Raw Milk Renegade

I think it is absolutely disgusting that this farmer was taken away in handcuffs for selling milk. This is another example of the government going to far. Nobody was forced at gun point to buy the milk. Joe public sits by and lets the government spiral out of control. The founding fathers are turning in their graves. Everyone involved in that fiasco should be strung up!

Hi from east Texas , IT is legel To Sell Raw Milk In Texas With a Permit , Type in Texas Raw Milk and you will find all kinds of mostly Raw Goat Milk Dairys nere you ,,, and one day i will be one too ,,,,, Thanks

Re: PE's comments of "raw milk from southern California seems more subject to contamination as well, though 'consumers' tend to think the reverse." Where did you pull that tidbit out of? The raw milk we get here in SoCal is perfectly fine, and the quality is good. Claravale is great, with Organic Pasture (sic) coming in second.

We have a few nubian goats that I milk to make home made goat milk soap. Tired of the allergies I get from commercial products. I decided to try drinking it. wow! It was so much fresher. When the new season comes in the spring I will be milking 3 goats and hope to drink as much goat milk as they can give me. raw goat milk! I assure that it is refridgerated as soon as I am done milking and alway strain it through a cloth, no worries here. In Illinois i can sell it off my farm raw if someone ask me to sell it to them. I can not advertise! but sorry guys, they will have to fight me for it first.

All of these comments are good, but they still overlook one fact. I have a food budget of $25-$75 in any given week. I am feeding 4 people with this food. I make everything, including yogurt and cheese, from scratch to save money. In my state of NM, there are two dairies that sell raw milk; both are too far away to purchase from. There are no herd shares in my area that I can find. I would love to feed my kids raw milk, I grew up with goats and loved them. But, at this point, I am just happy when I can afford to pay $4.50 a gallon instead of $3 a gallon, and get no-rBGH milk. Forget even mass-produced organic--here it runs $6+ per gallon. The one dairy selling raw cow's milk charges $10 per gallon. I can't afford that price. Regulations don't matter to me--what matters is getting food on the table. I don't care if Obama, McCain or Mickey Mouse is elected; the real problem is that the entire system of food in America is broken when I am forced to buy bad food in order to have any food at all.

I'm in Texas, where it is illegal to "sell" raw milk, but you can buy into a cow and drink her milk, because she belongs to you. The dairies where this is possible are few and far between because there aren't many people who will pay that premium. What the consumer consumes, the producer will produce, if you don't legislate them out of business first. I'm so tired of hearing how bad the dairy, meat, egg industries are. If you want good conditions, you have to pay for them. Pay attention to where your food comes from. If you want to really have some fun, next time you go out to eat or to the grocery store,ask where they get their meat or produce. But be prepared to go through several people before you get an answer.

I know it is just sad how much the government has regulated things in our lives. In Europe, people eat unpasturized cheese (and drink milk that isn't either) all their lives and never have a problem. Although I must say that even pasturized milk beats that ultra pasturized milk that they sell now. YUCK! The only thing that is milk-like about that stuff is that is white. I'm sure soon that will be the only milk availible, you know for our own good!

Sorry for any typos:)

Hi I was raised on a farm and loved raw milk, and I wonder, is it for sale anywhere in Az.? If you know please email me thanks!

Hi- I know Maine allows off farm sales of raw milk and licenses for raw milk sales-check out www.realmilk.com for a list of where to get raw milk. It is a great product and I do believe with proper handling and healthy animals it is an amazing food, Kim

That just goes to show just how screwed up the governing body has gone. I do not like milk and butter from the stores, as much as I loved the fresh from the cow daily as a child growing up. I use to eat whole milk products made with my own hands. Butter and the like. These days the corn based products scare the HE double hockey sticks out of me. The corn base sugars are causing the nation to be nothing but needle depended on Doctors meds and GODS food has been changed and taxed out of control. GOV needs to get out of our business and let us go back to the healther side of life.

Does anyone know which states, besides PA, allow raw milk to be sold?

I grew up on a small hobby farm, drinking raw goat milk. We were rarely sick and never had a run-in with milk-borne disease. I wish I were able to give my children the same food/milk I had as a child. Instead, my children have twice had severe complications from big-dairy milk that was nowhere near the expiration date (poor handling/shipping?). Even milk that is closely regulated and tested can "go bad" if not handled, shipped or stored at the proper temperature.

I don't mind regulation and testing, as long as it is not overly complicated or impossible for the small farmer to negotiate. I do mind not being allowed, at all, to have access to something I decide is safe and appropriate for my family. Not everyone is fortunate enough to raise their own milk animals. Feel free to educate me, to protect me with minimal regulations and testing, but then allow me to choose yes or no.

Just about every one commenting is for raw milk. That is fine if you can be assured the cow is dieseae free. My life was changed because my father bought a cow who had clear papers but was not clear of brucellosis. I contracted undulant fever, not from drinking the milk, we drank raw goat milk, but from the water we drank that had been transported in the milk cans as our well went dry that year. Yes it was a goverment rule that was broken that the diseased cow was allowed to be sold. But raw milk can make you very sick. We thought our cows were all healthy. So you better know that those cows are regularly tested and get a clear bill of health. Or you will be the one sick.

