Action Alert 3/24/8

--Farm Fresh MILK bill passed IN THE HOUSE!
--Rural Vermont Annual Meeting with JOEL SALATIN
--Other Rural Vermont events - KING CORN CHOWDER and Farm Fresh Forum
--Other upcoming events

***FARM FRESH MILK BILL HAS PASSED IN THE HOUSE***
Last week, the Farm Fresh Milk Bill - as amended by the House Agriculture Committee - passed the Vermont House of Representatives with a vote of 124-16. The bill survived intact (raising the limit that farmers can sell from 25 quarts/day to 50 quarts/day) despite an attack by Representative Norm McAllister (from Highgate), who offered an unfriendly amendment that would have essentially eliminated the exemption from inspection in the bill. The amendment was defeated after floor debate on a division vote of 27 (yes) - 49 (no). A "division" means that rather than just saying "yay" or "nay" the members of the house stand up so they can be counted - so there is no record of who voted a certain way, but the count is recorded. The final vote on the bill, however, was by roll call, so we know how everyone voted - PLEASE THANK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE THIS WEEK if s/he voted YES! See below for a complete list of the vote count.

The bill will move onto the senate now, and will begin in the Senate Agriculture Committee. We hope that hearings will begin next week, and we will keep you posted. THANK YOU to all who helped get this bill passed in the house - by showing up at the statehouse, making phone calls, writing notes, and writing letters to the editor. Several representatives reported that they were supporting the bill BECAUSE YOU CALLED. These calls and visits and letters really do make a difference! We can see the results in the statehouse! WE NEED YOU to stay active so we can get this bill all the way to the governor's desk this year! Please stay tuned for updates!

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK TO HELP THE FARM FRESH MILK BILL GET TO THE GOVERNOR:

1) WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE to your House Representative(s) if they voted YES on the bill. The list of the votes is at the very end of this email. Please write a HAND-WRITTEN note and mail it to your representative at the statehouse (please DO NOT send email, as it is ineffective). Tell your reps why you appreciate their vote. THese thank you notes are very important! Please do not think you are done in the house because the vote is over.
Send your note to:
Rep. ______________
Vermont Statehouse
115 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633

2) CALL YOUR SENATORS at the Statehouse this week (Tue-Fri). Call 802-828-2228 and leave a message with your name and number and ask for a call back. When you talk with your senator, please ask them to support H.616 as passed by the house. You have more than one senator, so make sure to leave a message for all of your senators. You can ask the person who answers the phone who your senators are if you don't know - they just need to know what county you live in. If your senator tells you whether or not they will support the bill, or if they need more information, please tell us! Email amy@ruralvermont.org with updates. WHILE YOU'RE TALKING TO YOUR SENATOR, please also ask them to support H.267 - the Hemp for Vermont bill, which should be moving soon in the senate.

3) SEND RURAL VERMONT A PICTURE OF YOUR "MILK FOR SALE" SIGN! We are collecting photographs of signs advertising raw milk for sale. Please send us a picture of your sign. You can send digital photos to amy@ruralvermont.org or mail a snapshot to Rural Vermont, 15 Barre Street, Ste. 2, Montpelier, VT 05602.

*******************************************************
RURAL VERMONT'S ANNUAL MEETING
*******************************************************
It's time to celebrate another year of moving our state closer to Rural Vermont's Vision for Vermont Agriculture!
The night will feature:
-a keynote speech by JOEL SALATIN, farmer and author of _Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal_ and other books
-board elections
-an awards ceremony
-a silent auction (bring your checkbook or MC/VISA!).
It's a POTLUCK: bring a dish made from local ingredients to share!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
6:30 - 9 pm
Royalton Academy
Route 14, ROYALTON
FREE for Rural Vermont members!
Everyone else: $15 (join today on our secure website: www.ruralvermont.org)

