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Dear Members,

As the year comes to a close, we are sending you an update on upcoming WAPF activities and to ask your generosity in your end-of-year giving.

SHOPPING GUIDE:

As a member, you should have received your Shopping Guide for 2019, which now lists 7,000 products and is available both as a flip book and a searchable app. Countless hours of work go into keeping the list of products current. The Shopping Guide not only provides a much-needed service for members saving you research time, but also is creating customers for hundreds of family farms and artisan food producers.

You can use the Shopping Guide to join us in a collective New Year’s resolution: that all of us spend at least 50 percent of our food budget purchasing directly from local farms and artisan producers. This is the best way to defeat the forces of corporate agriculture and bring back a sane, equitable and healthy food supply.

BUTTER PETITION:

A big focus in 2019 will be the FDA Citizen Petition seeking to lift the interstate ban on raw butter for human consumption. The Weston A. Price Foundation is working with the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and Communities Alliance for Responsible Eco-agriculture (CARE) to pay for the services of James Turner, Esq., to lead this effort. Turner is no stranger to the FDA, having dealt with the agency on various matters since the 1960s. If Turner can’t convince FDA to file a substantive response to the petition, he will likely file a writ of mandamus motion in a federal district court to have the court compel FDA to respond. If FDA rejects the petition, petitioners can appeal the agency’s decision to a federal appellate court.

The butter petition is a great opportunity to weaken the interstate raw dairy ban—a significant step towards the day when the transport of all dairy products across state lines is legal. Jim Turner has the experience and ability to make that happen. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

SOY PRISON LAWSUIT:

While the wheels of justice move slowly, we are slowing making progress in our efforts to reduce the consumption of soy, even to remove it from the market completely. We have just learned that the state of Illinois will no longer be serving soy foods to its prisoners—this is a huge victory coming after many years of patient work. A big thanks to several generous donors who have supported these efforts.

This coming year, our petition to remove the heart health claim from foods containing soy protein will finally get its day in court. The judge in the case did not dismiss motion, as was requested by the FDA, but has scheduled a hearing for March 5, 2019 at 10 AM. We will keep our members posted and hope that many of you will join us in the courtroom to hear the proceedings.

Meanwhile, we are winning this fight in the court of public opinion. Ten years ago, the Natural Products Expo was dominated by soy products—soy milk, soy bars, soy supplements. The most recent Expo did not have a single soy product on exhibit, but many products listed as “soy-free.” The big displays of soy milk and end-of aisle shelves of soy bars have disappeared from grocery stores and health food stores. Thanks to our Soy Alert! campaign, more and more consumers have learned about the toxicity of soy and want to avoid its goitrogenic and endocrine-disruption effects.

12 SPOONS RESTAURANT RATING PROJECT:

This special website for WAPF members is almost ready. Look for an announcement on the launch very soon.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES:

Meanwhile, we will continue with all our regular projects including chapter activities, exhibiting, the quarterly journal, educational materials, our popular podcast, social media presence, research, conference and seminars, maintaining our websites, raw milk activities and answering numerous phone calls and requests. Truly we do a lot with a little, but your ongoing support is vital to our success.

You can donate using the envelope that came with your Shopping Guide, online here or by phoning the office at (202) 363-4394.

We wish all our members and supporters a New Year filled with prosperity and good health!

Sincerely yours,

Sally Fallon Morell, President

Kathy Kramer, Executive Director

WAPF Staff and Board of Directors

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