Falls Church, Virginia (June 15, 2010) - On June 14, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) filed its brief in resistance to the April 26 motion by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Fund earlier this year.  Aiming to overturn the federal ban that prohibits raw milk for human consumption in interstate commerce, the lawsuit claims that the federal regulations (21 CFR 1240.61 and 21 CFR 131.110) are unconstitutional and outside of FDA’s statutory authority as applied to FTCLDF’s members and the individual plaintiffs named in the suit. 

“FDA made some pretty incredible arguments in their motion to dismiss,” said Fund President Pete Kennedy.  “Our research shows that this nation has a long history of consuming raw dairy products and that FDA’s prohibition against taking raw dairy for human consumption across state lines runs counter to that national history,” stated Kennedy.  

Contrary to FDA’s claims, the Fund argues in its brief that everybody has the right to travel across state lines with raw dairy products in their possession, that everybody has the right to consume the foods of their choice, that parents have the right to feed their children the foods of their choice, and that everybody has the right to be responsible for their own health.  

“We believe we are breaking new ground in this case,” said the Fund’s General Counsel Gary Cox, “yet in a way, we are really asking the Court to expressly recognize what our Founding Fathers implied in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.” 

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund  defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and protects consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods.

Concerned consumers can support the Fund, a U.S. based 501(c)(4) nonprofit, by joining or donating online at www.farmtoconsumer.org or by calling 703-208-FARM (3276).