When California’s proposed SB 201 legislation substituting a quality-control process for the ten-coliform-per-milliliter standard was vetoed by the governor last September, the coliform standard was locked in as the law of the Golden State.
With that veto, the year of political upheaval over AB-1735-morphed-into-AB-1604-morphed-into-SB-201-morphed-back-to-AB-1735 has quieted down. To the casual raw milk consumer, it seems as if the two raw dairies, Organic Pastures Dairy Co. and Claravale Farm, are coping just fine, thank you. Implicit in that observation is the sense that much of the hoopla over AB 1735 was unwarranted, that there was nothing onerous about the requirement. Dr. Stephen Beam, chief dairy official of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, suggested as much when I met him at last month’s National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments in Orlando.
“Look what’s happened,” he said in his “I’m no Darth Vader” interview with me. California’s two raw dairies are still in business, there have been no illnesses, and, “People have their milk.”
But it turns out that not only did AB 1735 not go away, but the court suit challenging AB 1735 filed in late 2007 also didn’t go away. A California judge granted a temporary restraining order in March 2008 to suspend enforcement, but then refused to extend the TRO via a preliminary injunction in May 2008. While that had the effect of allowing AB 1735 to be enforced, it didn’t end the suit—and new court filings by both sides are related to the appeal filed by the two dairies of the ruling against them for a preliminary injunction.
If you read through the brief filed on behalf of the dairies April 29 by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, the matter of AB 1735’s impact is not quite so simple as Beam suggested.
“Since January 2008 when AB 1735’s 10 coliform limit became effective, Appellants have failed this standard several times…For example, from January to March 2008, Claravale failed the coliform standard for whole milk once and failed the standard for cream twice. During that same time period, OPDC failed the coliform standard twice for whole milk and three times for cream. Also, OPDC’s whole milk and skilm milk have been ‘degraded’ once, its cream degraded twice. Each time OPDC receives a degrade notice for its whole milk it loses $50,000 per week in sales.”
To clarify, a single failure doesn’t mean a dairy must withdraw its product; it must fail a series of three out of five tests before it is “degraded,” which then means it cannot ship additional supplies of the product in question (like skim milk). It doesn’t need to recall or announce anything, so consumers may not be aware anything is amiss, except that their local store may be out of product sooner and for a longer period than otherwise. A dairy that is degraded has additional readings taken within days of any degrade, and must pass two consecutive tests to get back on the market. So when Organic Pastures received a degrade on its cream February 28, 2008, it was reinstated March 11.
All that prompted the state to argue in its brief, “Since the new coliform limit took effect, both dairies have substantially met the new standards.”
Not only is that statement misleading, argued the dairies’ brief, but longer-term history suggests the dairies may face ongoing problems. “Testing data from 2001 to 2007 collected by CDFA itself showed that had AB 1735’s 10 coliform limit been in effect at that time, Claravale would have failed the 10 coliform limit 87% of the time and it would have been forced out of business as early as February 2003 because it would not have been able to comply with the 10 coliform limit.”
The two briefs also re-visit the familiar argument about whether raw milk is or isn’t safe, as well as whether coliforms bear any relationship to milk safety or the existence of pathogens. And the parties spar over the case of the six children supposedly made ill by Organic Pastures milk in September 2006.
“All raw milk carries a potential risk,” says the state’s brief. “Raw milk is not made safe by the fact that it is from pastured, grass-fed cows. In 2006, the dangerous pathogen E.coli 0157:H7 was isolated from Organic Pastures’ premises, which houses organically raised, pastured dairy cows. In 2007, the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from Organic Pastures’ organically raised, pastured cows.”
The brief for the dairies disparages the state’s assertions, in particular its experts’ claims that “consumption of raw milk has been associated with disease outbreaks.”
Whatever the outcome of this longstanding case, these appeal briefs carry two messages:
- The pressure on California’s two raw dairies remains much higher than consumers are generally aware.
- The state is unyielding in its condemnation of raw milk, and remains poised to take advantage of any missteps to come down hard.
The pressure on the state’s two dairies remains intense to regularly pass a test that has questionable relevance to the real issue of food safety.
There is something wrong with substituting a "quality control process" for something that will push someone out of business.
Do the factory dairies have the 10 coliform per mililiter also? Do they have the same standards to meet?
