Massachusetts Raw Milk Hearing
Raw Milk Regulations Threaten 300-year-old Heritage Farm
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Hearing Postponed to
Monday, Dec. 16th at 7 p.m.
in Ahern Middle School auditorium111 Mechanic St
Foxborough, MA 02035
Attend the hearing
and write letters to the local newspaper editor
and to the Board of Health members.
More info here. |
Hearing Moved to Dec. 16th!
Monday 7 p.m. Eastern
Ahern Middle School auditorium
(508) 543-1610
The Board of Health was forced to postpone the first public hearing on November 25 after a crowd of 140 people, made up mostly of Lawton Family Farm supporters, exceeded the capacity of the meeting room and brought on safety concerns. The meeting is expected to start on Monday, December 16th at 7 p.m. with the public hearing set to start at 7:30 p.m in the Ahern Middle School auditorium.
The Lawton Family Farm, a provider of raw milk (OKA Real Milk, LLC) and cheeses (Foxboro Cheese Co.), faces a draconian slate of local town regulations to be voted on Monday, December 16. Passing these unnecessary and expensive regulations will make this small family farm financially unsustainable. What's more, as David Gumpert puts it in his article on the subject, "So here's the crazy situation that has come down in Foxborough: if it puts itself into the dairy regulation business next Monday, the state's two full-time dairy inspectors will hand over responsibility for regulating Lawton's to an individual who knows nothing about raw milk safety, and will be regulating a dairy run by an experienced dairy inspector. What is wrong with this picture?"
Your action is needed NOW! Highlights of Proposed Regulations:*
- Liability insurance: the farm must carry general liability insurance against losses of $1 million per occurrence, and with an aggregate of $3 million per year, MINIMUM
- Obtaining an annual permit from the Town of Foxborough Board of Health, for an annual fee that has yet to be determined
- Handing over current customer information to the Board of Health upon request
*Some changes have been made to the original proposed regulations.
For more info on the regulations visit www.foxboroughma.gov. Read what you can do!
Please share this alert with friends and family.
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About Foxboro Cheese Co:
Foxboro Cheese Co. is located on Lawton's Family Farm, which has been owned by Ed Lawton's family for nearly 300 years. The farm was a part of a land grant to the family by King George in 1732. Currently the 25-acre farm is primarily used to graze a herd of 25 Ayrshire cows, which supply milk to OKA Real Milk (a raw milk retailer) and Foxboro Cheese Co. The cheese room, and aging cave, is located in the 1830's hand-hewn timber-framed barn. Cheese sales began in the summer of 2009.
Terri Lawton, who runs the OKA Real Milk, graduated from Purdue University with a double major in Animal Agri-business and Agricultural Communications in 2002. After a year's service with the Americorps *Vista program, Terri became a state Dairy inspector. While with the state, she learned about the raw milk movement. She visited many raw milk retailers in all stages of the licensing process. Specializing in food safety and sanitation in the dairy industry helped Terri become an expert in the field. Terri used the information she learned as a FDA certified Dairy Inspector to develop a raw milk program that exceeds all legal food safety requirements.
There have been no reported illnesses by consumers of raw milk from the Lawton Farm. In addition, milk is not sold to the general public. To purchase milk from OKA Real Milk, the consumer must submit an application, attend an orientation session conducted by Terri Lawton to learn about the process of raw milk production and the methods by which the consumer must handle the milk. Following orientation, the consumer orders her/his milk, and milk pickup must occur on the day for which it was scheduled. The cows are milked that morning, and that day the consumer must pick up their milk.
Who is behind the regulations:
Health Agent, Pauline Clifford, who holds no degree in science, public health or policy, and was a former secretary for the town of Foxborough, was appointed as Public Health Agent by the Board of Health: Paul A. Mullins, Chairman; Paul Q. Stevens, Vice Chairman; Eric S. Arvedon, Clerk. Lawton's Family Farm is asking for help from their customers and other concerned citizens who believe in consumer choice: "Our health agent is very anti-raw milk and vows to get rid of your choice by making these regulations so extreme as to be difficult to maintain and sell. Some of the rules would allow them to collect your names for a 'recall' purpose but more importantly the ability for them to stop milk sales for up to a month at a time. Please take the time to send emails...Please be sure to send us copies as we do not trust our agent to pass them along to her board members." Email: Pauline Clifford, town Health Agent - [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Read about Ms. Clifford here.
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1. Attend the public hearing rescheduled for Monday, December 16, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the Ahern Middle School auditorium 111 Mechanic St, Foxborough, MA 02035.
2. Send an email detailing your concerns to the following town officials:
Kevin Duquette at [email protected] Diane Passafaro at [email protected] Pauline Clifford at [email protected] Eric Arvedon at [email protected] Send a cc to Terri Lawton at [email protected].
3. Write a letter to the editor of The Sun Chronicle, the local newspaper.
Contact: Mike Kirby at [email protected]
Note in your subject line that this is for Foxborough.
4. Write a letter to each member of the Board of Health:
Paul A. Mullins, Chairman
Paul Q. Stevens, Vice Chairman
Eric S. Arvedon, Clerk
Town of Foxborough
Public Health Department
40 South Street
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Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit [EIN 20-8605130], defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods. Learn more About Us or FTCLDF 2012 Summary.
Membership benefits include the possibility of representation in court; the Fund typically pays for all court costs. The Fund is not an insurance company and cannot guarantee representation on all legal matters. Your membership fees and donations help to keep local food sources available and preserve family farms facing unjust enforcement actions.
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Please forward this alert to others who are concerned about protecting locally-sourced nutrient-dense foods and preserving sustainable small family farms and artisan food producers as well as defending the rights to sell and to access the foods of one's choice from the source of one's choice. 
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