We admit we have not been posting for a while because Sen. Florez's new bill seemed like a solution. However, the bill still has to make it through the legislature! And CDFA and FDA are likely to oppose. They are heavy hitters and we need to organize all over again for this new phase. Please read the attached and contact Health Committee members right away, then show up at the hearing and testify! Thank you -- AuLait
FDA THREATENING RAW MILK IN U.S., STARTING IN CALIFORNIA
The following email just came out from Organic Pastures. - AuLait
Raw Milk Needs You Like Never Before on April 15th
It is now official. Senator Dean Florez and Senator Abel Maldonado
will hold joint hearings on raw milk in California.
Representing the CDFA and the FDA will be the chief of FDA dairy
safety, John Sheehan, along with eight other university food safety experts.
Protecting our right to drink raw milk will be a very special Raw
Milk Dream Team. These experts include Sally Fallon, Jordan Rubin,
Ted Beals, MD., Cat Berge DVM PhD, and more to come in the next two
Finally, an email update from Mark of OPDC indicates a new bill, AB 2782, has been introduced. There will be an April hearing that needs to be really big, so plan to attend, even though we don't yet know the date! Testify! More from Mark here (dated 3/14, but email sent 3/24):
Upcoming California Raw Milk Events
Senate Hearing in April Critical to Keeping Raw Cream Alive in California
March 14, 2008
In the last 60 days Claravale and OPDC have been handling the bruising technical details of the new AB 1735 raw milk testing standards.
Finally, the Complete Patient posted this evening on the temporary restraining order hearing, and we WON that one! Awesome! (I mean rawsome!) The TRO will stay in place until April 25th, when there will be a hearing on an actual injunction, which if granted will stay in place until a trial can be held. More at the CP:
http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2008/3/20/off-the-mat-say-good...
Thanks to the Complete Patient blog, we now know that the producers have started failing their coliform tests often enough to bar them from selling some of their product. Since there are monetary damages, they have been able to file for a restraining order. That request will be heard Wed 3/12 at 1:30. It's suggested we call CA's Atty General Jerry Brown at (916) 322-3360 and/or Nicole Parra at (916) 319-2030 about this. See the CP post/comments for more:
http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2008/3/7/ca-raw-milk-sales-cou...
Yes, we are back to the 1735 standard since Nicole Parra pulled 1604 from the process. However, access will not be shut down overnight -- it will take months, and during that time, there will be a process taking place. In fact, one is taking place now, but all of it is behind closed doors at the moment. Keep checking back at the Complete Patient blog, and here, and stay awake! Thank you! -- AuLait
While the substance of the post below was correct, the web now seems to be saying that there is no injunction in place and thus we have reverted to the 1735 standard and are right back where we started. Stay tuned!
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Finally we can post an up-to-date version of the text of AB1604 -- however, we have to post it as a link. If we copy and paste the text, we lose the all-important strikethrough and italics that show deletions and insertions.
Anyone who wants to check up on the status at any time can go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov and use the bill search function (choose Assembly and enter 1604).
Here's the text as of 1/22:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1601-1650/ab_1604_bill_2...
WE ARE ENDING THE EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT ON THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE HEARING WHICH WAS TO BE HELD ON THE 24TH -- BUT WAS NOT. PLEASE SEE THE UPDATE ABOVE. -- AuLait
SRM received this email early this morning, 1/24. It indicates an emergency situation. Please read and respond appropriately! Please distribute to friends, mailing lists, etc.! Thank you! -- AuLait
P.S. Another version from the producers is here:
http://organicpastures.cmail4.com/e/326608/0jdtt46l/
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Date: January 23, 2008 11:08:46 PM PST
The Sacramento Bee published a good article on Saturday:
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/646503.html
The Complete Patient blog has done two stories since the hearing, and the comments there are almost a community bulletin board for the raw milk movement -- plus the blog does excellent coverage of related issues all over: