Dear Members,

Welcome back from summer vacations. As we transition into Fall, we send you
this update and action alert-please schedule a little time during the next few
days to do as many of these as you can-your input is important!


CALIFORNIA RAW MILK LEGISLATION
TIME TO CALL THE GOVERNOR!

SB 201 "The Fresh Raw Milk Act of 2008" will be signed by the Governor only with
your support!

Call 916-445-2841 and leave a short but polite message urging the Governor to
sign SB 201 into law.

Or, (for California residents only) download and print a postcard to send to the
governor, click on http://www.organicpastures.com/pdfs/CaliforniaPostcard.pdf.

For the last eight months your actions - your attendance at committee hearings,
your letters and phone calls, your appearance at legislative events - have made
all the difference. Our world-class raw milk bill has passed all of the votes in
the Assembly and Senate and now sits before the Governor. Now is the time to
pull out all the stops and assure signing of SB 201.

SB 201 represents dynamic, ground-breaking legislation, and as such it may be
threatened by veto.

Please call Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and ask him to sign SB 201. When he
was a body builder he drank raw milk. He knows the nutritional value of this
wonderful and whole food. He needs to hear our support loud and clear. Your
calls and letters will encourage him to overcome any voices within his
administration that still oppose SB 201.

It is up to us to assure one more time that this bill is signed and made our raw
milk law.

Keep calling the Governor until he signs SB 201. Call him every week until it
happens. Your voice has made the difference all along!


PETITION TO RESCIND SOY HEALTH CLAIM
Our petition to the FDA to rescind the soy health claim is now posted on the
government regulations website. The FDA soy/heart health claim appears on
bottles of soy milk, boxes of tofu and other soy products to create the
impression that soy is healthy; the health claim, approved in 1999, has
dramatically boosted soy sales.

We urge our members to submit comments in support of this ably written petition.
In 2006, we were able to defeat a proposal to allow a claim that soy prevents
cancer; now it is time to get rid of the claim that soy prevents heart disease.

Points to make:
--Soy protein isolate and other highly processed modern soy protein products are
not safe and have no long history of use in the food supply

--The evidence on soy protein and heart disease is contradictory and
inconsistent, and no "standard of scientific agreement" has been met.

--Studies published since 1999 undermine the credibility of -- and conclusions
drawn -- from key studies evaluated by the FDA when it approved the health claim
in 1999.

--Recent studies show that soy can contribute to or cause heart disease,
including endothelial damage (especially in women), heart arrhythmias and
cardiomyopathy, an increasingly prevalent condition that affects 1 in 500
Americans.

--The mechanism by which soy might lower cholesterol could cause endocrine
disruption, diminished humoral immunity and cancer development.

Finally, if your health has been damaged by consuming soy, please write from
your heart and tell your story.

To submit your comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov and put in the Docket
number FDA-2008-P-0452. Then click on "Send a comment or submission."


IRRADIATION PROPOSAL
The specter of irradiation has raised its ugly head again, with FDA now allowing
irradiation for iceberg lettuce and spinach. You can submit comments on the FDA
proposed "Use of Ionizing Radiation for the Control of Food-Borne Pathogens and
Infectious Protozoa, and Extension of Shelf-Life, in a Variety of Human Foods."
Again, go to http://www.regulations.gov and put in the docket number
FDA-1999-F-2405. Then click on "Send a comment or submission." The deadline for
submissions is SEPTEMBER 22.


RAW MILK IN AUSTRALIA
We recently sent out an Action Alert to our Australian and New Zealand members
regarding the Food Standards Authority's deliberations on raw milk. We have
just learned that the Food Standards Authority in Australia will accept
submissions regarding the raw milk products proposal from anywhere, not just
Australians. Separate submissions should be made for raw milk and raw milk
cheese. The deadline for submissions is SEPTEMBER 16.

All the information can be found here:
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/proposals/proposalp1007prim\
ary3953.cfm

and here http://realmilkaustralia.com/index.php

Please send an email to submissions@... to show your support by
September 16. Make sure you include your name and contact details, and whether
you are a consumer or work in the industry. The email must state the following:

Submission
Re: Proposal P1007 Primary Production & Processing Requirements for Raw Milk
Products (Australia only)

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Washington, District of Columbia 20016
United States