Dairies that send their milk to be processed and pasteurized are allowed the following:
750 coliforms per ml
Tons of pathogens ( they are not tested ever )
50,000 count of bacteria per ml
Claravale and OPDC are allowed the following;
Less than 10 coliforms in finished products
Less than 15,000 total bacteria count ( average about 3000 or less )
Zero pathogens at any time
This is damn hard for anyone and my hat is off to every raw milk dairy in the USA that does this.
I will refrain from my diatribe about the CDFA lies told to pass AB 1735.
Things will change when we have a new governor and CDFA no longer owns his office.
Thank you David for reminding me of how tough these standards are and how hard this work is. I will overcome what ever the obstacles there are to serve our people. CDFA is just back ground noise in this far greater, more powerful ( and beautiful ) movement of people to be free from the FDA drug dogma and heal themselves using food….unprocessed whole natural food.
For our consumers….AB 1735 was a gift. A gift that united us and defined us and made us a force that is respected and feared by CDFA.With out a common fight during SB 201 and the Florez hearings ( until Midnight ) there would be no CREMA http://www.californiarawmilk.org or unity in our ranks. Strategically speaking AB 1735 was a complete screw up for CDFA. AB 1735 made me a better, smarter, tougher dairyman and fighter. It gave OPDC 10,000 email addresses of the consumers we serve.
It increased our market by 30%.
If CDFA was truly interested in food safety they would have met with us and said so…..they never have. This is about protecting GOT MILK and making John Sheehan proud. I beg the voices that appose raw milk to come visit the Fresno Farmers Market or Saturday mornings and learn about why Nurses and Doctors from Valley Childrens Hospital prescribe raw milk to their patients. Listen to the 250 consumers that mob the OPDC raw milk truck with their stories of healing…these are normal people…these are Americans. The states secrets about the terrible effects of pasteurization and the real origins of lactose intolerance, osteoporosis are not a secret to our people.
CDFA has done a disservice to Californians and I am dedicated to assuring that the truth gets out.
All the best,
Mark
I read the comments from Blair, and Dave M. and Don and others, and thought – I really see a purpose in this raw milk movement, and a passion for health, nutrition that may surpass food safety concerns, espeically if small and local – can self-police (for food safety and quality – including honesty in organic claims). Then I read your comments as Founder of the largest raw milk dairy in the country, as well as this latest from David, and I think – NOT. Perhaps my anti-raw milk colleagues are very right – this is a food that needs to be intensely regulated (too much effort) or banned (easier) based on what is said in this post – ignore high coliform counts, postive pathogen tests? Send it to market anyway? You should meet this guy in the south that used to sell peanuts.
At this point, I think it is important that the states that ban raw milk continue on course, especially if the reaction to regulators in places like California where raw milk has always been legal are attacked. Is this an example of "what is to come" if the rules are changed in other states? Who in the regulatory world needs to deal with that to help a small niche product (that also has a disproportionate number of lawsuits)? And, it is very worrisome for a regulator from another state looking at what has happened in California, a relatively pro-raw milk state…The data from CDC shows that there are more outbreaks and illnesses in states with legal raw milk. I wished that could be overcome, but reading this post and your comment suggest to me that the time has not come to change any intra- or inter-state laws concerning this product.
IMHO Raw dairy was the single most important "elixir" that saved my life and is continuing to provide my abundant health. If I read between the lines correctly you would gladly deny my freedom of choise to opt for raw dairy true or false?
DW and I have a track record of 10 years costing you and all the other taxpayers nothing ZERO for our Medicare. And if you thank us for that you are very welcome. Not so my peers and friends that choose to follow the REGULATED main stream. Why the stark difference? Our friends are afraid of our food raw dairy and we are afraid of their food the SAD. So we dont eat together much any more very sad.
Tons of pathogens ( they are not tested ever )
50,000 count of bacteria per ml
Claravale and OPDC are allowed the following;
Less than 10 coliforms in finished products
Less than 15,000 total bacteria count ( average about 3000 or less )
Zero pathogens at any time
Is there a reason for the difference? Do people realize that they are consuming boiled poop along with the boiled "pathogens"?
Oh my, Mark, you and David should be muzzled, or is censored the correct word? Voicing your opinions/beliefs is wrong. That is how I am reading Lykke’ post.
