The following information is from The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund regarding a bill that will be introduced to help protect the rights of both farmers and consumers to produce and consume raw milk. Here is the link to the full article http://www.farmtoconsumer.org . Please contact your reps and ask them to support this raw milk legislation. Also please consider joining the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense fund.
From the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund website-
ACTION ALERT – Missouri Raw Milk Bill
State Representative Belinda Harris (D/Hillsboro) is set to introduce a bill to clarify the law on the sale of raw milk in Missouri. Rep. Harris is looking for co-sponsors for her bill before she officially files it. Under state law, once a bill is filed co-sponsors can no longer be added to it. Your help is needed to convince members of the State House of Representatives to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill, particularly those on the House Agriculture Policy Committee and the House Agri-business Special Committee.
BACKGROUND
There has been a long-standing tradition in Missouri of farmers being able to sell raw milk to consumers without having to obtain a permit to do so. In 1972 this tradition was codified in state law as a statutory exception to the general prohibition on the sale of raw milk. Under the exception, “an individual may purchase and have delivered to him for his own use raw milk or cream from a farm” [Missouri Revised Statutes (MRS) 196.935]. The exception is written from the point of view of the consumer.
The State Milk Board, the agency established to enforce the Missouri Dairy Code, claims that anyone selling under the exception needs a Grade A retail raw milk permit. Until recently, the Milk Board, for the most part, left unlicensed sellers of raw milk alone; but in the summer and fall of 2007, the board sent letters to at least six farmers threatening to turn them over to the Attorney General for possible prosecution unless the farmer either stop selling raw milk or obtain a retail raw milk license.
The Milk Board’s interpretation of the exception, in effect, ignores the Legislature’s intent in passing it and would prevent consumers from purchasing raw milk and cream if accepted as the correct interpretation of the law. There has not been a licensed raw milk retailer in the state in over twelve years. Complying with the licensing requirements to sell retail raw milk would be cost prohibitive for nearly all farmers operating under the exception.
Rep. Harris’ bill would amend MRS 196.935 to make clear that those selling under the exception would not need a license and could only be inspected if there was reasonable cause to believe they were selling adulterated milk.
ACTION TO TAKE
The more co-sponsors the bill has, the greater the likelihood it will get a hearing before either the Agriculture Policy Committee or the Agi-business Special Committee. A bill must go through a House committee before it can go to the House floor for a vote.
Help Rep. Harris to uphold food-freedom of choice and small-farm prosperity by contacting your state representative and the members of the two committees, encouraging them to co-sponsor the bill. Written letters of a page or less are the most effective way to communicate with your representative. If sending emails, be sure to include your name, address and phone number (representatives like to know who is in their district).
Follow this link to find your state representative using your zip+4 code:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx
Those interested in obtaining a copy of the proposed bill can contact Rep. Harris’ office by email at Belinda.harris@house.mo.gov or by calling (573) 751-2398.
Below are links to the contact information for each member of the two committees.
AGRICULTURE POLICY COMMITTEE
Quinn, John, Chair
John.Quinn@house.mo.gov
Fax (573)526-9775
Wright, Billy Pat, Vice Chair
billy.wright@house.mo.gov
Fax (573)526-0784
Hodges, Steve
steve.hodges@house.mo.gov
Loehner, Tom
tom.loehner@house.mo.gov
McClanahan, Rebecca Payne
rebecca.mcclanahan@house.mo.gov
Nance, Bob
bob.nance@house.mo.gov
Sander, Therese
Therese.Sander@house.mo.gov
Schlottach, Charles
Charlie.Schlottach@house.mo.gov
Whorton, James
Jim.Whorton@house.mo.gov
Fax (573)526-6934
Witte, Terry L
Terry.Witte@house.mo.gov
AGRI-BUSINESS SPECIAL COMMITTEE
Munzlinger, Brian, Chair
Brian.Munzlinger@house.mo.gov
Fisher, Barney Joe, Vice Chair
barney.fisher@house.mo.gov
Fax (573)522-2443
Aull, Joe
joe.aull@house.mo.gov
Guest, Jim
Jim.Guest@house.mo.gov
Hobbs, Steve
Steve.Hobbs@house.mo.gov
Kelly, Van
Van.Kelly@house.mo.gov
Rucker, Martin T.
martin.rucker@house.mo.gov
Swinger, Terry
terry.swinger@house.mo.gov
Thomson, Mike
mike.thomson@house.mo.gov )
Home Fax (660)582-4014
Todd, Tom
tom.todd@house.mo.gov
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It would appear that the Greene County Health Department is exercising an anti raw milk political agenda. The following is a post from the local Weston A. Price foundation chapter website.
Save Our Raw Milk
In recent months farmers all over Southwest Missouri have been harassed by the Greene County Health Dept. The Health Dept. has decided that, across the board, no raw milk may be sold in Greene County. There is no law to back up their demands. Raw milk is legal to sell through out Missouri.
