Keep on pushing!

Phyllis

Industry works very hard with its political lobby systems etc....the raw milk producers are completely unrepresented.

Their are big differences.

I do appreciate your balanced argument here.

The most essential and missing part of this discussion is the medical superfood aspect of raw milk. It is a medical food and prevents large numbers of deaths every year. Asthma kills more than 5000 Americans. Raw milk prevents asthma and dramatically improves it or even cures it in some people.The PARSIFAL study showed this clearly. The FDA refuses to discuss this medical aspect, the medical aspect is why the majority of people are drawn to raw milk. No lactose intolerance!!??? Super Immune system builder for kids. The medical superfood aspect is the 800 pound guerrilla in the room.

Mark McAfee
Founder OPDC

I'm glad you admit you see the bias.

I'm involved in the raw milk movement and I agree with you that there are many problems on our side that we need to address.

Have you seen the USDA's OIG report on meat contamination?

http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/24601-08-KC.pdf

I would think this is a goldmine of liability suits since there are so many violations and so many people involved. There certainly is ample precedent to sue the federal government for not following it's own laws and regulations.

Paul

I don't know if you are aware of this, but the most common source of e.coli contamination on produce is irrigation water. I've seen studies where 100% of the irrigation samples tested positive for e.coli. And that was with many samples from different sources.

This is not some "one in a million", Russian Roulette type problem. This is a systemic flaw. Most of the nations produce comes from irrigated fields in California.

Cheers,

Paul

And how many people get sick from peanut butter and tainted pharmaceuticals because the FDA is too busy chasing after someone because they own cows and *might* be selling raw milk? How many illegal warrants are issued based on the fact that a company didn't fill out a questionnaire?

There is a clear bias in the government agencies and media, and it is apparent they're not trying to FIX the problem so people who want to drink clean, raw milk can be assured of safety. Their agenda is clear: complete elimination of raw milk. And you've got to ask yourself why that is?

The drug companies have produced tainted drugs that sicken and kill people, yet they don't get shut down. But then, why shut a company down that pays for your payroll and guarantees you a seat on the board of directors once your government job is gone?

Once the government starts to behave as though they're trying to fix the food safety problem by working WITH farmers instead of treating them like armed criminals, then I'll believe they are part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Make no mistake: this isn't about food safety. It's about competition and greed.

I'm expecting the same unequal treatment by the FDA when an outbreak connected to a farmers market, produce stand, CSA or other form of direct selling occurs.

I would personally be happy to offer my services to any dairy wishing to institute regular testing for coliforms.

"Medical food"? Give me a break.

I was raised in a family of 12 on raw milk and now I have 6 kids of my own. When I was a teenager, we no longer had access to raw milk, so we switched to store bought milk. It never occurred to me to seek out raw milk until I started having health challenges, when my research led me to raw milk.
I have seen the difference it has made in my family, and it has been compelling enough to cause me to go to the trouble of milking my friend's cows in exchange for milk so that I can afford to bring as much milk home for my family as we need/want, plus I know how the milk is handled because I handle it myself.

I am a raw milk advocate.

Commercial dairies in general do not produce their milk carefully enough to be sold in its raw state, and in addition their cows are fed and cared for in ways that make the cows more likely to carry pathogenic bacteria.
I realize there is a wide range of methods used to care for cows, and also a wide range of milking protocols. But in general, most raw milk producers are aware of the need to produce a higher quality product and do so. In addition, there is the element of consumer oversight that is mostly absent in commercial food production models.

I agree with your statement that "I am not saying that health officials should not crack down on raw milk producers who poison customers. Nor am I saying that raw milk producers should escape being held accountable for the injury and damage caused by contaminated raw milk."
The problem is, that Raw Milk producers ARE being treated more strictly than other producers of fresh foods.
They are getting raided and attacked by the FDA regardless of the fact that there have been no complaints against many of them.
Can you imagine the FDA coming in and raiding a lettuce grower because someone, somewhere... will get sick from eating lettuce in the future? And maybe not even from lettuce grown on that particular farm?

Just because milk doesn't undergo a visible physical change that cause it to look "cooked" when you cook it, unlike lettuce (or almost any other food would), doesn't mean that there are no undesirable changes in the fundamental structure of milk when it is pasteurized.

I think it would be more constructive to give raw milk producers legality, and allow them the freedom and means to find the best ways to produce a safe, reliable product, rather than harass them and try to eliminate the food that so many people are demanding.

David Gumpert
Author: The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Struggle Over Food Rights

a) mixing
b) using middlemen/distributors/retailers
c) suppression of identity of grower/dairy on the product
d) output volume
e) shipping distances
f) number of steps and transfers in the "cold chain"

etc. to determine who gets the attention?

The FDA on raw milk is like the dept. of the IRS that spends more resources auditing low income filers while ignoring the itemizers with their LLCs and offshore investments. And I'm not a raw milk advocate -- I am quite happy to drink pasteurized things. But the treatment of raw milk folks appears to be little more than Big Agribiz using the FDA to squelch competition.

I know my farmer, and I trust him. (Have you ever visited your local factory farm? I recommend it, it will open your eyes - if you can actually accomplish the task.) He runs a small farm that is quite hi-tech. His cows graze a pasture all day, no grain feeding here. The milk is delicious, fresh, and pathogen free. He tests it three ways to Sunday, goes well beyond the tests the state and federal government require. I also get grass fed beef, free-range chicken, and eggs from the same farm, and it is an unbelievable difference from supermarket beef or chicken products.

Factory farms are killing the American people.