It is not smart of tptb to even try to enforce banning of raw dairy, as has been said many times before. It is already black marketed in many areas. Just as booze was. With black market there is greater chances of contamination. Tptb are fools.
In this economy getting taxes from the sell of it would be prudent, but alas, they are not, and the lack of smarts on tptb shows so with the countries money problems. Even scwartznegger is suggesting legalizing pot. But that may be a smart move, make the masses more pliable.
The sliver of "outbreaks" from raw dairy is so small, why not go after the most common causes of food borne illnesses? Nope that may hurt big buisness.
Before anyone can say what you have said…..you must stand before the people and listen to them first.
Blogging with a fake name is like hiding behind a rock after you have thrown a stone.
When you have heard all the comments and heard all the reasons for why our consumers refuse to drink pasteurized milk and take FDA and doctor pushed drugs….then you can speak freely.
I will pay for your airline ticket if you are out of state. I will personally fly you to Fresno if you live in CA. You need to attend the Fresno FArmers Market on any given Saturday and talk to the doctors and nurses that work at Valley Childrens Hospital and hear how raw milk has changed the lives of children. You need to humbly just listen to the moms and dads that use raw milk in their lives and no longer have chronic ear infections and colds and flues in their families.
Until you have done this…..your comments are meaningless, hurtful, bigotted and baseless. Please come visit and see what 250 normal people say about raw milk and stop preaching with out doing your homeword first.
I use my real name…what is your real name?
Mark McAfee
Should the federal prohibition against raw milk continue, it will turn out as equally disastrous as the war on drugs, the war on poverty, etc.
Notice that Lykke’s requirement to _allow_ raw milk sales is the _policing_ of it. We would acknowledge that individuals are capable of this – that is being inclined to liberty. Folks dependent on the government payroll would say individuals are not capable, only those with badges and guns. To say anything else would introduce the uncomfortable idea of the irrelevancy of what they do.
No one is suggesting that food safety standards are not important. What I am suggesting is that it will never be accomplished through violence – particularly the institutionalized kind.
My two cents.
Peace. Geek out.
read all the way back to when s/he joined in here, it’s been the same, same, same…
people that can’t stand to see others exercise free choice are drawn to big gov’t like flies.
what’s the motive Lykke?
If he is pro-marijuana…how could he be anti-raw milk. This confirms my deepest held opinion.
CDFA wrote his veto of SB 201. He knew nothing of it ( or if he did he sucks up to his handlers big time). He grew up on raw milk and his friends have reported that he drank raw milk in LA when he was younger.
He even called it " the good sh…t" when discussing with our friends at the capitol.
Oh….how wrotten is politics.
Mark
Brian – I was intrigued with the end of your post: "geek out." Did a google search and found the Geek Test.. Scored pretty high, lol.
You have suggested that we in the raw milk movement do not communicate with those that appose drinking raw milk.
I would like to communicate with you….I am serious.
I will ask again….what is your real name?
I ask again….will you be my guest at the Fresno Farmers Market at my expense?
250 people would dearly love to speak with you. The doors of communication are wide open.
Mark
I have a real job that relates infrequently to raw milk (only when there is an outbreak); the possibility of getting 250 emails and phone calls justifies using a pseudonym to explore this issue in a sorta non-threatening environment on an interesting, intellectual blog.
Every pair of underwear you wash contains up to one gram of feces ("poop" for CP). The feces, of course, contain coliforms. These are dispersed in the wash water and many remain on the wet clothing. In the dryer, they are aerosolized and resettle all over the clothes. Unless you wash your underwear separately and thoroughly rinse your washer afterward, you are probably wearing many, many viable coliforms, yet you don’t get sick. Why?
Because the presence of coliforms does not necessarily confer illness.
What does? Well, that would take some true intellectual curiosity.
This is indeed an interesting intellectual and very important blog.
You have generated many heated responses and thats a good thing. However are you being intellectually dishonest by refusing to answer a few direct simple questions
that we have asked?
The following are just a few and I will provide my answers will you?
1 Do you support the US Constitution? Yes I do.
2 Do you support private contracts between peaceful farmers and peaceful consumers? Yes I do.
3 Do you support armed police raids on peaceful farm families producing REAL FOOD? NO I do not.
4 Do you support Karl Marxs 9th commandent or know what it is? I do not support any of his madness.
5 Are we a Constitutional Republic that protects the God given rights of every human being? No thats just a pseudonym these days!