*** DINNER AND A MOVIE with King Corn Director Aaron Woolf ***
Saturday, March 29, 2008
5 pm dinner with Aaron Woolf at That’s Life Soup (YUMMY! - KING CORN CHOWDER!)
6:30 pm King Corn film screening at City Hall
dinner only: $35 / dinner and movie: $40
***There are only *18* tickets left for the Saturday March 29th screening of King Corn, and Rural Vermont has them!! *** Call today to order your tickets to Rural Vermont's fundraiser featuring Aaron Woolf, director of the much anticipated and celebrated film King Corn. Come to Montpelier on Saturday, March 29th for an intimate dinner party with Aaron Woolf at That’s Life Soup, followed by an early evening screening of King Corn at City Hall. These tickets are only available through Rural Vermont, so get yours today! Dinner tickets are $35 each, and the film tickets are available to dinner-goers at a reduced cost of $5. Much thanks to the Savoy Theater, the Green Mt Film Fest, and That’s Life Soup for supporting this fundraiser. All proceeds will go to Rural Vermont's work to achieve our vision of living soils, thriving farms, and healthy communities. To order tickets or for more info, call Rural Vermont at (802) 223-7222 or email Shelby at shelby@ruralvermont.org. To find out more about the film, visit www.kingcorn.net.

**HEMP MOVIE & DISCUSSION**
Come to the Lovin' Cup Cafe in Johnson to check out Hemp and the Rule of Law followed by a discussion led by local hemp advocate Eileen McKusick. Hemp and the Rule of Law relays the story behind agricultural hemp; the US's past involvement with hemp as a major agricultural crop and the current controversy surrounding farmers and state rights to return it as such. For a detailed film description and reviews, visit http://www.tinroofvideo.com/
WHEN: Tuesday, April 1st @ 7 pm
WHERE: Lovin' Cup Cafe, Main Street, Johnson

*** FARM FRESH FORUM in Essex ***
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
7 pm
Brownell Library, ESSEX
Join Rural Vermont and local farmers Doug Flack and Teddy Yandow for a lively group discussion about Rural Vermont's Farm Fresh Milk, Farm Fresh Meat, and Agricultural Hemp initiatives. Bring your friends and neighbors to learn more about what Rural Vermont is doing to support local agriculture and find out what we can all do to strengthen this movement. Snacks will be provided by Sweet Clover Market.

*****************************************************
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS
*****************************************************
THIS WEEK! Public Hearing on H.543, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Funding
When: Thursday March 27th from 5pm-7pm
Where: Room 11 in the State House
Contact: George Gay, Executive Director for the Northern Forest Alliance at 802-253-8227, ext 11. If you are interested in testifying, please contact George Gay ASAP. The department of Fish and Wildlife is under funded on an annual basis. The impact from this funding shortage affects Vermont's hunting and angling community immensely. But, the work our Fish and Wildlife department performs also impacts those of us that enjoy Vermont's incredible outdoor opportunities for other activities. Please attend this public hearing to find out more about this critical issue and the impacts it has on Vermont and Vermonters.

Cooling the Planet with Zero Waste
A Community Meeting with Gary Liss and Richard Anthony
Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 6:30pm
T.W. Wood Gallery at VT College (call 229-9383 ext.304 for directions)
RSVP to specialprograms@cvswmd.org if possible. But join in, either way!
Come to this community meeting to learn about Zero Waste and offer your energy and ideas toward moving the central VT region along this critical path! Want to learn more about Zero Waste now? See www.cvswmd.org/zero_waste/ . Gary Liss and Richard Anthony are leading Zero Waste consultants with more than 70 years of combined experience in solid waste and recycling, and have worked on more Zero Waste plans for communities than anyone else in the nation. They are currently working with the CVSWMD to help develop new Zero Waste initiatives. Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District 802-229-9383 www.cvswmd.org

Maude Barlow — Water Expert, Author, Activist —
to Speak April 2 on Water Security in an Era of Climate Change
The Vermont Natural Resources Council is proud to host internationally renowned water expert Maude Barlow in a series of events on April 2 in Montpelier.
DETAILS OF THE EVENTS WITH MAUDE BARLOW ON APRIL 2:
10:30 a.m. - Testimony to a joint committee in Room 11 at the Vermont State House
12:30 p.m. – Book signing at Bear Pond Books in downtown Montpelier (77 Main St.)
6:00 p.m. – Discussion on “The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.” The event takes place at Bethany Church in Montpelier (115 Main St.) and is free and open to the public. A short Q&A will follow the presentation.
For more information and directions, contact Johanna Miller at 802-223-2328 or jmiller@vnrc.org.

