The sense of déjà vu was eerie. First the California Department of Food and Agriculture posted a press release on its site: It had ordered a recall of raw cream produced by Organic Pastures Dairy Co.
Then the Associated Press came out with a story, which was published by the San Jose Mercury News, one of the state’s largest newspapers. Listeria monocytogenes had been found in some of the cream, which “can cause the serious infections in children and the elderly. Healthy adults can experience symptoms including fevers, severe headaches, nausea and diarrhea.”
Associated Press is one of the largest news services in the world, yet it didn’t bother with comment from anyone at Organic Pastures (or even indicate no one could be reached).
It was September 21, 2006, when CDFA officials issued their first recall, and eventually shut down the state’s largest raw milk dairy for two weeks, after five children believed to have consumed raw milk became ill. (The photo above, from Organic Pastures, shows two federal Food and Drug Administration agents taking samples from the farm’s soil in their search for E.coli during the shutdown.) The illnesses, four of which came from a common strain of E.coli 0157:H7, were never connected definitively to bacteria at Organic Pastures.
The way Mark McAfee, Organic Pastures’ owner, explained it to me, the listeria m finding in his dairy’s cream sounded very similar to findings at several New York and Pennsylvania raw milk dairies over the last few months. “After nine days of testing a sample, they got a positive reading,” he said. He said he was told by a state lab official that the finding “was considered to be subclinical.” He said technicians “put the milk in a petrie dish and use a special broth that suppresses the growth of other bacteria to encourage the growth of the listeria. By definition, the listeria they get is an extremely low level.”
The recall order applied to 200 pints of cream sent to 45 stores, out of 300 stores that normally carry Organic Pastures products. Nearly all the cream had already been purchased, and no one has become ill, Mark told me. Similarly, in New York and Pennsylvania listeria m. cases, no one has become ill.
Mark says his dairy tests samples of all milk that leave the dairy for E.coli 0157:H7. “But we screwed up by not testing for a broader range of bacteria.”
Organic Pastures has just in the last few days purchased special equipment that “will test for all the politically significant bacteria—camphylobacter, E.coli, listeria, and salmonella…We probably should have been doing that before.”
He said the cream in question actually came from a dairy in Northern California that produces raw organic milk because, “We can’t make enough cream to satisfy our own customers.”
Mark criticized the state’s testing and announcement procedures. “This is a huge to-do about nothing because the conditions in the lab are not human conditions…They did not shut us down…Yesterday at a farmers market people were giving us high-fives because we are still selling milk.”
He added that he expects demand for raw milk to increase yet again. “Every time this happens, the people who want whole food are stirred up even more.”
Nor has he lost any of his combativeness. “We are in a place that is politically incorrect…I am in the business of producing good bacteria…But every opportunity they (government regulators) have they will stick a knife in our back.”
This time last year we had been in the hospital for four days. Chris had non-stop painful diarrhea and vomiting. Today was the day Chris started having pre-HUS symptomspossible appendicitis or ulcerative colitis. This is when doctors became extremely concerned. This is the day before our lives changed for ever. Chris was diagnosed with HUS on day five.
Tomorrow it will be a year since we were told that Chris had a chance of dying simply because of ingesting a foodborne pathogen.
I read your comment. If you spend your weekend worrying about people drinking raw milk then you need to get a life or see a shrink. Loads of things "out there" can kill you. What’s a person to do; become consumed with worry and stop living?? Hardly.
The mainstream press would love to see the raw milk industry put out of business. Nothing new there. If more people used raw, unadulterated foods you can be sure there would be a lot less sickness in this country.
I read your comment to Mary’s comment. I can only hope that you are a new reader to this blog and haven’t been reading all of Mary McGonigle-Martin’s courageous and thoughtful commentary and data-sharing of the past year. If you are unfamiliar with her unique contributions to the raw milk disussion, I suppose I can understand the flippant and hurtful tone of your comment.
But if you are a regular reader of this blog and the reader commentary, then I guess I just don’t know what to say, especially when you use a pseudonym instead of your real name. I suppose supporting raw milk choices doesn’t guarantee sensitivity and compassion, does it?
Amazed reader, your anonymity and rudeness may be commonplace on other blogs/forums that you visit, but here on David’s blog, it’s totally inappropriate. Many of the regular contributers here disagree with each other, but a baseline of civility is maintained.
