Raw milk
Photo credit: KING 5 TV

Quality raw milk products are locally available at the Yelm Food Coop.

– “Washington thirsty for raw milk despite warnings”
“Dungeness Valley Creamery has set a sales record every year for 9 years. It costs $6.75 a gallon, double the price of most pasteurized milk.

Consumers are willing to pay for it, convinced of its health value because it hasn’t been processed, despite a label required by the Department of Agriculture.”

“A national campaign for raw milk is being waged by supporters of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which developed the website RealMilk.com. The site promotes enzymes, vitamins, beneficial bacteria and proteins they claim don’t survive most forms of industrial dairy pasteurization, especially ultra-pasteurization and homogenization,” quoting Alison Morrow, KING-TV 5 News in Seattle.
Read more

– “Raw Milk and the Raw Deal”
“Government agencies have painted the picture that if you go to a farm and purchase high-quality farm-fresh milk (i.e. raw milk), youre walking away with a food that is crawling in dangerous bacteria. The way they make it sound youd think you could get sick just by looking at it. But Id take my chances on the farm any day.

The fact is, the majority of foods that are making people sick are coming not from small organic farms selling raw-milk products theyre coming from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). And if you shop at a typical supermarket, where do you think most of the food comes from?” quoting Dr. Mercola.
Read more

– “Farms, Freedom, Regulations Clash In Raw Milk Case”
“A fight is percolating in Cook County [MN] over the rights of farmers to sell products without interference from the government.

The Duluth News Tribune reports that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture is asking a court to levy a $500-per-day fine on farmer David Berglund, who is refusing to allow state inspectors onto his property.

Lake View Natural Dairy, Berglunds farm, sells raw milk.

The case is drawing a growing measure of regional and national attention for its converging issues including individual rights and organic farming. Berglund is not commenting to the media, but his attorney Zenas Baer explained the fertile legal territory into which the case has treaded.”

“Its the fundamental right of us as citizens to engage in a private transaction without having the nanny state peering over our shoulder saying, Thou shalt not do this, Baer said.”

“The fight comes down to this single sentence in the Minnesota Constitution:

* Any person may sell or peddle the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him without obtaining a license therefor,” quoting The Liberty Crier.
Read more

– “Will Food Sovereignty Starve the Poor and Punish the Planet?”
“However, the positive value of a globalised food supply is being actively questioned. In industrialised countries, a citizens movement has arisen, sometimes supported by local public authorities, seeking to promote a local food supply. This movement aims to reclaim control of nutrition, re-create social links often destroyed by the extent of mass distribution, and develop the local economy.

Developing countries are also attempting to strengthen their local food supply and recover part of their food sovereignty lost by decades of open market policies. At both the community and national scales, the objective of localising the food supply has become an important social and political focus,” quoting Gilles Billen, Luis Lassaletta and Josette Garnier, Independent Science News.
Read more