Raw Milk Action Alert(urgent)

just got this email..if it can happen in Utah...


URGENT, URGENT ACTION ALERT
VOTE ON VERY BAD RAW MILK BILL IN UTAH SENATE TODAY
(Wednesday, February 14)

Dear Members,

We have just learned about a bill that is being rushed through the Utah
legislature and is up for vote in the Utah Senate Wednesday, February 14.

The Bill, HB 311, would allow raw milk to be sold in an offsite store owned by a
dairy. (Currently you can purchase raw milk at farms in Utah.) The problem with
this bill is that it benefits only one large dairy in Utah and would make it
very difficult for other dairies to compete or to sell their milk in stores.
(The bill requires that the dairy own 51% of the store, a tremendous financial
hurdle for smaller dairies, many of which rent land. This bill will not allow
smaller dairies to sell their milk through independent retail outlets, only
through one privately owned store.) Although described as a bill that would
make raw milk more available in Utah, this bill would ultimately make raw milk
much less available and much more expensive by squeezing out smaller producers.

Furthermore, the bill outlaws cow shares. While cow shares are not needed in
the state of Utah, the bill sends a very bad message to other states, who may
try to follow the example of Utah. PASSAGE OF THIS BILL COULD MAKE IT MUCH MORE
DIFFICULT FOR CONSUMERS TO OBTAIN RAW MILK THROUGH COW SHARES IN OTHER STATES.

The fact that this bill is being moved so quickly through the legislature
without any apparent opposition, with no published hearings,and with the
approval of the dairy industry in Utah, is very suspicious!

Therefore I am sending this urgent action alert to ALL our members, not just
those who live in Utah. It is imperative that this bill be defeated.

ACTION TO TAKE
We are asking ALL members to please take time out today to place a call to five
Utah senators. Their contact information can be found at


http://www.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/roster2007.pl


Make your phone call short, polite and to the point, LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING
ARGUMENT. Please ask them to vote NO on HB 311, as it benefits only one large,
well-funded operation and would be unfair to small farmers in the state; it
would also make it more difficult for you to obtain the raw milk that you need.
You can tell the senators you call that the current regulations concerning raw
milk in Utah are adequate and do not need to be changed.

Thank you ALL for your help in defeating HB 311.

Sincerely,
Sally Fallon, President
The Weston A. Price Foundation
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