Raw Milk

A couple weeks ago I picked up a bottle of Claravale Farms raw milk. Though it’s rare that I drink milk in anything but the occasional cappuccino, I swallowed this stuff straight like ambrosia. It had a distinct appeal that was to my mind, the taste of the very grass the cows ate. Yes, I tell you, it was the nectar of the gods. Only days later, I read with complete shock that my new life-giving vigor elixir (step aside, wheatgrass, espresso, honey, and bourbon) was soon to be all but banned from the store shelves.

The bill, AB 1735, passed unanimously, with no public input and no advance notice to the two California dairies who sell raw milk (Organic Pastures near Fresno, is the other raw milk dairy). All for the sake of the public good, right? Isn’t that what our FDA and Food and Agriculture departments are charged with?

The new law sets a limit to the number of coliform bacteria present in raw milk. A limit, that by the state’s own tests, the two California raw milk dairies met only 6 out of 8 times last year. Was the “high-bacteria” milk dangerous? No. One of the great rewards in drinking raw milk is the abundant beneficial bacteria, just like in your yogurt (if the cultures are added after the milk has been pasteurized). The principal concern here is seemingly about pathogenic bacteria like E. Coli, which they didn’t find.

But I find the motive behind this legislation suspicious. If the public health is really of primary concern, why aren’t our legislators going after the much larger beef, spinach or processed food manufacturers? Because both the potential for harm and the necessity for oversight seems to demand much more attention than two raw milk dairies who already test their milk for pathogens. With the way health officials have actively gone after small farmers like they were cocaine smugglers, I have to wonder if there’s pressure from the industry that’s pushing the issue. Maybe they’re afraid of consumers switching tastes to a less profit-rich product. I’ve had some fine conventional organic milk, but nothing compares to that one bottle of raw milk.

Alternatively, perhaps this is just another step in the government’s path to drastically irradiate, pasteurize, and otherwise de-flavor our food supply to the point where it’s perfectly compartmentalized into industrial units and no longer something you can recognize from a tree or a field. If raw milk doesn’t appeal to you, consider the larger battle. Take a look in your kitchen and imagine your olive oil, wine or farm fresh eggs falling under the government’s scrutiny. They just might become the next target.

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• Some good insight into this debate