Why Raw Milk Producers Should Care About Quality, Safety Standards, Even If "Public Health" Community Doesn't

Why should we care about raw milk producers abiding by some set of quality and safety standards?

A number of people raised that question when I reported a few weeks ago that an ad hoc group of raw milk producers and consumers, headed by Tim Wightman of the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation, were involved in drafting quality and safety standards. The worry that seemed most prominent in the many comments was that any independent group or organization involved in setting and enforcing standards could very well be co-opted by government agencies.

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State says condemned raw milk is missing from Gibbon farm

State inspectors who recently sought to seize and destroy products from rogue dairy farmer Michael Hartmann found that much of the raw milk and other products had gone missing, according to court filings.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture claims Hartmann is in contempt of court, because a judge found last month that Hartmann's products were produced under unsanitary conditions and ordered them destroyed.

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Food “Safety” Bill Empowers Monsanto to Control Food Industry‏

Under the guise of protecting Americans from food-borne illnesses, Congress has passed the S510 Food Safety Act, granting unlimited power to the FDA to oversee the processing of food from farm to table. The FDA has led the public to believe over a number of years that we desperately need government protection from food-borne illnesses. As a result of this manipulation, the S510 Food Safety has been passed without opposition. Ironically, the regulatory actions made possible by this bill will only promote the type of farming that produces food borne illnesses.

The S510 Food Safety Act will regulate the entire process of food production from every source in the United States. Farms must submit to government inspections and have safety documentation on record for 2 years. This documentation must be made promptly available upon oral or written request by an FDA agent. Farms are responsible for the fees associated with their own inspections. The FDA will also oversee food transportation within the United States; food imported from other countries will not be regulated but must simply carry a guarantee of safety by the exporting country. This imbalance in addition to the bill-related costs imposed on farmers will cause prices of locally produced food to increase exponentially.

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Booming business: Area dairymen who sell raw - unpasteurized - milk can't meet growing demand

The grocery store dairy case is stocked full with every kind of milk. Whole milk. Reduced-fat milk. Low-fat milk. Skim milk. Buttermilk. Acidophilus milk.

Comedian Lewis Black rants that soy milk, another choice, isn't milk at all.

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California county allows marijuana, but not raw milk

Humboldt County, Calif., is largely recognized as the marijuana capital of the U.S. Its lax attitude towards both the legal and illegal growth and sale of the controversial plant is unmatched, and has earned the county quite a reputation. But in a state where raw milk sales are legal, Humboldt County is oddly one of the only California counties that has banned it, which continues to spark a controversy of its own.

Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy Co., California's largest raw milk dairy, recently met with county officials to challenge the county's long-held prohibition of raw milk. According to a recent report by Grist, McAfee spoke openly to the Board of Supervisors about not only the safety of raw milk, but also its many health benefits. He also submitted to them a variety of articles and studies to back his claims.

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Food Integrity Now – Sally Fallon and Kristin Canty – Farmageddon

Could raw milk cure asthma, allergies and other diseases? Why is the FDA conducting gestapo-type raids on small farms selling raw, unpasteurized milk and cheese? Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation and Kristin Canty, Director of the upcoming documentary, Farmageddon, a movie that documents the FDA’s opposition to raw milk, discuss this topic with the Food Integrity Now team. In studies involving humans, raw milk was shown to be superior to pasteurized in protecting against infection, diarrhea, rickets, tooth decay and TB; and children receiving had better growth than those receiving pasteurized milk. In the early 1900s, the Mayo Clinic administered the “Milk Cure” which consisted in drinking 4-5 quarts of raw milk per day, obtaining favorable results for a range of illnesses including cancer, weight loss, kidney disease, allergies, skin problems, urinary tract problems, prostate problems and chronic fatigue; these results are not obtained using pasteurized milk. Farmageddon explores this controversial topic.

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WikiLeaked Messages Show U.S. Diplomats Pressuring EU to Accept GMO Crops

When it comes to the federal government’s eagerness to advance the private GMO agenda of Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, and other agribusinesses, nothing is sacred—not even the pope.

While the media hubbub might have focused on issues related to the war in Afghanistan and snarky American opinions of various world leaders, the recent flood of diplomatic dispatches made public by WikiLeaks contained numerous communications showing that U. S. government officials during the Bush administration were doing everything in their power to undermine the E. U.’s ban on genetically modified (GMO) crops.

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The ‘food bubble’ is bursting, says Lester Brown, and biotech won’t save us

For years -- even decades -- Earth Policy Institute president and Grist contributor Lester Brown has issued Cassandra-like warnings about the global food system. His argument goes something like this: Global grain demand keeps rising, pushed up by population growth and the switch to more meat-heavy diets; but grain production can only rise so much, constrained by limited water and other resources. So, a food crisis is inevitable.

In recent years, two factors have added urgency to Brown's warnings: 1) climate change has given rise to increasingly volatile weather, making crop failures more likely; and 2) the perverse desire to turn grain into car fuel has put yet more pressure on global grain supplies.

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Vermont Takes Action to Resist FDA Take Over With a Resolution All Should Adopt

In the face of the recent passing by the senate of the ‘food safety’ bill H.R.2751, previously S. 510, that will put the FDA in control of the nations food supply,Vermont citizens have made a declaration that the agency and government have no right to determine or restrict the food choices of the People of Vermont. “The Vermont Resolution for Food Sovereignty” was brought forth by the Vermont Coalition for Food Sovereignty, it makes a statement to the United States government and the FDA that all citizens who want to protect their freedom of food should stand behind.

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