We have failed to stop California's new law AB1735 that will make commercial raw milk relatively extinct in California, and eventually every state. Organic Pastures Dairy and Claravale Dairy failed to file for Injunctive relief in their lawsuit. That means that it could takes months or years to resolve in court. The same thing that happened to Stueve's Natural Dairy in 1999 which bankrupt that commercial raw dairy producer that maintained about 2,000 cows.
As everyone can see from the article below, the state's response on Friday December 28, 2007 to Claravale and OPD's legal complaint was:
"Right now, the department is preparing to enforce the law when it takes effect," Van Rein said.
As I cautioned Ron at Claravale, Mark at OPD and Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund via emails, all of the niceties and assurances from any government official is nonsense regarding raw milk unless it is in writing and legal. As the State's spokesperson Van Rien stated, the State is preparing to enforce the new law January 1, 2008, and Mark McAfee's assurances from State officials that raw milk would not be interrupted were shallow and not legally binding.
We must get our consumer lawsuit mounted immediately. To get that lawsuit going and through the Injunctive process, $40,000 is required. To go beyond the Injunctive process, it will cost a lot more. Right To Choose Healthy Food gave $25,000 to begin the process. Right now, we need at least $15,000 to see us through the Injunctive process to stop the state from enforcing AB1735.
Please act now because raw milk will not be on your shelves in California very much after January 1, 2008. PLEASE donate immediately at www.SaveRawMilk.org
At that website, you can sign-up to be a petitioner/joiner on the lawsuit. We have about 500 people who have joined so far. We would like to have 10,000.
Thank you and have a wonderful New Year!
healthfully,
aajonus vonderplanitz, phd nutrition
San Francisco Chronicle
California dairies sue to stop enforcement of standard on raw milk
Friday, December 28, 2007
California's two raw milk producers filed suit Thursday to keep the state from imposing a strict new standard that, they say, would put them out of business.
The suit, filed in San Benito County Superior Court, is part of an all-out effort by the raw milk dairies and the estimated 40,000 dedicated raw milk consumers in California to forestall enforcement of the new law, AB1735, which takes effect Jan. 1.
It was filed by Claravale Farm, which recently moved its herd to Paicines (San Benito County), and Organic Pastures of Fresno against the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
The agriculture department hadn't yet seen the lawsuit and had no immediate comment, spokesman Jay Van Rein said.
"Right now, the department is preparing to enforce the law when it takes effect," Van Rein said.
The new standard, he added, is "just a matter of staying ahead of the curve on food safety."
For the first time, the law limits coliform bacteria in bottled raw milk to just 10 per milliliter, the same standard that pasteurized milk must meet.
The lawsuit contends that "it's not technically possible nor economically feasible" for raw milk to meet such a low limit.
Van Rein, however, said California Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura has checked with his counterparts in Washington and Pennsylvania, which also have adopted a 10-coliform limit, "to make sure their dairies have been able to comply."
The suit also contends that the raw milk producers are being unfairly singled out because there are "no standards in place for other food providers, for example beef, poultry, pork, eggs, vegetables, bakers or fin or shell fish, to comply with a coliform limit in the food stuffs they produce."
Fans seek out raw milk specifically because it contains enzymes and beneficial bacteria that are killed by heat pasteurization.
Coliform exist everywhere in the environment, and most don't cause illness, both raw milk and food safety authorities agree. Raw milk is already tested for the pathogens that do, such as E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter.
Public health authorities have a contentious history with raw milk, which many see as dangerous.
The federal government doesn't allow raw milk to be sold across state lines for human consumption.
California has the nation's biggest raw milk industry, and its vocal consumers have maintained pressure on state government to keep raw milk available. California is one of just a handful of states to permit raw milk sales in stores; many more allow retail sales directly from the farm.
Raw milk proponents see AB1735 as a way for the state to effectively ban raw milk without actually saying so. The two dairy owners were not informed of the proposal as it went through the Legislature and weren't offered the chance to make their case against the coliform limit. Passage was routine.
The lawsuit asks that the law be declared unconstitutional and the court keep it from taking effect.
In addition, the owners of Claravale and Organic Pastures met for more than two hours last week with Kawamura to make their case that the limit is overkill and can't be met. They also have met with AB1735's legislative sponsors to argue for repeal.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/28/BAAPU5K48.DTL
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