Stop the crackdown on raw milk sales

Submitted by admin on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 4:39pm

Recently, the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has been cracking down on Wisconsin raw milk providers. Legislation to legalize the sale of raw milk and raw milk products is now before the Wisconsin General Assembly (AB 628) and the Senate (SB 434).  Legalizing raw milk will help many Wisconsin dairy farmers to stay in business since through direct sales they will earn 4-5 times as much as from the corporate controlled fluid milk market.  Last year alone farm income in WI dropped by over 50% and hundreds of dairy farmers are now on the verge of bankruptcy.
Action Step: Contact your state Representatives and urge them to support AB628 and SB434 to legalize raw milk sales.
Contact for more info: John Peck, Family Farm Defenders, 608-260-0900, familyfarmdefenders@yahoo.com

More WNPJ Action Alerts for the week of March 15 below...

 

 

Action Alert 1: Critical time for Carbon Free, Nuclear Free
Action Alert 2: March for America on March 21st/Marcha por America el 21 de marzo
Action Alert 3: Stop the crackdown on raw milk sales
Action Alert 4: Opportunity to limit corporate cash in politics
Action Alert 5: Save Public Access Television
Action Alert 6: Thank Obey, Kagen, Baldwin for vote to withdraw from Afghanistan
Action Alert 7: Press Danes to drop charges against climate justice protesters
Action Alert 8: Tell UW to sever relationship with right-wing think tank
Action Alert 9: Buses leaving Milwaukee for NYC rally for nuclear disarmament


Action Alert 1: Critical time for Carbon Free, Nuclear Free
Background: The next few weeks are crucial to the effort to maintain Wisconsin's common-sense requirements on those who would build new nuclear plants in our state. Changes are being made in the Clean Energy Jobs Bill, and the word is that the new version is likely to be even more pro-nuclear than the current one that the Carbon Free, Nuclear Free campaign has been fighting to strengthen. A vote is likely by mid-April, but the negotiations are taking place and the deals and compromises are being made now.
Action step: Please contact your state Senator and Representative today, to ask them two questions: 1) Will you support removing the nuclear provisions from the Clean Energy Jobs Act, leaving the state's current safeguards on new nuclear reactors intact? 2) If not, will you support adding language to the bill, to ensure that Wisconsin communities are protected from the dangers of radioactive nuclear waste? More here...
Contact for more info: Diane Farsetta, Carbon Free Nuclear Free Campaign coordinator, (608) 250-9240, farsettad@gmail.com


Action Alert 2: March for America on March 21st/Marcha por America el 21 de marzo
Background: On March 21st, we will march on Washington, DC to demand immigration reform and economic justice for all Americans.
El 21 de marzo, marcharemos juntos en Washington, D.C. con el propósito de impulsar la reforma migratoria para componer el quebrado sistema migratorio que tanto afecta a nuestras familias y al país.
Action Step: Join thousands from across the country in the March for America in DC on March 21st, and demand Congress act NOW to pass immigration reform and move quickly to put all Americans back to work. Register by March 15th, 2010. Bus Departs at Mitchell Park on March 20, 2010 @ 5:00p.m and returns March 22, 2010. There will be a pick up in Racine @ 6:30pm from the Pick N Save Parking Lot, 2210 Rapids Dr. Cost is $120 per person. (Voces de la Frontera has limited scholarships to aid members who can not afford $120). If you are not attending the march you are welcome to sponsor a bus seat by cash or check at our office: 1027 S. 5th ST. Milwaukee, 414-643-1620.
Únete a las miles de personas que participarán en la Marcha Por América en Washington, D.C. el domingo 21 de marzo. Dile al Congreso y al presidente que la reforma migratoria se debe aprobar este año. Regístrese antes del 15 de Marzo en Voces de la Frontera El autobús sale de Mitchell Park el 20 de Marzo a las  @ 5:00pm y regresa el 22 de Marzo. Recogeremos gente de Racine por las 6:30pm en el estacionamiento del Pick N Save, 2210 Rapids Dr. Costo $120 Por Persona (Voces de la Frontera tiene becas  limitadas para los miembros que no pueden pagar $120). Si no puede asistir a la Marcha puede patrocinar  para cubrir los gastos de la Marcha Por medio de efectivo o cheque en nuestra oficina 1027 S. 5th ST. Milwaukee, 414-643-1620.
Contact for more info: Voces de la Frontera at Tel: (414) 643-1620


Action Alert 3: Stop the crackdown on raw milk sales
Background: Recently, the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has been cracking down on Wisconsin raw milk providers. Legislation to legalize the sale of raw milk and raw milk products is now before the Wisconsin General Assembly (AB 628) and the Senate (SB 434).  Legalizing raw milk will help many Wisconsin dairy farmers to stay in business since through direct sales they will earn 4-5 times as much as from the corporate controlled fluid milk market.  Last year alone farm income in WI dropped by over 50% and hundreds of dairy farmers are now on the verge of bankruptcy.
Action Step: Contact your state Representatives and urge them to support AB628 and SB434 to legalize raw milk sales.
Contact for more info: John Peck, Family Farm Defenders, 608-260-0900, familyfarmdefenders@yahoo.com


