms that
employ ancient wisdom, such as pasture raising of chickens, 100 percent
grass feeding of livestock and composting and manure of vegetable garden
beds.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is among the non-profit organizations
helping to educate consumers of the health benefits of foods raised by
these methods. “Organic standards, especially those certified by the
government, are compromised to the point of meaninglessness,” says Sally
Fallon Morell President of the Foundation. “We don’t believe modern
standards are effective in producing the vital nutrition we expect from
our food. And raw milk raised using these methods is a supremely healthy
foods that should be available to those who want it.”

The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), is a nutrition education
non-profit, based in Washington, DC, with 400 local chapters, worldwide.
WAPF advocates a return to organic farming, pasture-fed livestock and
whole traditional foods, properly prepared, if modern man is to regain
health and vitality. The Foundation also promotes the benefits of an
economy based on small scale organic production and food processing that
returns added value to the independent farmer, rather than to large-scale
food processing conglomerates.

Contact
Kimberly Hartke
Publicist
The Weston A. Price Foundation
press@westonaprice.org
703-860-2711
Cell: 703-675-5557