Localvore Dinner At Applecheek Farm
April 5th, 6-8 p.m.
Live Folk Music and Contra Dance
With musicians Rich Atkinson, Noah Book, John Mallory, Fran Mallory,
and John Mullet
Eat delicious local food prepared by Chef Jason of JDC's Just Delicious Catering
Menu includes: Vermont Artisan cheese, Vermont Sausage, Homemade Bread,
Organic Turkey, Root Vegetables, Apple Crisp with Strafford Organic Creamery
Ice Cream
$24 per adult, $12 age 12 and under
Age 5 and under eat free!
RSVP by April 2nd -Receive a discount and be included in a prize drawing.
Call Jason Clark at 888-9407 or email: jdccatering@yahoo.com for tickets and info

"Health & the Hive: A Beekeeper's Journey"- a New Film!
On Friday, April 25 at 7pm there will be a free showing of the film "Health & the Hive: A Beekeeper's Journey" at the Ilsley Library Meeting Room in Middlebury, Vermont. The film, made by Vermont filmmaker Jan Cannon, features several beekeepers, including Todd Hardie of Honey Gardens Apiaries in Ferrisburgh (honeygardens.com), and Ross Conrad of Dancing Bee Gardens and author of Natural Beekeeping (dancingbeegardens.com). The film will appeal to gardeners, farmers, healers and the sick. It will interest chefs, eaters, localvores, and people concerned about the environment and the impacts of industrial agriculture. Filmmaker Jan Cannon lives in Charlotte, and recently made a film about Bill McKibben's climate change march from Ripton to Burlington last year. He has been working to raise awareness on environmental issues through filmmaking. (www.jancannonfilms.com). Todd Hardie of Honey Gardens and Jan Cannon will be at the showing for this Vermont film debut. Todd recently showed the film to several audiences in Colorado, Seattle, and Portland, OR, and Ohio,where it was very well received. To find out about future showing dates, visit honeygardens.com.

**Whole Farm Planning Training Program – First Session April/May
We invite anyone who works directly with farmers to enroll in this educational opportunity. This is a unique opportunity to expand your skills and expertise in a topic much needed by your farmer clientele. Whole farm planning is essential for many farmers looking to expand, diversify, transfer assets to the next generation, and improve environmental conditions and farm profitability. This training will involve three intensive sessions. Each session will last 3-4 days. The first session will be held in April/May, 2008, the second session in September/October 2008 and the third session will be held in February/March, 2009. The sessions will focus on:
-farm/family goal setting,
-farm resource delineation,
-on-farm decision making,
-farm financial planning and analysis,
-reading the land/environmental monitoring,
-grazing planning
All expenses for the training will be paid through a Northeast SARE Professional Development Grant. Covered expenses include travel, room and board, and supplies and materials. Additionally, a program mentor will assist participants through the use of a list serve, interactive web site and other distance education methods.Farmer-educators will receive an additional $300 per session as a stipend for their time and to help defray costs while they are away from the farm. Participants will be required to attend all three sessions and work with at least two farms between sessions to implement the knowledge and skills gained during their training. Farmer participants may use their own farm as one of the two required. Two concurrent training sessions will be offered. One set of sessions will be held in central NY and the other will be held in central New Hampshire. Twelve participants will be accepted for each training site (NY and NH). The training is targeted at educators across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. For more information about the New York sessions call Phil Metzger at (607) 334-3231, Ext. 4 (Central NY RC&D). For information about the New Hampshire sessions, call Seth Wilner at (603) 863-9200 (UNH Cooperative Extension).

**2nd Annual Northeast Animal Power Field Days
September 26 – 28, 2008
Tunbridge Fair Grounds, Tunbridge, VT
The Northeast Animal Power Field Days is a celebration of sustainable farming and renewable resources promoting conservation, stewardship, small farms, healthy forests, and the roles that they play in vital communities. This 3-day conference will feature working animal and equipment demonstrations in field and forest settings, workshops, exhibits, networking sessions, and an auction and swap meet on Sunday. Workshop topics will include grazing management, working with draft animals, livestock health, getting started with animal power and more. For more information, go to: www.animalpowerfielddays.org or contact Carl Russell and Lisa McCrory, info@animalpowerfielddays.org, 802-234-5524. Join our discussion forum; www.draftanimalpower.com .

*******************************
VOTE LIST FOR H.616
*******************************
IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR REP IS, CHECK HERE:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/findmember.cfm
THEN LOOK AT THE LIST BELOW TO SEE HOW YOUR REP VOTED!

