Raw milk is back in the limelight in Wisconsin, the nation’s second-largest dairy-producing state. New legislation is being proposed, and already public health and conventional dairy interests are fighting it. But this time, the atmosphere feels different, partly because the notion of legalizing raw milk has received semi-official endorsement via an advisory group, including representatives of the conventional dairy industry, organized by Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
In this analysis, Bill Anderson, a licensed Wisconsin cheesemaker and raw milk activist (and frequent commenter on this blog), provides insights into why the dairy industry’s involvement in setting the parameters for legalized raw milk are problematic.
By Bill Anderson
Bill AndersonIt has been more than a year since farmer and consumer protests against the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) led to the creation of a “Raw Milk Working Group” in January 2010. I attended some of the early meetings of this group, which were little more than a debate between raw milk proponents and representatives of dairy processing corporations. However, the media coverage from the governor’s veto of the raw milk bill in March 2010, and from the subsequent raid on Vernon Hershberger’s farm, publically embarrassed the dairy processing industry (and their puppets at DATCP) sufficiently to convince them that they could no longer hold back the winds of change.
Like many pressing political issues of our day, the fight in Wisconsin has national implications. America’s Dairyland has long been a laboratory in democracy. We have more small dairy farms than any other state in the U.S., and are second only to California in total milk production. Our opponents know this all too well, which is why national and international groups representing corporate dairy processing interests from outside the state got involved in the raw milk fight last year.
DATCP’s raw milk working group has had experimental public meetings and countless hours of discussion (which can be seen here by searching “raw milk”), with most of the input coming from corporate and governmental representatives. A nearly finished draft is now available to the public.
I believe there are four main problems with this document.
1) It excludes goat and sheep milk, without giving any reason. Why discriminate against an entire class of farmers and consumers? If we have the ability to certify raw cow milk, what is preventing us from certifying raw goat and sheep milk?
2) The recommendation is, in its own words, a “one-size-fits-all” approach. This is the exact opposite of what we need. Unlike pasteurization, where food safety is achieved by the destruction of bacteria, raw milk is living food which relies upon the dominance of beneficial lactic-acid producing bacteria to ensure food safety.
3) It would require that farmers sell all milk within 48 hours of harvest, and recommend the consumer to drink it within 48 hours of purchase. This 96-hour shelf-life may be applicable to most of the raw milk in America that is designed for pasteurization. However, good quality certified raw milk should last for at least two weeks in the fridge before the flavor begins to deteriorate, and even then, it’s not necessarily dangerous.
4) It prohibits other raw dairy products. Butter, for example, is less than 20% moisture and is very inhospitable to pathogenic organisms, particularly if it is made with cultured cream. And while raw butter is more susceptible to rancidity than butter made from heat-treated cream, this is a quality and shelf-life issue, not a food safety issue. For a small farm selling locally, the butter will not need the shelf-life of commercial butter. Or take a fermented milk like yogurt, kefir, or clotted cream – they are extremely acidic and will cause the expiration of any pathogenic organisms that might be present.
If made with certified raw milk and pure starter cultures in a sanitary environment, these products would be very safe – safer than the milk they started from. Yet DATCP recommends prohibiting farmers from processing their own excess raw milk unless it is pasteurized. No word on whether consumers will be discouraged or prohibited from doing their own processing at home.
Most importantly, the decision to exclude cultured products shatters the claim that food safety concerns are what drive the opponents of raw milk. For thousands of years, culturing milk has been humanity’s solution to the problem of milk safety. The combination of acidity, competition for nutrients, and bacteriocins (enzymes which inhibit undesirable competitors) such as nisin, created by lactic acid bacteria, is highly toxic to pathogenic bacteria. The science on this issue is well-established and widely accepted, even within the pasteurization industry.
Most readers of this blog already agree that the regulations surrounding raw milk have more to do with protectionism of the dairy processing industry than with food safety. But it runs even deeper than this.
The system is designed to make it as difficult as possible for raw milk producers to deliver a safe product to consumers.
That’s right — the pasteurization industry has intentionally created a regulatory structure which will ensure more illnesses from raw milk.
While the 2009-2010 Wisconsin crackdown didn’t stop raw milk sales, it did alter patterns of distribution. Prior to the crackdown, most farmers were cleaning and filling jars to ensure cleanliness. Today, farmers don’t want standing evidence that they are engaged in raw milk sales, and so consumers are now responsible for cleaning their own jars.