What this means to you the consumer, if Greene County has their way, is that you will be forced to drive out to the farm to pick up your life giving raw milk. This would be inconvenient for you and may cause the producers to lose customers as well. In addition, if Greene County realizes that they can boss the small farmer around they will continue to make power grabs and who knows where they will stop.
We have chosen to take a stand for raw milk in southwest Missouri. You can do several things to get involved and help preserve our freedom to purchase the food we desire.
· Sign the petition provided by your raw milk producer.
· Meet us in Jefferson City January 12, 2010 for the big raw milk rally to support one of our local producers.
· Show your face at our rally and other events to make it apparent that there are thousands of people that are adamant about their right to purchase raw milk.
· Rally others. The more people we have at these events the more seriously we will be taken.
We are not alone. There was recently a fight very similar to ours in California. The people rallied, got involved and made a difference. The law was changed and raw milk is now freely available all throughout the state of California. We can do this.
For more information please talk to your raw milk supplier, check out our website at www.417wapf.com and subscribe to our yahoo group to keep up to date on the latest action on the raw milk front.
Thank you,
Carey Raymond
Katie Bettendorf
Chapter Leaders
SW MO Weston A. Price Foundation
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has decided to make himself an enemy of the small family farm and freedom in general. Koster is suing the Brechard family for distributing raw milk. Here is the link to the article on the Springfield News Leader’s website. People have the right to consume what they deem to be necessary for proper nutrition whether that raw milk or anything else. The government sided with big agriculture by not allowing milk to be labeled rbgh free. It would seem like they don’t want us to be able to make any decisions regarding what we ingest. It appears that Koster along with the FDA, USDA, the Greene County Health Department and the Missouri milk board are in the pockets of the commercial dairy industry.
My sister Deb has been busy on her new website dedicated to the Klessig and Andersland family genealogies.
I helped her set up the website using TNG7 genealogy software.
The setup was fairly straight forward. It uses php5 and mysql. Deb has only been at for a couple of weeks and the site is shaping up quite nicely check it out the the website at the following link.http://familyhistory.anderslandfarm.com
I just finished building our new chicken tractor. I combined ideas from several designs that I found on the Internet. The finished tractor is 8.5′ by 11.5′. The hoop is constructed out of two cattle panels. It is light enough for one person to move which is a big plus in my book. A chicken tractor of this size will easily accommodate 50 broilers. We have two batches of pastured poultry left to butcher this year; one towards the end of October and the last batch in the middle of November. Hopefully we will have a couple of warm days left that we can butcher on.
In addition to being on pasture, our pigs are on a diet consisting of vegetable scraps, chopped corn and other grains, bread, and milk/whey. They are not fed any soy. Fattened hogs are available by ½ or whole delivered to the butcher. Buyer pays all butchering costs.
We have lots of plants for sale right now. The greenhouse is crowded and spring has sprung. It’s time to get these seedlings outside!!
We grow all heirloom varieties and have several different kinds of tomatoes and peppers as well as broccoli, cauliflower, red and green cabbage, and herbs.
Tomatoes:
German Red Strawberry
Igignoli Gigante
Brandywine
Chadwick Cherry
Principe Borghese
Striped Roman
Peppers:
Cayenne
Hungarian Hot Wax
Tam Jalapeno
Herbs:
Parsley
Basil
Thyme
Veggie plants are all $.50 and herbs start at $1.50 and go up depending on the size of the plant.
Contact me at klessig@ozbb.net
We do! Today is the day we can start saving Daisy’s milk. We will be making lots of cheese and have a bit more raw milk for sale to the general public.
Whole milk is for sale for $6 a gallon, bring your own jars. For more information you can contact me at klessig@ozbb.net
Why Grassfed Butter Is Better
Because living grass is richer in vitamins E, A, and beta-carotene than stored hay or standard dairy diets, butter from dairy cows grazing on fresh pasture is also richer in these important nutrients. The naturally golden color of grassfed butter is a clear indication of its superior nutritional value. (Searles, SK et al, “Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and Carotene Contents of Alberta Butter.” Journal of Diary Science, 53(2) 150-154.)
Excerpted from Jo Robinson’s website, www.eatwild.com
Our grassfed butter is made from our delicious raw milk.
We put up a greenhouse this year. Partly as a source for some additional farm income, and mostly so that I don’t have to start my seeds inside, where I have no room.
It went up fairly quickly but getting the heat plumbed in took a bit longer. We are using our Central Boiler wood furnace to heat it and got a couple of old cast iron radiators to put inside. The greenhouse itself is a 16×32 kit from www.growerssolutions.com. They are very helpful and friendly and I would recommend them to anyone looking for a small or large backyard greenhouse.
Our plants are getting really big and I am going to begin going to the local farmer’s markets to sell starting this week.
You can see the “barn raising” here:
As you can see, many hands make light work. We had a lot of help to get it going but am sure glad for it.
