This is an excerpt from the latest post on Augie’s “Journal of Natural Food and Healing” blog:

“MADISON, WISCONSIN (December 25, 2009)– U.S. Connections to Natural Food and Healing and its affiliate members have formed a regional organization named Wisconsin Alliance for Raw Milk, with an acronym of WARM.

WARM is comprised of Wisconsin farmers, dairies and consumers, and those from surrounding states, who are “for the freedom and right to choose raw milk and other foods we want to consume to maintain and restore our health. We are for the right and freedom to farm the land and to share and trade in the bounty of our crops without government or corporate interferences.”

It appears as though the assault on small Wisconsin dairies and farmers have gained the support of their counterparts in surrounding states and more national and international attention, especially in France, Australia and the UK, since the Viroqua, Wisconsin Raw Milk Rally. Other actions are also occurring within Wisconsin and are being simultaneously conducted by officials in several states, but not with just the raw milk issue. Legal, regulatory and enforcement actions have been taken on farm animal identification (e.g. chicken and cow chips), property registration, surveillance systems and new food and agricultural safety and health programs, with fines and potential imprisonment for non-compliance.

Marti Oakely, is an executive director of Wisconsin Independent Farm and Consumers Association, former Op-Ed columnist for the St.Cloud, Minnesota newspaper and frequent guest on The Derry Brownfield radio show. Oakely said in a statement released on Christmas Day that they support the formation of WARM and are encouraging their members to join with them: “We need to unify for the support of Wisconsin dairy farmers as the state agriculture department and food safety division has begun systematically closing their businesses down and prosecuting those who refuse to comply with provisions of state codes and policies of the agency. This is an unelected bureaucracy which granted itself the power to conduct search and seizure of private property without warrant or cause and with no oversight.”

The news of the formation of WARM comes on the tail of a losing court case and a concurrent raw milk rally in Viroqua, Wisconsin last week over Max Kane over a private raw milk trading club, Michael Badnarik — a 2004 Presidential candidate and an admitted and admired constitutionalist, said that nowhere in the laws of the land does it say or imply the government must or can dictate the types of food we must eat. Badnarik asked two questions at the rally with a bullhorn on the steps of the courthouse:“Who Owns Your Body? You Do! You Do! Who Controls What Goes Into Your Body? You Do. You Do”!”

Michael Taylor, a farm and food advocate from Cincinnati who attended the court and rally, told the Journal concerning the milk issue, “It is not a question any longer over the health benefits. It is a question of freedom of choice. Do we have the right to choose what we eat?”

“….America’s Dairyland is becoming laughingstock to peoples worldwide who have enjoyed the health benefits of fresh raw milk from naturally raised cows and goats for centuries. An ongoing national one-minute raw milk survey (NORMS) shows that 98% of the 1100 responders reported some or many health benefits from raw milk, while 30% said pasteurized milk made them sick and some very sick. The real billion-dollar question, then, is why departments of agriculture, food and health at state and federal levels want to suppress this type of information and fight so hard to exploit the rare cases of sickness that do occur with drinking raw milk while protecting the mass production and distribution of an unhealthy product commonly known to sicken many. We think part of the answer to that question is this: too many people are learning of the difference between the two products and their health effects as well as the huge financial benefits to the milk monopoly–at the expense of the dairy farmers….”

Find out how to get involved, and read the rest of the story on the “Journal of Natural Food and Healing”

As further evidence of Wisconsin’s status as America’s pre-eminent dairying state, check out this excerpt, along with photos, from the “PETA files” website:

“Many vegan Wisconsinites cringe at the sight of “Green Bay Cheeseheads“—not to mention their state’s standard license plate, which reads, “America’s Dairyland,” and features an image of a quaint farm.

Caring drivers in Wisconsin deserve a compassionate alternative to “pro-provolone” plates, so PETA wrote a letter to Governor Jim Doyle pointing out that people who are concerned about cruelty on dairy farms should be offered a license plate that reads, “Wisconsin: America’s Cow Hell,” and comes complete with a realistic image of distressed, sick cows crammed together on a filthy factory farm.

While we wait to hear back from the governor, the Madison-based animal rights organization Alliance for Animals has already produced an “America’s Cow Hell” sticker for Wisconsin drivers to place over the existing “America’s Dairyland” on their license plates. Visit Alliance for Animals’ Web site to order yours today.”

Once again, the foregoing paragraphs and the photos which accompany this post are from the “PETA file” website.