Doesn't freedom of choice include a most basic freedom to choose one's food?
There are many people in this country who make very poor food choices. Just look at their shopping carts in the check out line. Look at the frightening increases in everything from diabetes to food allergies to heart disease. Our government does not look at the cost of health care and restrict the diets of these folks who make processed foods, cheese puffs and deep-fried Snickers bars (have you seen this at the fairs? I am incredulous...) a part of their diets. But the government makes it near impossible for families to purchase whole, raw milk for their own consumption.
We ourselves are currently clabbering our excess milk and feeding it to the chickens and the cats, skimming the cream off first so that I can make and freeze butter. But our budget is pretty tight. How much better it would be if we could sell these extra 5-7 gallons to a family who would enjoy and appreciate the excellent Jersey milk! We can't, however, without breaking the law. We may sell it for animal consumption or enter into the tedium of a "cow share" agreement (hard to do when our one lactating cow's production goes up and down with the weather and quality of the pasture), but we may not sell it outright.
I can understand the concern for cleanliness and potentially deadly bacteria. But when it comes to something like picking up milk at a farm, don't you think that the buyer ought to be able to make that judgement and take the responsibility? I mean, if I buy a loaf of banana bread at a high school bake sale, how do I know how clean that woman's kitchen is? We are talking about small farms here, not massive commercial production. The FDA has conducted raids on small farms selling raw milk and raw milk products. Here is an article from the Washington Post on some of the outrage over this issue.
Senator Ron Paul has introduce House Bill HR 1830 to "authorize the interstate traffic of unpasturized milk and milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human consumption." The Farmer-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund has an online petition you can sign which will be sent to your state representatives. Please consider signing it, as the freedom to choose our food is really a very fundamental right.
I agree with you completely!! It's ridiculous. We are a part of a "cow share" here in Colorado. We have been drinking raw milk as a family now for 5+ years. I'm going to click your link to the bill and heading over now to sign the petition. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteDone! We live in a metro area and we joined a co-op to get raw milk. We can still get it, but I worry that that ability will be taken away. All anyone has to do is to LOOK at raw milk vs the milk in stores (non organic) to see the quality differences.
ReplyDeleteWill definitely do this. We've been drinking raw milk from our goats for almost 10 years. We usually only have enough for our own consumption. This raw milk ban really makes me mad. There was a dairy here in CA - Alta Dena - that was selling small amounts of raw cow milk up until the mid 90s, but the FDA kept hassling them so much that they finally stopped selling it because it just wasn't worth the occasional unreasonable shutdown. We used to have their milk delivered to us, but when it got so hard to obtain, we finally bought land and goats (the poor man's cow).
ReplyDeleteYES YES YES! In Kansas, you can buy raw milk from an individual but no dairy farms will sell it~too many regulations :( If only our govt understood subsidiarity....
ReplyDeleteYah, so many things are regulated that should not be. I can't drink raw milk but I can load up on Aspartame all I want.
ReplyDeleteIf we lived closer, I'd help you out with that milk...uh, for my herd...of...children, I mean, kids, yeah, kids, you know, like goats ;) ;)
On a political note, we are huge supporters of Dr. Paul, so much so that I actually have a Ron Paul 2012 magnet on my car and sign in the yard. Some people don't like him because of his libertarian stance, BUT he is pro-life, pro-homeschooling, pro-family and anti-government in our lives.
You have a nice blog. I do have mine too www.claire-fernandez.blogspot.com...thanks
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy isn't it. We were brought up on raw milk from our own dairy and also from family farms. I don't think pasteurised and/or homogenised milk compare. We can buy organic unhomogenised milk but not unpasteurised milk! I totally agree how we don't know how clean kitchens or factories are where other food is processed. I'm surprised that vegetables with dirt on them are still available and have not been outlawed by ridiculous laws. Goodness me, my mind boggles. Jacinta
ReplyDeleteI think it's insane too. It's near impossible to find raw milk here, I'd have to drive to Columbia to get it and then like with your cow it's hit and miss based on various weather and pasture factors. I think there are two farms with a total of 4 cows that are registered to sell raw milk. We do our best to purchase organic milk that comes from cows that haven't been subjected to hormones and such. We also do our part with a local CSA and when we can buy our eggs from her, I've met her chickens...they're interesting hens.
ReplyDeleteAlso...your cow is beautiful! You should take a stand alone picture of her and just frame it, she's just amazing. Oh the wonderful creatures God made.
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