Press Advisory: Cow on Boston Common 5-10-2010 for Raw Milk Drink-In
Press Advisory: Cow on Boston Common 5-10-2010 for Raw Milk Drink-In
May 7, 2010 | Alexis Baden-Mayer
Organic Consumers Association
Monday May 10, 2010:
Cow in Boston Common for
“Raw Milk Drink In”
Raw Milk Enthusiasts Slam Proposed State Ban on
Raw Milk Buying Clubs
Press Conference Precedes 10 AM Public Hearing at Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
UPDATE – MAY 8, 2010 –
RAW MILK HEARING & RALLY STILL ON! Rumors that MDAR is capitulating
or that raw milk advocates should not testify at Monday’s hearing are
false.
At 5 pm Friday, MDAR issued a press release containing
misleading information, suggesting that anti-raw milk crusader Scott Soares,
the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, is
backing down. The statement says MDAR is removing proposed language that would
have created a “prohibition of the purchase of raw milk anywhere but on
the farm.”
But, the statement also says, “A Milk Dealer is defined within the Milk
Control Laws as anyone in the business of receiving, purchasing, pasteurizing,
bottling, processing, distributing or otherwise handling milk. This is still
the case, and MDAR will take such steps to enforce violations as they become
aware of them.”
When read along with Soares’ statements to the media, it’s obvious that Soares
is simply trying to shut down public debate along with raw milk buying clubs.
The Republican reported Friday:
Agriculture commissioner Scott J. Soares says
it’s always been illegal for individuals to distribute raw milk and the proposed
regulation would clarify that.
“The clubs have essentially been operating as illegal milk dealers and
milk distributors,” Soares said.
Soares knows that his original plan to outlaw raw milk buying clubs is too
controversial to succeed, so he’s just going to imagine the law already is what
he would have changed it too. What fine new clothes the king wears!
Worse than that, Soares is expressly shutting off public input. The MDAR
statement says that no one may testify at Monday’s hearing on the issue of
whether buying clubs should be allowed to continue to exit! Lawyers for the
Organic Consumers Association and
Massachusetts
raw milk buying clubs say that MDAR have no authority to limit testimony.
We won’t back down now. It is more urgent than ever for raw milk consumers and
farmers to attend Monday’s rally and hearing!
MORE INFORMATION:
MDAR Tries 11th Hour Switcheroo to
Stifle Raw Milk Debate
PRESS RELEASE FOR MONDAY’S RAW MILK DRINK-IN AND HEARING:
BOSTON
,
May 7, 2010 – On Monday, May 10, 2010, for perhaps the first time since the
park was used, prior to 1830, as a pasture, a cow will graze on Boston Common.
The occasion is a gathering of raw milk enthusiasts and dairy farmers who will
bring a cow to the Common for a “Raw Milk Drink In” and then gather
at the State House for a press conference.
The raw milk rally comes as the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural
Resources (MDAR) attempts to restrict the delivery of raw milk to thousands of
consumers throughout
Massachusetts.
Earlier this year, the MDAR issued a cease and desist order to four raw milk
buying club drivers who were delivering the milk to customers in urban and
suburban areas of the state.
Who: Raw milk cow, farmers and consumers.
What: Photo opportunity with raw milk cow, “Raw Milk Drink In”
and press conference.
When:
8 am Cow & “Raw Milk Drink-In,” Boston Common
9:20 am Press Conference, State House
10 am Public Hearing, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
2 pm Cow leaves Boston Common
Where: Boston Common – Adjacent to Brewer Fountain, then Statehouse
Speakers/Available for Interview:
Doug Stephan, Raw Milk Dairy Farmer, Owner Eastleigh Farm in Framingham, MA,
(bringing the cow)
David Gumpert, author of The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging
Battle Over Food Rights
Max Kane, a Wisconsin buying club owner who is currently fighting contempt of
court charge brought by the WI Dept of Agriculture for his refusal to reveal
his sources of Raw Milk
Mark McAfee, the owner of Organic Pastures Dairy Co., the largest raw dairy in
the country, based in California
Over three million Americans now prefer organic raw milk and raw milk dairy
products over pasteurized milk because of its superior nutrition and disease
fighting qualities and because it comes from small, local producers who pasture
their dairy cows, rather than keeping them confined all day and all year in
dairy feedlots on huge, disease-ridden factory farms.
There have been no reported cases of raw milk-related illnesses in
Massachusetts in over
ten years.
Alexis Baden-Mayer, Political Director for the Organic Consumers Association
says, “We don’t need a ‘new solution.’ Up until this proposed ban,
everything has been fine. If there’s any change to
Massachusetts regulations, it should be a
change to make it easier–not harder–for us to get the healthy organic raw
milk and dairy products we want. This law would deny us our right to
choose what we eat and drink.”
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For more information go to organicconsumers.org/raw-milk
