La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!
Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
It's easy to get rbGH-free (rbST-free) milk nowadays. Even at Starbucks. Or, for that matter, Wal-Mart. Yogurt, too, since Yoplait and Dannon both went rbGH-free in the past year or so. Cheese has been pretty easy for a while since Tillamook's been rbGH-free for years and even Kraft decided to offer an rbGH-free line (now if only they'd get rid of the milk protein concentrate in their cheese too!). Whole Foods and Cabot also offer hormone free cheese. But how about ice cream?
Breyers and Dreyers have one thing in common, besides names that rhyme. Neither is rbGH-free, and thus far both have resisted consumer campaigns asking them to go rbGH-free. Nevermind that the artificial growth hormone is banned by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and all 27 nations of the EU. And the American Public Health Association and American Nurses Association also officially oppose rBGH, and the former president of the AMA recommended that hospitals only serve rBGH-free milk. And that it's linked to some human cancers and increased human twinning. Plus, there's the increased rate of mastitis in cows injected in rbGH, which means more antibiotics... and more pus in the milk. (Yum. I'd like mine with some whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and a cherry on top.)
Breyers and Dreyer's are the two largest ice cream producers. Breyers, whose labels say "All natural," also includes Good Humor, Klondike Bars and Popsicle. Dreyer's includes Haagen Dazs, Nestle and Edy's.
Breyers and Dreyer's have already received thousands of messages asking them to go rBGH-free, but haven't responded yet. We know they're having discussions on this and every e-mail brings us one step closer to their doing the right thing. So here's what you can do:
Breyers:Email U.S. Ice Cream (which includes Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike Bars, and Popsicle) or call them using the numbers below:
BREYERS: (800) 931-2826
GOOD HUMOR: (800) 931-2854
KLONDIKE: (800) 931-2830
POPSICLE: (800) 931-2849
Dreyers: Email Dreyers (which includes Haagen Dazs, Nestle, and Edy's) or call:
DREYER'S (877) 437-3937
EDY's (888) 590-3397
NESTLE (800) 225-2270
HAAGEN DAZS (800) 225-2270
And in the meantime, eat organic ice cream or go for Ben & Jerry's (which is already rbGH-free).
Today I listened to a dairy farmer describe her past year in business. Like all other dairy farmers in the nation, her farm was in crisis. She no longer has TV or trash pick-up. She can't afford it. She could barely buy food for herself and her husband, which is rather ironic considering that her business is producing food for the nation. She drives a 1989 truck and can't afford to replace it. She sold off a woodlot at a 50% loss, and that woodlot was intended to pay for her retirement. She's having a hard time paying for feed and veterinary care for the cows too. This is, of course, cruel to the cows, whose lives are put at risk through no fault of their own. And it's a problem that is not unique to her farm. Any credit the farmers used to have to buy things they need has now run out. Their suppliers are struggling with a customer base of broke dairy farmers who can't repay their bills, and now they are asking for cash payments instead of credit. That's cash the farmers don't have.
Another farmer said that his 40 cows grossed over $80k in 2008 but under $50k in 2009. His federal assistance for 2009 was $6k, which is pathetic considering his shortfall of tens of thousands of dollars. He works 90-100 hours a week on his farm and his wife works at Wal-Mart. Still, he qualifies for Medicaid and food stamps, which he feels is "humiliating."
Others spoke about dairy farmers around them going out of business, which in turn put the local businesses that support dairy farms out of business. For the remaining farmers, this is a huge problem as now they don't have local sources of numerous things they need. One said she felt that the U.S. government obviously does not think that the U.S. needs dairy farmers, based on their policies and statements. She thinks it's their policy to put U.S. dairy farmers out of business.
These farmers are not unique. Today, they are the norm. In 2009, the average dairy farm lost $270,000. In 2010, they will lose a projected $240,000. To put that in perspective, last year's lost was about $.90 per gallon. Costs went up by 35% in 2009 while the price of milk received by farmers went down 45%. The farmers say the solution is passing Senate bill 1645 and a companion bill in the House. This bill was sponsored by Arlen Specter. Please, please call or write your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor S. 1645.
Turns out that Elanco-sponsored authors admit falsely claiming rbGH safety endorsement. Elanco's the Eli Lilly subsidiary that sells animal drugs like rbGH and ractopamine. They bought rbGH from Monsanto a few years ago. Recently, they put out a paper on how safe rbGH is. This paper was "commissioned through PR company Porter-Novelli, from eight prominent experts and academics in medicine and dairy science." It wasn't peer-reviewed but, you know... whatever. Just because Elanco paid the authors to write it doesn't mean that it's biased.
