Wise Traditions, an initiative of the Weston A. Price Foundation, have produced a fair
number of great podcasts, some going into great detail about raw milk. Now Pete Kennedy, lawyer and defender of food freedom, provides a bird's eye view on the raw milk movement in the U.S. He explains the history, what's left to be done, and what we can do to be a part of it all. He was interviewed by Hilda Labrada Gore.
Based in Sarasota, Florida, he served as the President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defence Fund from 2008 - 2016. He has represented or assisted in the representation of dairy farmers facing possible state enforcement action in Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. He has helped farmers get started in the business of distributing raw milk and raw milk products in many other states.
“These agencies use the excuse that they are protecting the public health through the rationale that they are protecting the public health but really what these laws that prohibit raw milk distribution in reality are just business protection laws disguised as public health laws. They are mainly there to protect the profits of the dairy industry.”
"The demand for raw milk increases in this country."
Audio: the audio is streamed directly from the Wise Traditions website (source)
For more information about the phosphatase test that Pete mentions in the interview at the 11:30 time marker, see the article The Milk Myth.
Expanding access to raw milk
In October 2017 the Weston A. Price Foundation announced that Pete is now working for them as a consultant on policy and legal matters. The long-term goal of WAPF is legal access to raw milk in all 50 states.
Raw milk in the United States have come a long way. From being legal in only 27 states in the 1990s, raw milk is now legal in 43 out of 50 states.
The seven states to go are: Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey and Rhode Island. See the Raw Milk Nation Map.
According to this article, WAPF members enjoy access to no charge consultations with Pete.
He will be consulting with members on legal issues pertaining to the right of consumers to have access to nutrient-dense foods and the rights of farmers and artisans to produce those
foods. He will be available to work at the administrative level with members having an issue with regulators in federal, state or local government agencies.
In the past, Pete has worked on numerous matters involving FDA and USDA, state agriculture and health departments and local health departments on nutrient-dense foods. Work he has done at the federal, state and local administrative levels includes protecting farmers against threatened enforcement actions, handling food seizure, embargo and recall cases, and right-to-farm and zoning issues.
He will also be available for consultation with WAPF members on herdshare contracts and buyer’s club agreements; he has worked with hundreds of farmers around the country on herdshare contracts.
Video: Sally Fallon Morell on the importance of Raw Milk and the Farm-to-consumer Legal Defence Fund to protect the rights of farmers and consumers. Remarks at the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense FundRAISER Dinner, May 19, 2012, St. Louis, Missouri
