Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Mark Nagel <activism98201@verizon.net>]

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From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>

Saw something on another list, a foolproof way to get around the legal 
problem with selling raw milk. Sell the whole cow (or goat) to your customer. 
They pay you to keep it and milk it for them. 

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
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Well, it's a confusing issue from what I've gathered.  Here's a local piece.


-Mark Nagel


DISCLAIMER: I'm only the messenger, I am not advocating for or against 
anything (other than oppressive actions).


Source: http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/03/27/100bus_milk001.cfm

Dairy defends raw milk
A legal Whatcom County dairy touts unpasteurized milk for its flavor, but 
health authorities warn that it can be hazardous.

By Michelle Theriault
The Bellingham Herald

BELLINGHAM - The glass of milk on Joyce Snook's table is creamy, frothy and 
sweet.

It's also illegal in 22 states. But not completely in Washington state, where 
six farms are licensed to sell raw milk to the public. Two of those - 
Pleasant Valley Dairy in Ferndale, of which Snook is the proprietor, and 
Grace Harbor Farms of Custer - are in Whatcom County.

To some, raw milk is the healthy, natural dairy choice.

"It's straight from the cow," said Snook, whose family has owned and operated 
their 70-acre farm since 1963.

But public health departments warn against drinking it, and sale for human 
consumption is banned in many states because of the lack of pasteurization.

"It's an extremely potentially hazardous product," said Claudia Coles, food 
safety program manager for the state Department of Agriculture.

What makes the milk so controversial?

Raw milk can be contaminated with salmonella, campylobacter and listeria, as 
well as E. coli. In December, fears about raw milk were underscored by an E. 
coli outbreak that sickened 18 people, mostly children, who bought the 
product from Dee Creek Farm in Woodland.

Dee Creek Farm was unlicensed but selling the milk through a "cow share" 
program that allowed people to buy not the milk but a share of a cow.

The farm had been warned in August that its operation was illegal.

The Snook family's farm went through an exhaustive licensing process to 
become one of six farms in the state officially allowed to sell raw milk to 
the public. You can drink the milk and then meet the doe-eyed cows - Rosie, 
Brianna, Trudy, Grace, Boots - who provided it earlier that morning.

The cows and farm are tested and surveyed for everything from bovine 
tuberculosis to the cleanliness of their milking room. Still, the cartons of 
milk the farm sells come with a bright warning label. They've never had 
anyone become ill from drinking their milk, Snook said.

While the mainstay of Pleasant Valley Dairy's business is homemade artisan 
cheeses, (which are made with raw milk but aged three months, and aren't 
required to carry a warning label), selling raw milk has brought new 
customers to the dairy.

Once people try it, they don't want to go back, Snook says. They sell raw 
milk directly from their farm.