However, it turns out that a few bits of the paper are actually false.
The paper claims, for instance, that the safety of rbGH is endorsed by the American Medical Association (AMA)... [The] AMA has no policy on rbGH and offers no such endorsement. Instead, they note the April 2008 AMA newsletter cites past president Ron Davis saying "Hospitals should......use milk produced without recombinant bovine growth hormone".
The paper also lists false endorsements by the American Cancer Society and the American Association of Pediatrics. How did such false statements get into the paper? One of the authors, David Clemmons, called the AMA, the AAP and the ACS endorsements "technically untrue". He says, "We counted endorsement as failure to oppose rbGH."
There is, however, one endorsement that I don't doubt is true. The American Council on Science and Health. They might sound scientific and unbiased, but check out their long list of corporate sponsors. Ditto on the International Food Information Council. So, don't worry Elanco, we believe that any endorsement you claim you've gotten from a corporate funded astroturf organization is totally true.
Additionally, the Center for Food Safety put out a press release on this matter, which I've included below.
I'm always looking for ways to simpifly our yogurt making process. We make a quart each week with milk and cream we get delivered from our grassfed dairy, South Mountain Creamery. Until recently, I used a fairly rigorous process of bringing a mix of "creamtop" (unhomegenized) milk and heavy cream to 200 degrees on the stove top, then lowering the heat on the stove and keeping the milk at that temperature for about 20 minutes, monitoring frequently with my instant-read thermometer to make sure it didn't overheat. Then I would put the pot in a bath of cold water and quickly lower the temperature to 120 before mixing in my bacteria culture.
Well, sometimes I got distracted and the milk did overheat. Or maybe I just got tired of taking the milk's temperature all the time. And the whole water bath thing is a bit of a hassle, as well as a waste of water. In any case, I've found that my yogurt comes out just as fine--thick and creamy--if I just bring the mix to that magic 200 degrees, then turn off the stove and let the milk cool to 120 degrees on its own. Voila: I don't have to do hardly any work at all. The yogurt makes itself.
Sometimes the lazy way is also the most effective and fool-proof. The point of heating the yogurt is to make it thick. If you were thinking it's the amount of starter culture you add to the mix that thickens it, you'd be wrong. It's the heat, and the amount of time heat is applied. This binds the proteins in the milk together, resulting in thickness. So letting the temperature rise slowly, then deline slowly, gives those proteins plenty of time to do the necessary binding.
Still, this method didn't seem entirely simple enough. Is it possible to make yogurt this way if you don't have an instant-read thermomenter? Before I answer that, I would urge you to get an an instant-read thermometer if you don't have one already. It is an essential kitchen tool. That's why you see chefs walking around with one stuck in the pocket of their chef's jacket.
But, yes, I think it is possible to make yogurt without actually measuring the temperature of the milk. When the milk gets to 200 degrees, there should be a fairly thick layer of foam on top. The milk won't be bubbling--you don't want to boil it, at which point the proteins will separate. But there will be foam. Then simply turn off the burner and let the milk rest until it is just warm--not hot--to the touch. This might not be exactly 120 degrees. But the point is, bacteria are killed around 140 degrees, and the last thing you want to do is kill your starter culture when you add it to the milk. You won't get any yogurt at all if the bacteria are dead. Better to err on the cooler side.
So this is my new method for making our weekly yogurt: To make enough yogurt to fill a quart-size canning jar, first put two heaping tablespoons of last week's yogurt in a small bowl and set it aside on the kitchen counter to come up to temperature and activate the bacteria. If you don't have yogurt already, you can use any plain yogurt from the store with active cultures in it. We started with a small container of "Icelandic-style" yogurt. It was expensive, but incredibly delicious, with a distinctive tang.
Next, measure 3 cups of the best whole milk you can find, then add 3/4 cup heavy cream (the cream is optional--you can use milk only if you like.) Pour this into a heavy saucepan and heat on the lowest setting on the stove. We have an electric range, and not the typical coil burners, but those big, solid, European-style metal burners. These give off a gentle heat at the lowest setting. If you have a gas range, or if your saucepan is not so heavy, you might want to consider investing in some kind of heat deflector so that you don't scorch your milk.