Which of us is intellectually honest? All I can say in I am trying.
Sorry if this is harsh but you ask for it. A REAL and job at the taxpayers expense just a bit insulting I think.
Hail to the PEACEFUL REAL FARMERS but not to the petty modern day Roman emperors.
Our survival rests in the toiling hands of the farmers!
GOD BLESS OUR REAL FARMERS and may the farmers enemies reap what they sow!
The regulators are being attacked? By those whom they regulate? And according to Lykke, because those regulators are not universally welcomed they should become more recalcitrant? This is so crazy at so many levels its hard to know where to begin.
Regulators derive their power FROM THE PEOPLE. They exist at the peoples pleasure. There is no provision in American constitutional government guaranteeing even regulators existence, let alone their right (or anyone elses) to derail natural rights. Importantly, this includes majoritiesthe founders did not invent a democracy in which majorities might, at their whim, abolish a minoritys rights. When the idea emerges in the head of someone with power that a lawful act or substance must be …intensely regulated… or banned… every good American ought to recognize a budding crime.
Lykke, you may be feeling your power now, living as you do in this sad era when rights are routinely trampled by anyone with a position and a pen, but you of all people, engaged with good citizens damaged by government and powerful businesses, should have the sense to look critically at what you are suggesting. (My guess is that you do see this, evidenced by the way you have danced around the foundational question of natural rights.)
Some basic civics: Government did not create any man. When government, with threats of violence or violence itself (including not only guns-drawn attackstrue attacks by the waybut also fees, fines, and business shut-downs) forces men to abstain from any lawful act, or to engage in a lawful act that they do not support, government becomes a terrorist. This is so fundamental it ought not need to be said.
We may fairly discuss reasonable limits on corporations since they exist, like regulators, at the pleasure of the people, but nobodynot legislator, regulator, or plain citizenhas the right to declare milk or any other lawful product to be under their control. (If we lived in a saner world I would advise Mark McAfee to abandon his corporation and distribute his milk as Mark the natural man and thereby live and work at his own pleasure. I do not so advise because he would be crushed by his over-reaching government for doing sonow theres a sin you can cry over.) We have stood quietly by as our country has accelerated into collectivism. Looks like well do the same as we move toward totalitarianism.
News Flash GOOD NEWS from Tenn.
The cow share bill has passed both houses and is on the governors desk. If he does not sign it stll becomes law but somewhat delayed if he signs the bill it is law in 10 days.
You may read the bill at the following link.
http://www.tennesseansforrawmilk.com/
And yet it is forfeit if you do not have control over how you sustain that life.
Controlling how others sustain themselves isn’t a good, it is slavery, it is evil. There is no logic that can escape that fact. There is no justification for taking that right away by dictating what food they may or may not consume.
I am not your slave. You will not dictate to me what I may or may not eat.
FOOD FREEDOM by Brian Keeter Interesting title and interesting name just scroll up a few posts and read Brians recent comment right here on our blog.
http://lewrockwell.com/orig10/keeter1.html
Thanks Brian great article.
http://freefarmgeek.wordpress.com/
Lykke,
"Peace! Geek out." is the signoff I use on my blog. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was posting to. 🙂
Thanks for the link – great blog. Thunder is a doll – would love to see him bucking around in the pasture. Best of luck on your raw milk endeavor, it is more challenging than entering other niche markets, but I’m sure you know that. I’m curious about something, do you think that farmers starting-up a raw milk business have adequate information from the various sources (government, university extension, farm advisors, advocacy groups)? I hunt around the web and find so little about the process, best approaches (including how to navigate through the regulations, private lab tests, government testing programs, etc.). There’s lots about the money to be made, and the benefits for consumers, and the dire food safety risks from the government sites…but, little information that really outlines how to go forward with a new business in this complicated environment.
One looks at a situation like Dee Creek or Alexandre Dairy that didn’t have much information, and got into a quagmire of problems. I need to order that booklet from the FTCLDF about running a raw milk dairy…it isn’t the easiest thing to come by…wish they’d put it online…
Thanks for the positive feedback. Thunder is amazing, but his mother is still being ornery. My lessons in milkling a cow continue.