It is essential that we move forward with efforts to establish raw milk standards designed by and for raw milk producers. The corporate dairy processing interests, whose entire existence relies upon the paradigm of compulsory pasteurization, should not be the ones writing these standards. We should.
The upcoming raw milk battle will require a more concerted grassroots mobilization than ever. However, this time, the most important battle may not be legislative. Instead it will probably be the administrative rule-making process, to ensure that the regulations empower family farmers to provide the widest consumer access to nature’s perfect food.
You state, For thousands of years, culturing milk has been humanitys solution to the problem of milk safety.
Culturing milk was humanitys solution to extending foods palatability through preservation. Milk or food safety was probably the furthest thing from their mind!
With no knowledge of bacteria and the role it played in nurturing fermentation human beings nonetheless recognized milks self preserving qualities and capitalized on that fact not only to preserve milk but to use cultured milk as medium to preserve other foods such as meat, vegetables and fish.
http://www.arthurmag.com/2010/10/22/bacterial-intelligence/
In speaking of bacteria the above article states, Whether humanity decides to sanctify them in some way or merely admire them and learn what theyre really doing, theres no going back. And if theres any hope of rebalancing the chemistry of a biosphere deranged in two short centuries by humans, it very likely lies in peaceful coexistence with the seemingly brilliant, deceptively simple life-forms comprising the domain Bacteria.
The most important battle rests with recognizing an individuals right to choose what foods they eat without fear of chastisement.
Ken Conrad
Also, I just recieved news that a coalition of corporate interest groups (including the notorious big business lobby Wisconsin Manufactuer and Commerce, which was behind the recent controversy over collective bargaining rights) calling itself the "safe milk coalition" has started asserting themselves. As it turns out, my last statement may be wrong — perhaps the most important battle will be legislative. We will see how things play out:
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=369&yr=2011
http://thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0324/0324wismilkcoal.pdf
http://www.wisrawmilkassociation.com/uploads/5/5/6/4/5564905/senate_raw_milk_bill.pdf
"It excludes goat and sheep milk, without giving any reason. Why discriminate against an entire class of farmers and consumers?"
I know this is in reference to the Working Group's recommendations, but in regards to the bill, the bill does exclude goat and sheep milk…but…while goat and sheep milk are included in the legal definition of milk in Wisconsin, unless a farmer has a license from DATCP to sell to a processing plant, that farmer is only breaking the law if his/her district attorney decides to prosecute. I know of one goat farmer selling in my county and one in the county south of me, and neither have been brought up on charges by the D.A.
"However, this time, the most important battle may not be legislative. Instead it will probably be the administrative rule-making process…"
Here is Wisconsin Assembly Bill 8, introduced by Rep. Tom Tiffany. As far as I know it is still in committee. If passed, this bill will severely curtail the rule-making power of all administrative agencies in Wisconsin by requiring an economic impact statement to be made of all proposed rules; by requiring the state to establish jurisdiction in support of those rules; and to allow the chief executive of the state, i.e. the governor, to have final approval of all rules.
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/insession/insessiondocs/docs/JR1AB-8.pdf
You are correct that the bill being proposed does NOT include DATCP's reccomendation. I wrote this article several weeks ago, strictly as an anlysis of DATCP's reccomendation and in anticipation of the legislative fight which will be unfolding in the coming weeks.
David, you may want to correct that part.
I fully expect governor Walker to go back on his word (just as Doyle did last time around) in service of his corporate paymasters. I don't expect the bill to pass this time, but I do expect it to generate more public outrage and press.
The question is if we continue to be disorganized and individualist, or if the raw milk movement is ready to adopt proven strategies for social change — boycotts, sit-ins, organized protests and collective action, etc…
The staunch individualism which is unfortunately so pervasive within the raw milk movement will only be used to divide us against one another. We need to ORGANIZE around raw milk access and food safety!!
http://unionindialogue.org/povertyinitiative/files/2011/02/fish-small-eat-big1.jpg
David
This a good video presentation with respect to vitamin D role in the development of our immune system.
Ken Conrad
One cannot attack the actions of certain political leaders and then turn and expect those same leaders to support one's agenda.
Some self-proclaimed leaders of the raw milk movement have attacked the Republican's attempts to restore lawful government through the Budget Repair Bill yet those same Republicans will be expected by those same self-proclaimed leaders to support the Raw Milk Bill?
Perhaps for the good of the many it's time that certain individuals put their personal politics aside while lawful government and administrative rule-making are returned to our state. Only with lawful government restored can real change take place.