Heat the milk gently to 200 degrees, as measured with an instant-read thermometer, or when there is a thick layer of foam on the milk. Turn off the heat and allow the milk to cool to 120 degrees, or to a point where it is warm--but not hot--to the touch. Use a small whisk, if you have one, to stir your reserved culture into the warm milk. Now pour the mix into a warm canning jar and place the jar in a small cooler. I usually place a couple of extra canning jars filled with hot water in the cooler as well. Set the cooler in a warm spot overnight.
The yogurt will form within a few hours. But since I restrict the number of carbohydrates I eat, I let my yogurt ferment another day at room temperature. This gives the bacteria plenty of time to convert the naturally occurring lactose in the milk into lactic acid.
Try this and see if it isn't the best yogurt you've ever tasted. You may never buy yogurt again.
For a looong time now, factory farm-style dairies have been able to pass themselves off as "organic" by feeding the cows organic grain and abstaining from using hormones and antibiotics. And while that's an improvement from conventional factory dairy farms, it's unfair to organic consumers and organic dairy farmers. Milk is healthier when cows graze on grass instead of grain. This isn't entirely black and white, as some grain is OK for a mostly-grass-fed cow. But cows evolved eating grass and they do need a certain amount of grass in their diets.
When the USDA first proposed its so-called "pasture rule" at the tail end of the Bush administration, the rule was unacceptable for a number of reasons. Most of the reasons were technical ones, but the end result was that the rule would have disqualified many good dairy farmers from being organic. Yesterday, the USDA published a NEW pasture rule, and this time it's a good one as far as I can tell. The new rule requires organic dairy farmers to let cows graze on pasture for the entire growing season but not for less than 120 days. Also, the animals must receive at least 30% of their feed by grazing on pasture. Animals must have year-round access to the outdoors unless they are in ill health or the weather is so bad that they must be indoors. This goes into effect on June 17 of this year.
For more information, see below. I've included a link to an LA Times story on this as well as press releases from the Federation of Organic Dairy Farmers (FOOD Farmers) and the Cornucopia Institute.
Organic industry watchdog, The Cornucopia Institute, put out a press release entitled "Organic Family Dairies Being Crushed by Rogue Factory Farms." In a time that is already tough for dairies, the last thing organic family farms need is unfair competition by factory farms that break the spirit of the organic law, if not the letter of it. The press release says that the organic family dairies are asking the President and OMB (the Office of Management and Budget) to remove loopholes from the law that allow factory farms to produce "organic" dairy products. This is not a new issue at all. It's one that's gone on for years, and the government is aware of it:
The pending rewrite of the organic livestock standards, with an emphasis on assuring compliance with provisions that require that ruminants, like dairy cows, be grazed, is currently under review at OMB, where the administration is being heavily lobbied by industrial farming interests to water down the rules.
It sounds to me like explosive growth in the organic market attracted these large factory farms (with up to 7200 cows), but now as organic dairy demand is flat, the glut of milk produced by these enormous milk factories is harming family dairies who allow their cows to graze on pasture. And, of course, consumers are not being served well by this either, as milk is healthier when the cows are able to graze on pasture.
Here's the strange part of it: The press release notes that the respected organic brand Strauss Dairy is partnering with Aurora (an "organic" dairy that even the Bush administration went after for violations) to do away with the pasture requirements for organic cattle that the OMB is looking at.
This is not TOO surprising to me, as in the past the government proposed organic dairy standards requiring the cows spend a certain amount of time grazing on pasture, but the standards were so flawed that they would have disqualified many legit organic dairies. Could that still be the case? (I'll add that I buy my milk from Strauss and would be most upset if they were actually lobbying for legalization of factory farms in the organic dairy market.)
I fully support strict pasture regulations to maintain the integrity of the organic standards and ensure that factory farms are not allowed in the organic industry. My concern is that the proposed rule takes a one-size-fits-all approach which ignores regional diversity, dictating farm management without regard to geographic and climate differences in this vast country.
See more from Strauss plus the full Cornucopia Institute press release below.
What do consumers want? Cheap, tasty, convenient food. And they DON'T care how you produce it. That's what Elanco, subsidiary of Eli Lilly, maker of rbGH and other animal drugs says in a white paper available from their website. Details below.
COPAKE, N.Y. -- State police in New York say an upstate dairy farmer shot and killed 51 of his milk cows in his barn before turning the rifle on himself.
State police found the body of 59-year-old Dean Pierson in his Copake barn on Thursday. A visitor found a note Pierson had left on the barn door that said not to come in and to call police...