Action Alert 4: Opportunity to limit corporate cash in politics
Background: A bill in the Wisconsin state Senate, SB540, (.pdf) requires corporations to receive explicit permission from their shareholders before doing any election spending. The bill was drafted in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited corporate spending on elections, and received a hearing before the Senate Committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs on March 10. The committee may vote on the bill relatively soon.
Action Request:  Please call your Senator to urge them to support SB540. If you live in the district of Senators Spencer Coggs, Robert Wirch, John Lehman, Alan Lasee or Glenn Grothman, it is especially critical that you contact them.
Contact for more info: Mike McCabe, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, (608)255-4260, wisdc@wisdc.org


Action Alert 5: Save Public Access Television
Background: The "Video Competition Act", enacted by the Wisconsin legislature in 2007, deregulated the cable television industry in Wisconsin, removing the requirement that cable operators provide support to Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) channels. If the State does not change this law, community television stations will begin going dark in 2011. Two bills in the Wisconsin state legislature, AB 721 and SB582, would require cable operators to continue to carry these PEG channels.
Action Step: Please contact your state Representatives and urge them to support the "Save our PEGS" bill. If your representative is on the Assembly's Committee on Urban and Public Affairs, it is especially critical that you contact them soon, because the committee is expected to vote soon on AB 721.
Contact for more info: Mike McCabe, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, (608)255-4260, wisdc@wisdc.org


Action Alert 6: Thank Obey, Kagen, Baldwin for vote to withdraw from Afghanistan
Background: Last week, Congress voted on House Resolution 248, introduced by Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, that invoked Congress' power under the War Powers Act to require a withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2010. The resolution was defeated by a vote of 356 to 65, with three Wisconsin Representatives, Dave Obey, Steve Kagen and Tammy Baldwin voting in favor. Obey's "yes" vote was especially surprising to many in the peace movement, and came after a long effort by many in Obey's district (including many WNPJ members) to push him in a more peaceful direction.
Action Step: Please call Representatives Obey (202-225-3365), Kagen (202-225-5665) and Baldwin (202-225-2906) to thank them for their votes.
Contact for more info: Joy First, Madison Pledge of Resistance, 608-222-7581, jsfirst@tds.net

 

Action Alert 7: Press Danes to drop charges against climate justice protesters
Background: More than 100,000 people supporting climate justice protested in Copenhagen during the recent U.N. Climate Change Conference. Danish police detained over 1000 people and certain key organizers of the climate justice protests are still facing a variety of charges.  
Action Step: Please call the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. (202-234-4300) and urge them to drop all charges against the remaining climate justice organizers, including Natasha Verco and Noah Weiss.
Contact for more info: John Peck of Family Farm Defenders, who was in Copenhagen with the Via Campesina delegation, can be reached at: 608-260-0900, familyfarmdefenders@yahoo.com


Action Alert 8: Tell UW to sever relationship with right-wing think tank
Background: Last September, the UW announced that Ken Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, would be "joining forces" with the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) "to conduct frequent, detailed polling of Wisconsinites." Despite the UW's description of WPRI as "non-partisan", WPRI is well known as a proponent of conservative views, including strongly advocating for taxpayer-funded private-school vouchers. Last week, One Wisconsin Now revealed evidence that Professor Goldstein downplayed the findings of a poll that showed a majority of Wisconsinites opposed private school vouchers, after coming under pressure from WPRI leadership to suppress the findings.
Action Step: One Wisconsin Now has an online petition you can sign that calls on the UW to break its relationship with WPRI.
Contact for more info: Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now, 608-204-0677, own@onewisconsinnow.org


Action Alert 9: Buses leaving Milwaukee for NYC rally for nuclear disarmament
Background: In May, the UN will be holding the 2010 Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to consider ways to strengthen the treaty and promote nuclear disarmament. Thousands of activists from around the world will be converging on New York City to make sure that the nuclear-weapons states attending the review hear a strong call for universal nuclear disarmament.  
Action Step: Peace Action Wisconsin is organizing buses to a rally that will be held in NYC on May 2.
Contact for More Info: Liz Klainot at Peace Action - Wisconsin,  lizk@peaceactionwi.org, has information about when and where the buses will be leaving.

WNPJ compiles these weekly alerts from alerts received by member organizations, individual members and national affiliates. If you are a WNPJ member and have an alert you would like posted in this weekly WNPJ Action Alert e-bulletin, please send it for review to Steve Burns, WNPJ Program Director at: outreach@wnpj.org