I would bet that the majority of farmers considering raw dairy know what they are doing, both practically and from a safety perspective. There will always be exceptions both ways (people that have no clue and people who are exceptional). Best to let market forces reward the good and punish the bad, versus outlawing everything outright to avoid any potential risk whatsoever (which is impossible anyway).
Quite frankly I didn’t find anything real beneficial with the FTCLDF book. Great stuff if you have little experience, but not really useful for intermediate/advanced cattle handlers. If you are a farm newbie, it’s awesome – good to help with perspective.
Peace! Geek out.
Raw Milk Bill Moves to Senate by Keith Whitecomb
Inch by inch and grudgingly TPTB are realizing that have a force to deal with that will not accept a NO answer and that force is the raw dairy producer and the raw dairy consumer and our motivation is not GREED or PROFIT but the sustaining of our health thus our very physical existance!
Any increase in the supply of raw milk is a victory but it is still just crumbs from the kings table as viewed in the overall loss in our individual liberties during the last hundred years.
With the "ALLOWED" increased flow of raw milk from the farm can the other "DANGEROUS STUFF" cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, whey directly from the farm be very far behind???
by Arun Shrivasta Global Research 5/9/09
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13527
This is what the "SYSTEM" produces!
To the lovers of the system read this if you dare and then produce evidence to refute this article. If you are unable you are welcome to join us as we BATTLE our way out of the CHFOs [confined human feeding operations] that produce untold human misery WORLDWIDE.
Lykke, I’ve been listening to you for several months now… you started out very moderate and sounding as though you’re willing to listen, but the more you talk, the more you reveal your true colors. I venture to say that except for the bigger raw milk businesses (Claravale, OP, etc), few raw dairy farmers make lots of money, ESPECIALLY when one considers the hours worked… hard to believe but true. I myself barely cover expenses, even at $7/gallon, which is still two dollars cheaper than the pasteurized Organic Valley milk (not to be confused with Mark’s Organic Pastures) because I have to buy hay for nearly eight months. I don’t even dare to consider my hours working on the farm, so I really had to laugh when you talked about how your REAL job impacts your free time.
When was the last time you took a vacation?? This January, I had my first vacation (off the farm for more than eight hours) in over five years, a fortuitous timing of not having any animals in milk for a whole month! Oooooh, how exciting!! I nearly passed out with joy!
My life sure would be easier if I didn’t supply milk. So why do I do it, why do I work so hard for so little these past eleven years? Because I believe in the power of raw milk and I want people to have the same opportunity to get it that I have. You may doubt my altruism, sometimes I can hardly believe it myself, my own family thinks I’m crazy, but the altruism is there… I can’t NOT do it. It’s my contribution to a healthier society. I’ll stop doing it when the demand for raw milk stops (heh, fat chance, it keeps growing)… or when I get totally burned out, a not too far away prospect, actually, considering I run this place alone without any help.
Please, don’t imply that raw milk farmers are greedy for charging a lot for their products, or that people like you have REAL jobs… it’s truly nauseating.
As for how to go forward with a new dairy business… if the environment would stop being so unnecessarily complicated, it sure would be a lot easier. It’s doesn’t have to be anywhere near as complicated as you would have it. If you had TRULY been listening these past several months, you would know that.
I will have three rooms available — one decent, one a converted attic room, and one part storage. There is also space on the property for camping and RVs. What room you get will depend on how hard I laugh when you email me to accept the invitation.
Let’s say the first weekend in October if David has copies available. We will begin Friday evening, read into the night in pajamas and pink sponge rollers drinking Mad Dog 20/20, retire to our respective locations (though a big slumber party in the 36×36′ great room is an option), and head to the Fresno Farmer’s Market the next day.
If Mark knows you, you might want to bring a costume for the farmer’s market if you wish to remain anonymous.
I’m sure my email is easily found. Just send me an RSVP and I’ll provide directions.
Amanda
u callin me a ho? The nerve! LOL! Maybe I will round up some lingerie with a MarlerClark logo for the pajama party (and book signing?). Thanks for the invitation, will let you know.
Will you be serving raw milk along with the Mad Dog 20/20?
cp
But to the point, yes, I expect we could conduct many Mad Dog experiments.