Local farmers buried the cows outside the barn Friday. They would not discuss Pierson or what had happened, but one of the men said these are hard times to be a farmer.
The price of milk has been in the toilet all year. It's started to come back up, but not enough. Many think that corporate consolidation and price manipulation is to blame. This is not the first dairy farmer suicide, either. What a tragedy.
Today I sat on a panel at the International Dairy Food Association's Dairy Forum. The topic was "What do consumers want - really?" The panelists were a longtime Washington Post writer who now works at Powell Tate, Sally Squires, an exec from Sargento cheese, Louie Gentine, and a marketing guru, Tom Nagle. I told the audience that I wore a red shirt so that if they threw rotten tomatoes at me at least the stains would blend in. I was very much there to represent a minority opinion that was probably not a welcome one for many dairy processors. It was an extremely pleasant and lively debate and I really enjoyed each of the panelists and everyone from IDFA that I met here at the Dairy Forum.
At this moment, I am at the airport, minutes from boarding a plane to Phoenix. I am headed there to speak on a panel about consumer opinion for IDFA (International Dairy Foods Association) conference. I hesitated before accepting the invite because IDFA is an industry trade group and I do not want my independence compromised by affiliations with food industry ties. I asked a few dairy farmers for their opinions on the invite and they said "Go for it!" One added: "We'll never get anywhere if we only preach to the choir. And, you might learn something!" That's a good point. And, while IDFA is covering the costs of the trip, I'm not being paid to speak. (For that matter, if they had offered to pay me, I wouldn't have accepted it.)
So what will I be saying there? The panel is about consumer opinion on dairy products. I plan to say that consumers do NOT want high fructose corn syrup, rbGH, high quantities of sodium, milk protein concentrate, artificial food dyes, parabens, and excess amounts of added sugar in their food. And they DO like when milk comes from cows grazed on pasture from small dairy farms, especially when dairy farmers are compensated fairly for their milk. Of course these issues vary in the percent of customers (and regulators and media) that are aware of them, but they all pose both opportunities and threats to dairy product manufacturers. It's a threat if your product contains nasty ingredients and the public turns against you, and an opportunity to gain good public opinion and market share if your product is a leader in ditching the nasty stuff.
The other issue that will likely come up is dairy in schools - particularly chocolate milk. From my perspective, the dairy industry has a moral high ground when it comes to beverages served in schools. Milk is what the kids SHOULD be drinking. But chocolate milk is not. I don't think the dairy industry and I will agree there as 70% of milk sold in schools IS flavored milk. Dairy companies fear that the kids will prefer 100% juice to milk unless chocolate milk is an option. I'd say that kids should be eating their fruit, not drinking it. And milk should be kept cold in schools so it tastes good. What could be better to wash down your PB&J with than ice cold milk? Chocolate milk aside, I'd LOVE to see the dairy industry beat up on the soda companies to try to get sodas (even diet sodas), energy and sports drinks, and juice drinks out of schools. And for goodness sake, if you're going to sell chocolate milk in schools, pretty please don't put high fructose corn syrup in it!
Earlier today I wrote about 17 new 2-year appointments to a federal Dairy Industry Advisory Committee. I was happy that my friend, dairy farmer Jim Goodman, was among the appointees. It turns out that another one of the appointees is someone I'm familiar with. Bob Wills of Cedar Grove Cheese is also joining the committee. There are two important things to know about Cedar Grove in my opinion. One is that they provide "domestic fair trade" cheese (available for purchase at the link). Second, they clean their waste water in an INCREDIBLE and very eco-friendly way, using a contraption they call "the Living Machine."
I realize that Jim and Bob might be just token appointees to this committee to appease sustainable ag and family farm advocates, but I am very, very glad that their voices will be heard on this committee. Also, given the crisis that dairy is in right now, if you eat cheese and you want to do something to help, I urge you to check out Cedar Grove's cheese.
If you follow this site, you know that dairy is in a colossal crisis. The USDA knows it too, and thus far none of the government's "fixes" (like buying up lots of extra milk) have worked. Now Vilsack has announced the appointment of 17 members to a federal Dairy Industry Advisory Committee. From their press release:
Over the next two years, the committee will review the issues of farm milk price volatility, dairy farmer profitability and consolidation, and offer suggestions on ways USDA can best address the needs of a struggling dairy industry.
