If you want to know more about raw milk in Australia Liz over at Eight Acres wrote a great post about it that you can read here which also includes a lot of other links to related articles.
Here is all the information you need to participate in the timed, email protest in support of the Tyler Family (Moo View Dairy in SA), who are returning to court on March 23rd to defend criminal charges for 'selling' raw milk via herd share.
Please save the below template email into an email ready to send on Monday, and re-post and share within your networks. To be effective we need participation.
If you want to tell the government that we don't accept our farmers being turned into criminals and that we don't accept our government making arbitrary rules about our food system then please help the cause by doing the following:
ACTION: send the below email to the below Federal and State Ministers.
EMAIL:
Dear Sir/Madam
With today's court appearance of Mark Tyler in SA as a result of his herd share, raw cow's milk is firmly back in the headlines. We have heard it being decried and demonised in the media. But the reality is raw drinking milk can be and is produced safely under appropriate legislation world-wide. Prohibiting it, as is done in Australia, merely turns farmers into criminals.
Only Australia, Canada and Scotland prohibit the production and sale of raw milk for human consumption. Every other country in the world has enacted legislation to protect herd shares, put guidelines in place to ensure safe production of raw milk, and even to oversee the commercial sale of this milk (including most States in the USA). Although Scotland prohibits the sale and production of raw milk, it is still available to purchase via mail order.
Australia, on the other hand, has not only prohibited the sale of raw milk for human consumption, the State of Victoria has also gone to the as yet unheard of step of insisting that a bittering agent be added to raw milk, with other States indicating they may follow suit.
It has also been strongly indicated that this will include milk produced as part of herd shares, i.e. milk consumers obtain from cows they legally own. In one foul swoop, Victoria has managed to alienate many small dairy producers and make these farmers criminals overnight...for no other reason than milking their cows and providing a safe and nutritious product, or allowing herd share owners access to milk from the cows they (the consumer) own.
Several raw milk producers within Australia have already developed a framework for safe raw milk production, which they utilise in their own dairies. These steps towards reducing risk include regular testing, routines around cleaning and inspecting cows prior to milking, stocking densities, distribution chains, feed requirements, etc. These measures mirror legislation in place in other countries, including New Zealand, England, USA, and others.
Despite this, raw milk continues to be prohibited in Australia. To add insult to injury, raw goat's milk (a substance FSANZ has deemed a high risk product and similar in risk assessment to raw cow's milk) is legal to produce under license in all States except Victoria. Raw cheese production is slated to become legal this year. Yet raw cow's milk continues to be targeted and prohibited.
The truth is, yes...all raw food carries inherent risk. No raw product can be 100% safe, 100% of the time. One only has to look to the recent Hepatitis A outbreak from frozen berries to see an excellent example of this. Pasteurised dairy products are also not without risk. Take, for example, a listeria outbreak in 2013 linked to soft cheeses produced by Jindi Cheese company that caused two deaths, numerous illnesses and one miscarriage. There is risk associated with many foods. However, by working with producers, guidelines can be put in place to minimise risk to consumers from raw milk.
Both local producers and those world-wide have clearly demonstrated that raw milk can be safely produced. Prohibiting raw milk merely serves to drive its availability underground and creates a raw milk black market. Consumer safety is compromised in this situation because safety comes second to avoiding intervention by authorities. By putting appropriate legislation in place that regulates the production and distribution of raw milk, safety levels are maintained, consumers are protected, and small farmers are able to earn a living without being branded criminals. The rest of the world has demonstrated this can be achieved. Surely it is time Australia steps in line with the rest of the world?
Our farmers are not criminals. Please support your local farmers by supporting a rethink over raw milk legislation. Please do not buy into media hype over raw milk safety. The rest of the world produces this product safely and Australia can too.
Please help bring this issue to light in a positive, constructive fashion, so legislation can be developed and Australia can move forward with raw milk production.
Voters are demanding that raw milk be legalised. We hope we can count on your support to start this process.
Insert: Your name, State, Postcode