I understand there are games in politics and we are all only human, but lola, if that's your idea of lawful government, I'm very sad for you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/opinion/28krugman.html
I do not intend to over simplfy things here…but being from the Great Golden State and being the state that produces more milk than anyother state in the union and being from the same state that produces raw milk that is sold in 400 stores, 19 farmers markets, 60 buyers clubs, 12 doctors offices and even on a Federal Indian reservation ( Humboldt Blue Lake )….why in the hell is any one trying to recreate this legislative raw milk process or standards ????
Just rubber stamp CA Food and Ag Raw Milk regs and call it a day!!!
Oh…I think I know why….The processors would hate that. This is not about farmers, food safety or the people….this is all about the processors and their taxation from the middle of the food chain. The tax they take robs nutrition and food life and any remaining crumbs of $ that should go the farmers.
I guess, reality is all money and all political. You need a serious wake up call in Wisconsin. You need a food fight like none other. You need a farmer to consumer rebellion. You need to expose the entire middle of the food chain for its true sins against humanity. The farmers and consumers must visit the capitol and talk to their legislature and expose the agenda of processors. THIS IS NOT ABOUT FOOD SAFETY…IT IS ABOUT POWER, INFLUENCE AND WHO WILL CONTINUE TO GET THE MONEY!!!!!
Mark
There are many public employees and unionized (and non-unionized) private sector employees who support the legalization of raw milk. Likewise, there are many small dairy farmers who support collective bargaining rights for public sector unions.
The Republicans unlawful attempt to return us to 19th century standards for labor rights should be opposed by all working people. I don't care if Glenn Grothman is sponsering the raw milk bill this time. He is a loudmouthed opportunist. I am not a Democrat, but the legislators who championed the bill last time were all Democrats, one of whom was unseated thanks to the backwardness of the "tea party."
Ultimately, the success of the raw milk movement will be dependent on our ability to organize a mass grassroots movement. We need EVERYONE on our side — factory workers, public workers, teachers, doctors and nurses, even the undocumented migrant workers who make the WI dairy industry function (and who your buddy Ron Paul wants to deport)
http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/03/would-a-raw-milk-cheese-ban-kill-small-dairies/73094/
Well worth the 10 minutes TED broadcast Robyn Brien. She talks about how American corportations serve Americans foods that are "not proven to be dangerous" verses "not proven to be safe". She talks about how American cooporations have multiple formulations…one for numb and dumb Americans and another for other countries. She tells us that we have the highest rates of Camcer in the world and foreign proteins in our food that poison our kids.
http://fearlessrevolution.com/blog/robyn-obrien-at-tedxaustin.html
She is Sharing the Secrets of American Food….as more and more of these voices emerge….dollars are voted differently and America changes.
Mark
This is the consequence of a food system that is driven entirely by market imperatives, with no concern for democracy or human consequences!
I never suggested that Bill should not exercise his right to free speech, but tell me…does the self-proclaimed raw milk activist do more good or more harm when he publicly states, "I don't care if Glenn Grothman is sponsering the raw milk bill this time. He is a loudmouthed opportunist." What if Grothman's aids read this? Does this show that Bill cares about working with the legislature to affect change, or does it show that he's a temperamental child who says things in public that are better said in private or not at all? Which does more for the movement he claims to so passionately support?
Grothman intentionally left out the Raw Milk Working Group's recommendations because he knew that the Working Group was filled with industry reps. So our "activist" pans the Working Group's recommendations and then pans the same Senator that intentionally left them out to the benefit of the farmer? Wow!
And tell me…what would you call it when your government tries to end a corporation's power to buy politicians and extort money from that very government through coercive, involuntary membership and that threatens to shut down segments of the economy if their demands are not met? What would you call it when that very same government tries to restore some checks and balances by making the chief executive rubber stamp all otherwise-unchecked and arbitrary administrative rules, the same arbitrary rules that have our farmers under fire? I call it an attempt to return to lawful government, what do you call it?
Bill,
"The Republicans unlawful attempt to return us to 19th century standards for labor rights should be opposed by all working people."
There is nothing unlawful about it. You not liking it doesn't make it any less so. I've explained to you that you only have "rights" as an individual, not a group. And, collective bargaining is a privilege from a legal perspective, not a natural right. Privileges can be revoked. Rights can't. Plus, lets not forget that public-union employees will be covered under the same civil service laws that non-union public employees are.
"This is the consequence of a food system that is driven entirely by market imperatives…"
Modern corporations are a product of 2 things: fiat currency & reserve banking systems, and government policy. It's a consequence of the government, not of the market. More government will not fix it – less government, ending the Federal Reserve and returning to a gold standard will.
Plus…"democracy" = "socialism" = "51% decides for the 49%" = "mob rule". I'll take my Constitutional Republic any day, thanks.
"After every election we are dealt a new hand and new players, as is the case with politics there are often certain volatile legislative proposals that draw the ire of some people and are exploited by the media for their own ends, but as is often the case the greater part of the overall proposal is ignored. No one agrees with all legislation all the time, however there is a need to work with those in place for the time they are there to achieve the goal set forth. The restoration of lawful government is in referenced to the changes proposed in administrative rule making, no longer will DATCP draft rules by default process that are clearly outside the manifest intent of the legislature, hearings and appeals would be conducted within the county of the petitioner instead of forcing the individual to travel to Dane Co. as the process is now, depriving the petitioner of equal protection under the law. Although a Democrat legislature passed the previous bill ( along with Republicans) it was a Democrat Governor that refused to sign it. We will have to play the hand were dealt and see where this goes. For those producers who have endured the unlawful search and seizure, extortion, threats and more at the hands of these state employees, may have views different from those not subjected to their assaults. "
Goatmaid: I saw that article earlier today. Very intense.
Torture and Guantanamo maybe? LOL.
I think I made it very clear in my editorial that I am NOT in favor of DATCP's recommendation precisely because it is based on the experiences of an industry built around pasteurization, and will not lead to food safety or increased consumer access to raw milk.
This does not mean I am against any regulation of raw milk. I think that the best way to make raw milk widely available to more people is to have a certifying body that is independent of any corporate influence.
For those not familiar, Sen. Glenn Grothman is the sponser of the current legislation. While I am glad that legislation is being introduced, it is unfortunate to have such a dispicable right-wing loud-mouth leading the charge this time. Grothman is a homophobe, racist, and sexist. Grothman thinks that Martin Luther King Jr. Day should not exist and that Kwanza should be treated with contempt. He is opposed to even discussing homosexuality, and thinks that America is heading down the tubes because we discourage businesses from hiring men (as opposed to women)!!!
Here is some more information and Grothman and his agenda:
http://glenn-grothman-watch.blogspot.com/
http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=32611
Grothman is about the last person we want leading the charge on raw milk. Last year's effort was so successful (until the end), in part, because of the tireless work of Rep. Chris Danou, who has also stood in solidarity with the public sector unions who are being scapegoated for the manufactuered "budget crises" created by extremists such as Grothman and the billionairre Koch brothers who financed the anti-worker agenda of the Walker Administration.
Democracy is not about "tyranny of the majority" Lola — it is about returning to labor that which labor produces. The exploitative system of corporate capitalism is designed to enable the ultra-rich to "skim off the top" that which workers produce — just as the pasteurization industry skims the cream off the top of commercial milk and give consumers a product stripped of nutrients and butterfat, and skims all the labor off from farmers through low milk prices. It is all part of the same system, and it is all corrupt and a path to tyranny and corporate serfdom!!!
We must unite ALL people TOGETHER in COMMON CAUSE to overthrow this corporate tyranny!! We cannot allow ourselves to be divided by gender, race, sexuality, rural or urban as Grothman does. We ALL will either sink or swim together as free people or as serfs of corporate power, and we ALL must unite to provide healthy locally produced food to as many people as possible regardless of social class. Freedom, democracy, and raw milk for all!!
Your words remind me of my own fathers words….look him up sometime. Rodger L. McAfee. He died in 2006 in a car accident near Raisin City CA. He was the first person to visit Cuba after their revolution to meet the ledership and find the real news etc. He flew there at 50 feet off the water in his own small plane from Florida ( Piper tri-pacer ). He did it with my pregant mom and I, when I was 10 months old in January 1962. I was latched to his chest parachute harness with a carabiner. Talk about radical. He was in search of the truth in the Mccarthy Era. Now that he is dead, I can say that he was also a double spy in 1969 in Isreal. He spied on Isreal and also Syria and reported the findings to the UN….watching the Isrealis murder arabs and vice versa made him sick to his stomach…Thats my DNA….
http://www.eaa.org/photos/1001/gallery/Monoplanes/PiperPA-22-150Tri-Pacer_1.jpg
Keep on talking like that and you will find yourself leading a revolution…one we all need badly. I got your back…keep on teaching and preaching!!
I deeply believe and it has been my experience that….you do not sell raw milk…you teach it!
Teachers have always scared the hell out of those in power and the fascists. Numb and dumb people are so much easier to feed and enslave.
Mark
Did you two used to date?
When it comes to "food sovereignty", or any issues of rights, the only thing that matters is violence: Who is willing to use it, and how far they are willing to go. Are government "authorities", at any level, willing (and financially able) to use violence, up to and including the murder of innocents, in order to enforce their diktats upon peaceful, honest people who are doing nothing wrong? And if so, are those people willing to fight back and defend not only their lives, but the liberty that makes life worth living?
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.
If someone ever stands in my way and tells me to pour out my lawfully owned property onto the ground, I will not obey. I will take my property and I will leave. And I will not allow myself to be punished when I have done nothing wrong.
Once again, I was against the raw milk bill last year because it gave the government, and specifically DATCP, more power to regulate already-strapped farmers. DATCP was the very body persecuting farmers! I advocate less government intrusion, you advocate more.
Let me remind you that you are the conspirator, along with Sally Fallon, Tim Wightman, Pete Kennedy, Mark McAfee and David Gumpert (whose names were all on the e-mails), who are organizing to create National Standards without any public input. Considering the firestorm that ensued when I released those e-mails last year, you are the devise person in the movement, not me.
Thank you for confirming everything I've ever thought about you.
YouTube description: Law professor Donna Matias knows how difficult it can be to start a new business. In her work as director of a legal clinic at the University of San Diego School of Law, she helps low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs navigate the legal hurdles they encounter. She tells the story of one client who wanted to operate a transportation service, and faced a mountain of challenges as a result.
""I think absent these regulations we'd see a lot more low-income entrepreneurs pulling themselves up by the bootstraps and becoming self-sufficient and at the same time employing other people."
Raw Milk is a non-partisan issue in Wisconsin as shown by last years support. Your slanderous name calling of Glenn Grothman shows your immaturity. Shame on you. Wisconsin is not a democracy Bill, it is a Republic that has its own Constitution. Your own personal, socialist, agenda will only divide people and create mob rule and chaos. At this point you are not acting any better than the men in government that you despise. The new raw milk bill for Wisconsin is all encompassing. The only things lacking are retail sales and vending machine sales. Even raw milk products are included this time. This is the first legislation this session that has Bi-partisan support!
The Wisconsin Raw Milk Association is a non-partisan group of people from all walks of life, when we gather we put aside our petty differences and work for the common goal of freeing the chains of tyranny that bind our wrists from choosing the foods we feel are essential to our families well being.
Currently, Bill, you are caught up in the false left right paradigm and are making a fool of yourself in the public spotlight.
Wake up Wisconsin before it is too late.
The so-called "budget repair bill" was most definetly illegal. It was passed in violation of the WI constitution, in violation of WI open meetings laws (which I am proud to say are some of the best in the nation), and the content of the bill itself is questionably legal. There is a reason there are three lawsuits currently pending over the bill, and probably more to follow!
We will see how the Wisconsin Supreme Court handles the case — I don't expect they will rule on the side of workers because WMC (Wisconsin Manufactuer and Commerce — the notorious big business lobby) has bought the last two Supreme Court elections for ultra-conservative judges. This doesn't bode well for FTCLDF's cases either. WMC has come out against raw milk (suprise, suprise…) along with the Dairy Business Association and other big business lobbies who fund Supreme Court candidates.
When everything is subject to the forces of the market, then even justice and political power become commodities to be purchased by the highest bidder. This is the consequence of your extreme-right-wing ideology, Lola.
The antidote to the corruption of money within our government is grassroots democracy!!!
I am not opposed to the raw milk bill, I am just questioning the wisdom of having Sen. Glen Grothman be the lead sponser of the bill given his incredibly devisive positions on many issues — women's rights, gay rights, etc…
He is not going to win us any allies amongst a diverse cross-section of the population — the very people who we need to win over if we ultimately want to win this battle. I do not think that having Grothman as the lead sponser is helpful to our cause.
Are you familair with Wisconsin's history of radical Republicanism?
I would maintain that our current "Republican" party leadership is not Republican at all. A re-PUBLIC is a society in which the affairs of the PUBLIC are held in the highest regard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic
Unfortunately, our current "Republican" party is the exact opposite of this. They want everything to be private and secret, in order to protect the interests of the elite classes. Our "Republican" party today is better described as "DES-publicans". They are OPPOSED to the public and the interests of the public, and only believe in private matters.
A suggested read on the history of Wisconsin's radical Republicanism:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Heroes/FightingBobLaFollette.html