The best news of all is that LVL blogger Jim Goodman is on the committee!!!! The USDA announced that the committee would include "producers and producer organizations, processors and processor organizations, handlers, consumers, academia, retailers, and state agencies involved in organic and non-organic dairy at the local, regional, national, and international levels." Goodman is an organic dairy farmer in Wisconsin, a member of Family Farm Defenders, and a Kellogg/IATP Food and Society Policy Fellow.
Here is the full list of members:
Producer members appointed to the committee are: Erick Coolidge (Pa.), Timothy den Dulk (Mich.), Debora Erb (N.H.), James Goodman (Wis.), James Krahn, (Ore.), Edward Maltby (Mass.), Manuel Souza (Calif.), Ed Welch (Minn.), and James Williams (Ga.).
Representatives from the processing industry include: Jay Bryant (Va.), Patricia Stroup (Calif.), Sue Taylor (Colo.), and Robert Wills. (Wis.).
Members representing state government, retail, academia, and consumers are: Rodney Nilsestuen (Wis.), Robert Schupper (Pa.), Andrew Novakovic (N.Y.), and Paul Bourbeau (Vt.).
UPDATE: From the comments:
Paul Bourbeau, VT, Paboco Farms, Inc.
Jay Bryant, VA, Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association
Erick Coolidge, PA, Le-Ma-Ra Farm
Timothy Den Dulk, MI, den Dulk Dairy Farm, LLC
Debora Erb, NH, Springvale Farms/Landaff Creamery, LLC
James Goodman, WI, Northwood Farm
James Krahn, OR, Oregon Dairy Farmers Association
Edward Maltby, MA, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance
Rodney Nilsestuen, WI, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Andrew Novakovic, NY, Cornell University
Robert Schupper, PA, Giant Food Stores
Manuel Souza, CA, Mel-Delin Dairy
Patricia Stroup, CA, Nestle
Sue Taylor, CO, Leprino Foods Company, Inc.
Edward Welch, MN, Associated Milk Producers Inc.
James Williams, GA, Williams Dairy Trucking, Inc.
Robert Wills, WI, Cedar Grove Cheese Inc.
Another commenter spoke highly of Ed Maltby, so that's good news too. Plus I wrote a diary to follow up on this one about Bob Wills and Cedar Grove (he's great, his cheese is great). And I've heard some not so good things about Rod Nilsestuen.
This is an old story from back in September, but I am posting it because I think it's telling about the state of the dairy industry. It's very, VERY sad. Dennis Wolff, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, made the news September 30, 2009 for evicting the tenant farmers on his property.
I wrote a friend in Wisconsin, asking for more information on the proposed enormous dairy in Rosendale. Here's what he had to say (below). If you live in Wisconsin and you want to do something about this, please write a letter to the Governor and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.
Congrats to Kathy Ozer of the National Family Farm Coalition for getting a Letter to the Editor printed in the Washington Post. She wrote in about a recent WaPo article that spoke about the $350 million in government aid going to dairy farmers without fairly portraying the crisis dairy farmers are going through these days. The real beneficiaries of the government money, says Ozer, are companies like Kraft and Dean Foods. I agree. If things were fair, dairy processors would have to pay a price reflecting the cost of production for the milk they purchase, and they would not be able to undercut American dairy farmers by importing cheap, low quality milk protein concentrate (MPC). Here's the letter:
Support that dairy farmers deserve
The Oct. 9 editorial "Got Money?," denouncing $350 million in emergency funding for dairy farmers, accused those farmers -- suffering through their worst crisis since the Great Depression -- of milking taxpayers and consumers. Nowhere did it mention the real beneficiaries of the millions that we are spending to sustain the livelihoods of America's remaining 59,000 dairy farmers: corporate agribusinesses.
While farmers are receiving 1970 prices for their milk (not adjusted for inflation), Dean Foods, the largest fluid milk processor, and Kraft Foods have recorded gigantic profit increases. Because dairy processors refuse to pay farmers a fair price for their milk, taxpayers are now subsidizing their profits. Consumers should target their outrage at these entities, not dairy farmers, who have no control over the price they receive or the prices at the grocery store.
We have lost more than 80 percent of our dairy farmers since 1981, when President Ronald Reagan decided to deregulate the price of milk. For anyone who wants access to local fresh milk and fears becoming reliant on imports of powdered milk, supporting our remaining dairy farmers is vital.
Katherine Ozer, Washington
Executive Director
National Family Farm Coalition
Buy an autographed copy of Recipe for America LVL Gear
"Too Big to Fail" T-Shirt
(details)
Support La Vida Locavore
Subscribe for $10/month:
One-Time Gift:
