Family Farm Defenders Family Farm Defenders P.O. Box 1772 Madison, WI 53701 phone/fax 608-260-0900 Contact: Ruth Simpson rsimpson@terracom.net Cedar Grove Cheese Route 1, Box 72 Valley View Road Plain, WI 53577 1-800-200-6020 mail@cedargrovecheese.com

Mission Statement: Family Farm Defenders is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to the creation of a farmer controlled and consumer oriented food and fiber food production. We adhere to the principle of democracy by empowering farmers to speak for and represent themselves in the quest for economic justice and responsible sustainable agricultural practices. We felt that one way for farmers to receive a fair price would be to market their product directly to the consumer. To enable us to do that we started to work on our Family Farmer Cheese project. We have developed our own label the Family Farmer Cheese label . We had several goals when we developed our label. One was to give the farmer a fair price for his product that is based on cost of production. For that price, we require that the farmers do not use growth hormones, use sustainable methods of farming and care for the animals in a humane way.
	Their Work: Currently we are working on the legislative front fighting the take over of our food system by the big corporations. We have been active participants in the battle against the WTO and the GMO fight. Because we have felt that the fight to change farm policy at the national level was going to be a long battle we started to look for other ways to enable farmers to receive a fair price for their milk. The Family Farm Defenders is dedicated to speaking out against all forces threatening the long-term survival of rural America and to preserving a diverse, safe and wholesome food supply at an affordable price for consumers.
Their Goals: Producing healthy, safe and quality food and the right of the consumer to know how their food is produced. FFD supports the labeling of rbGH-free products. Family Farm Defender Cheese is produced with any artificial hormones. Promoting a fair policy for an economically viable dairy industry. The price farmers receive for their milk should provide a living wage for farmers. Dairy Farmers should set their own price for milk when it leaves the farm.	Owner Bob Wills, Cedar Grove Cheese

Cedar Grove - Producer of Family Farmer Cheese

Family Farm Defender is proud to have nationally recognized Cedar Grove Cheese Company producing our Family Farmer Cheese brand. Cheese Market News, the national journal of the cheese industry, listed Cedar Grove Cheese as among the 50 key players in the cheese industry for 1996. The accolades don't stop there. In an evaluation of over 30 cheese brands, editors of Self, a national magazine of health and fitness, rated Cedar Grove's reduced fat cheeses as excellent. The October 1996 edition read: "Wisconsin Cedar Grove Cheese makes a fabulous line of reduced fat colby, cheddar and farmers ... we could forget they are low in fat."

Family Owned Cedar Grove plant is located in Plain, WI

When you visit Cedar Grove Cheese, you are visiting a cheese processing plant with a long-time family tradition. Built in 1900, Cedar Grove Cheese saw its latest expansion in 1995. Their master cheese maker, Daniel Hetzel celebrated his 40th year with Cedar Grove. Cedar Grove doesn't use milk with growth hormones and is increasingly using milk from organic farms. Family Farm Defenders, now in partnership with Cedar Grove, is committed to paying a premium price to those dairy farmers supplying their raw milk to Cedar Grove.

John Kinsmen, current president of Family farm Defenders, is a nationally recognized advocate for dairy farmers and consumers. He is one of the sustainable farming visionaries providing inspiration to those small dairy farmers fighting for their survival during this current dairy crisis. Under his leadership, Family Farm Defenders has grown into a nationwide organization uniting dairy farmers and consumers in the fight to save small dairy farms.

Dairy farming has been in John's family for generations. John maintains a small herd of 36 cows and sends his milk to Cedar Grove Cheese. He uses sustainable farming methods of crop rotation and rotational grazing. Off the farm, he and other farmers led the fight to label rBGH produced milk products by organizing farmers and consumers. John has also traveled frequently to speak with farmers in foreign countries (England, Netherlands, France, Spain, Cuba) about building an international agricultural movement.The good news is that John is just one of the powerful voices in the movement to save the small dairy farmer.