(From the Journal of the House, March 19, 2008) Pending the question, Shall the bill pass? Rep. McAllister of Highgate demanded the Yeas and Nays, which demand was sustained by the Constitutional number. The Clerk proceeded to call the roll and the question, Shall the bill pass? was decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 124. Nays, 16.

Those who voted in the affirmative are:
Acinapura of Brandon
Adams of Hartland
Ancel of Calais
Anderson of Montpelier
Aswad of Burlington
Atkins of Winooski
Audette of S. Burlington
Barnard of Richmond
Bissonnette of Winooski
Bostic of St. Johnsbury
Botzow of Pownal
Bray of New Haven
Browning of Arlington
Canfield of Fair Haven
Chen of Mendon
Cheney of Norwich
Clark of Vergennes
Clarkson of Woodstock
Condon of Colchester
Consejo of Sheldon
Copeland-Hanzas of Bradford
Corcoran of Bennington
Courcelle of Rutland City
Crawford of Burke
Davis of Washington
Devereux of Mount Holly
Donaghy of Poultney
Donovan of Burlington
Dostis of Waterbury
Edwards of Brattleboro
Emmons of Springfield
Evans of Essex
Fallar of Tinmouth
Fisher of Lincoln
Fitzgerald of St. Albans City
French of Randolph
Gervais of Enosburg
Grad of Moretown
Grenier of St. Johnsbury
Haas of Rochester
Head of S. Burlington
Heath of Westford
Hosford of Waitsfield
Howard of Rutland City
Howrigan of Fairfield
Hube of Londonderry
Hunt of Essex
Hutchinson of Randolph
Jerman of Essex
Jewett of Ripton
Johnson of South Hero
Keogh of Burlington
Kilmartin of Newport City
Kitzmiller of Montpelier
Klein of East Montpelier
Koch of Barre Town
Komline of Dorset
Krawczyk of Bennington
Kupersmith of S. Burlington
Larson of Burlington
Lawrence of Lyndon
Lenes of Shelburne
Leriche of Hardwick
Lewis of Derby
Lippert of Hinesburg
Livingston of Manchester
Lorber of Burlington
Maier of Middlebury
Malcolm of Pawlet
Manwaring of Wilmington
Marcotte of Coventry
Marek of Newfane
Martin, C. of Springfield
Martin of Wolcott
Masland of Thetford
McCormack of Rutland City
McCullough of Williston
McDonald of Berlin
McFaun of Barre Town
McNeil of Rutland Town
Milkey of Brattleboro
Minter of Waterbury
Mitchell of Barnard
Monti of Barre City
Mook of Bennington
Moran of Wardsboro
Morley of Barton
Morrissey of Bennington
Mrowicki of Putney
Myers of Essex
Nease of Johnson
Nuovo of Middlebury
Obuchowski of Rockingham
O'Donnell of Vernon
Orr of Charlotte
Otterman of Topsham
Oxholm of Vergennes
Partridge of Windham
Pearson of Burlington
Peaslee of Guildhall
Pellett of Chester
Peltz of Woodbury
Perry of Richford
Peterson of Williston
Pillsbury of Brattleboro
Potter of Clarendon
Randall of Troy
Rodgers of Glover
Scheuermann of Stowe
Shand of Weathersfield
Sharpe of Bristol
Smith of Morristown
Spengler of Colchester
Stevens of Shoreham
Sweaney of Windsor
Trombley of Grand Isle
Valliere of Barre City
Westman of Cambridge
Weston of Burlington
Wheeler of Derby
Winters of Williamstown
Wright of Burlington
Zenie of Colchester
Zuckerman of Burlington

Those who voted in the negative are:
Ainsworth of Royalton
Allard of St. Albans Town
Andrews of Rutland City
Baker of West Rutland
Branagan of Georgia
Brennan of Colchester
Donahue of Northfield
Errecart of Shelburne
Flory of Pittsford
Gilbert of Fairfax
Helm of Castleton
Keenan of St. Albans City
Larocque of Barnet
McAllister of Highgate
Ojibway of Hartford
Pugh of S. Burlington

Those members absent with leave of the House and not voting are:
Clerkin of Hartford
Deen of Westminster
Frank of Underhill
Godin of Milton
Johnson of Canaan
Larrabee of Danville
LaVoie of Swanton
Miller of Shaftsbury
Turner of Milton