| Sunday, May 3, 2009 |
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Some Recent Raw Milk Developments
By Monica @ 9:51 AM   
Possible contamination at CO raw dairy
About a month ago, an outbreak of campylobacter may have been linked to a raw dairy in Colorado. I say "may have been" as non-raw milk drinkers also succumbed to the illness, and only about 6% of the shareholders originally reported illness. I believe the investigation is still ongoing and the dairy is still shut down. You can find the specifics on David Gumpert's blog, The Complete Patient, here and here. The comments lines of these threads are informative.
It's no surprise that the vast majority Freeman's shareholders are standing with him, and to the health department's surprise, most people just want their milk supply to start flowing again. This speaks to the fact that the majority of raw milk consumers understand the potential risks, yet see the benefits as outweighing those risks. It also highlights the importance of having a good independent association of raw milk consumers and producers, such as RMAC, committed to producing safe milk. When one buys food from a local farmer, a personal connection is usually forged. This creates the ultimate incentive to produce safe food: the farmer's reputation. The power of market forces is really more than enough to ensure safe food from local farms.
I do not wish to diminish the gravity of some serious food-borne illness cases that may have been tied to raw milk in recent years. However, one must keep perspective. There may be as many as 3 million raw milk drinkers in the United States. Some people are extremely susceptible to food-borne illness. I've never experienced a case of food poisoning in my entire life. I know several other people who have experience several cases each of food poisoning just this year. So, there is individual variation in immune response. Not everyone exposed to a pathogen will become ill.
Second is that the raw milk program under Guidestone Farms has been operating safely in Colorado for 30 years. There are now around 30 independent raw milk dairies in Colorado that have been operating for several years. Despite this incident, the record is still quite good.
Third, it's important to remember that even in a free market, accidents and mistakes will still happen, especially with newer operations. That doesn't mean we need government regulators to come in and "solve" the problem.
Interstate raw milk shipments
In other raw milk news, Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy in California recently made a pitch to a government-industry juggernaut, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, to lift a ban on interstate raw milk shipments. (Ron Paul is also a sponsor of a bill that would legalize interstate raw milk shipment.) The proposal was unanimously vetoed. Here are statements from two milk industry representatives:
Robert Byrne of the National Milk Producers Association, said “the federal ban (on raw milk shipments) should be extended to include an intrastate ban.” In other words, a national ban on raw milk.
Jim Howie of something called the Southern Marketing Agency, a consortium of Southeastern milk processors, scoffed at McAfee’s claims about the economic advantages of raw milk. “This should not be a marketing issue...I market organic milk. Organic milk is not raw, and raw is not organic. Yes, there is a black market for raw milk. I cringe when I see it. Use the laws they have to close that black market...If someone gets sick (from raw milk), the newspaper article will not say raw milk, it will say milk...will hurt dairy farmers around the country. This proposal would be a step backwards.”
Of course, what the industry reps fail to note (although they know it full well) is that increased availability of raw milk would make them less relevant and their market share would decrease. And of course the milk industry is adamantly opposed to anyone in the milk industry -- raw milk producer or not -- besting what amounts to a government-run cartel. If you wonder why I call NMPA a government-industry juggernaut, you should read this article and see how these government-run milk cooperatives attack any milk producer that attempts to defy federal milk marketing orders. Federal milk marketing orders result in production quotas and price fixing in order to "support" milk producers. In other words, it protects them from competition and raises prices above what they would be in a free market. Agricultural marketing orders date back to the FDR era. This is another minor reason I buy raw milk. I would not buy raw milk if it was an inferior product. However, it is a superior product in my opinion. And if I can help it, I won't willingly give money to a bunch of thugs who think they have the right to keep a 75 year old government-supported cartel in business.
An interesting conversation with the biggest milk regulator of all
Finally, Gumpert reports that he was finally able to meet John Sheehan in person at this meeting after doing lots of investigation, without much fruit, to try to figure out more about Sheehan's professional background. John Sheehan is the FDA's head of milk safety who has repeatedly stated that drinking raw milk is like playing Russian roulette. According to David, here is the conversation with Sheehan after snapping a couple of photos of him at the NMPA meeting: “Hi, I'm David Gumpert.”
“Yes, I know who you are.”
“I wonder if we could chat for just a few moments.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don't want to.” Well, you have to give the guy credit for being honest... He just doesn't want to be f****ing bothered. If a guy doesn’t want to talk to you, not much you can do, even if you do help pay his salary.
Obviously, it's high time our government officials were reminded that they are supposed to work for us -- not the other way around.
A closing note
I highly recommend David's blog, The Complete Patient. He covers raw milk regulatory issues quite well. One finds strong support for individual rights in his writing and in many of the blog comments. Although there is often disagreement on the concrete specifics of raw milk benefits and safety in the comments, most of the commenters are quite intelligent. While the exchange can get heated, the tone is usually remarkably civil for such a controversial issue as raw milk.Labels: "Safety", Raw Milk
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