The government has done a good job of making sure our milk supply is safe. In fact many Doctors don't even know what Undulant fever is when I put it down on my medical history, that is how rare it is now. Yes you should have the right to your raw milk but that right has to be protected by following the rules carefully or there will be a time when Undulant fever would be better known.

We can expect more regulation if Obama is elected. He believes the government can handle the farm economy better by putting laws on the books, than farmers can by listening to their customers needs. Inspections are fine for commercially sold mass produced products, but the farmer should be able to sell his or her products if they are safe. I for one love our country and do not want more government control. I live close to the farm in the article and have read many articles in the local paper and I side with the farmers in this matter.

Both the article and comments need to distinguish between small, usually family, operations and mega-dairies. 'Organic' milk from Horizon tastes inferior to more local milks; raw milk from southern California seems more subject to contamination as well, though 'consumers' tend to think the reverse.
The aim of capitalist operations is profit, the bottom line, nothing else. Sincere organic farmers are a bit different, and don't worship the invisible hand that, right now, has rifled your pockets to save Wall Street from itself.
By all means, have govt allow for small, local, energy-saving farms and gardens. But don't yield an inch when 'product' goes elsewhere, or comes from elsewhere.

I think people who feel that the gov't should have such control over small farms is nuts! Most farms that you are able to buy raw milk from are family run and that family is consuming the same product they are selling-what more proof do people need that its going to be safe? The majority of contamination occurs when the milk leaves the animal and is mostly due to poor cleanliness in equipment. If the consumer visits the farm, meets the family and animals and see's the milking facilities they could most likely judge the safety themselves. I have been milking dairy goats for 6 years and legally selling raw milk and cheese from our home, we recently recieved our certification to bring milk and cheese out of the house for sales and I have jumped through all the hoops. We have kept our same practices all through the years and our lab tests have come back great. I do not feel my products are any safer now that I am certified, I feel they are just as safe as always and I just HAD to jump through those hoops to justify someones job! I am sorry to step on toes but I really wish people knew both sides before they comment. Kim

If obama gets elected expect congress to run wild with new and more restrictions on how we live our lives. "Able" hit the nail on the head. Where is America? Is it gone forever? We used to be able to decide for ourselves, now government wants us to be zombies and control us. I'm old now so I won't have to put up with it too much longer, but I am so sorry for the young people and children.

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The FDA was initially created for a reason - to help protect the public consumer. I wouldn't mind if they actually did that but instead it's become a corrupt bureaucracy telling people what they can and can't do.

It also makes me angry to think that my cat might have CRF (equivalent to human kidney failure) because of a government required vaccination. One he didn't even need because he's an indoor cat.

(I did not know I maxed out characters ... plus I don't know why it posted my comment twice. Sorry!)

I own a cow share in order to drink raw milk because in my state that's the only legal loophole. Last fall I drank raw milk and I also changed some of my eating habits and added in exercise. For the first time in 16 years I didn't get bronchitis (which for me is often accompanied by pneumonia) sometime between October and December.

In January my farmer's milking machine blew up so we had to wait for the cows to give birth in the spring before we got milk again. Two weeks after I was off the raw milk I started having sever allergy attacks. I hadn't changed my new exercise and eating habits. For me it wasn't raw milk alone that helped me but it was a vital and obvious component to my health. Right now I'm not exercising or getting enough sleep and I'm a bit sniffly (not as bad as I usually am in the fall though.)

I know that testing on myself isn't a scientifically controlled study but why should I wait for a study when my allergies get better drinking raw milk? And if you say "mind over matter" then trust me, I was skeptical. I even told my farmer that I thought I would be fine waiting for the spring for more milk since I had made other changes (plus we were past the months when I typically had the worst allergies and would get bronchitis.)

What about those of us who HAVE done some research and feel like any minuscule risk is worth the extraordinary benefit. Should we have to fund our own scientific study to prove our point? Do you believe that high fructose corn syrup is natural and healthy also because Pepsi funded a study?

Did you know that the FDA allowable amount of melamine in milk is a near fatal amount?

I don't want the government regulating what I put in my body if it doesn't hurt someone else (that's why alcohol consumption and driving is illegal and also why smoking in public areas is becoming illegal in more areas of the country - it hurts other people.)

The FDA was initially created

The USDA and State Agriculture departments are doing this because of corporate dairies. It's a revolving door between the corporate dairies and these government departments. They know there is no good science supporting their claims against properly treated raw milk. So when necessary they fudge the numbers. If you really want to see just how much they want to control the small holder read "Mad Sheep" by Linda Faillance. It will open your eyes to the agriculture departments.

Many laws are not thought out and are initiated on a rare incident by a hysterical law maker. For example, one million gallons of raw milk may be consumed but if one out of 40 million users become ill, then all the 39,999 million who profited from raw milk consumption are punished by laws made to "protect' the one individual.
Government intrusion on private lives must stop.