You should take a cue from Amey’s comment that:
"I usually just lurk and soak up the intelligent commentary here, but just wanted to pipe up on this one with my two cents."
It would’ve behooved you, to do just that, before verbally bashing Mary.
I actually think an amazed reader is Mark McAfee. If Im wrong, I apologize to Mark in advance. I dont want to make accusations that are not true.
The reason I think it is Mark is because on another blog he made a similar statement about me regarding the need for counseling. Its a nice technique to use. It changes the focus and devalues anything I say because he paints me as emotionally unstable.
His second statement is classic Mark McAfee. If a negative statement is made about raw milk (especially his), he changes the subject to the media or the food that keeps our immune systems healthy. The only typical statement that is missing is something derogatory about our medical system.
Mark McAfee has a predictable mantra he reiterates over and over again. If this statement didnt come from Mark then it probably came from one of his strong supporters and he/she is repeating what they always hear him say.
David,
Extremely well said. This raw cream thing is a non-event!!
In California CDFA does not test for pathogens in retail produced pasteurized dairy products. They do this because what you do not test for they do not want to find. Remember that pasteurization does not kill all bacteria. It just reduces their number by a measure of Logs. That means that if pasteurized dairy products were tested and feed specialized broths… all kinds of pathogens would be detected at low levels.
The bigger question is this….why is this news?
100,000 people per year ( CDC data ),thats a 747 Jumbo Jet full of people every day die from antibiotic resistant infections and immune depression. This is news!!! A Jumbo jet crashing everyday you bet your butt that is news…but politically these deaths are excused and buried as collateral damage in the failure of the "germ theory". Health is about the strength of the immune system. Not about bugs. That is why pathogens do not make 99% of healthy people sick.
Find a sub clinical level of Listeria in some raw cream and nobody is sick and this is news??? The raw cream was not even from OPDC, it had been purchased from another organic creamery. We tested for Ecoli 0157H7 but not Listeria. This we will never do again.
The bacteria phobia in our country is beyond stupid. It is causing the sheepeople in this country to eat sterilized foods and further depress their immune systems. Pathogens can only be pathogens if the host is weak. Does anyone get that???? That is why the list of pathogens gets longer and longer. It is because we are weaker and weaker.
80 percent of the human immune system is the biodiversity of good bacteria in the gut. Raw milk is the best source of this bacteria.
It makes me sick just thinking about how politics has sucked the truth out of science and "we the sheepeople" pay the price with our lives.
The raw revolution fights on….with mother nature on our side.
My condolences to the people of North Carolina that have been insulted by the forced addition of black food dye in their raw milk.
America is lost in health darkness, will somebody please turn on the lights!!! Another Jumbo Jet full of American citizens crashed today….again.
Please, please that is the news!!
As long as I’m on the subject, I have tried to keep this blog as open as possible for comments–not requiring passwords or email addresses, because they tend to be inhibiting…and frustrating. Several people have pointed out that discussions are remarkably civil. I agree, it’s been great.
I FOUND A NOTE THAT MARK MCAFEE WROTE TO A MEMBER OF http://WWW.MOTHERING.COM IN WHICH HE CLAIMS THAT HIS DAIRY DOES NOT TEST FOR LISTERIA AND THAT IT CAUGHT HIM THIS TIME. I FIND IT FUNNY THAT HE RANTED AND RAVED ABOUT HIS DAIRY BEING 100% PATHOGEN FREE. HOW DOES ONE MAKE THESE CLAIMS, YET NOT TEST FOR ALL OF THE DIFFRENT KINDS OF BACTERIA. HES A JOKE. AND IF THAT LETTER FROM "THE AMAZED READER" WAS HIM, IT SHOWS WHAT A HEARTLESS AND GREEDY PERSON HE IS.
IM GLAD I WAS NOT AT THE HOSPITAL WHEN HE CAME TO SHOW HIS FACE IN FRONT OF MY DAUGHTER BECAUSE HE WOULD NOT HAVE LIKED WHAT I HAD TO SAY TO HIM. HE MADE SURE TO COME FOR A VISIT WHEN I WAS NOT THERE. A VISIT THAT WAS ORCHISTRATED BY THE PEOPLE THAT GAVE HER HIS DISGUSTING PRODUCT TO DRINK.
ONE THING FOR SURE, IF HE KEEPS DOING WHAT HE IS DOING, HIS DAIRY WILL EVENTUALLY BE SHUT DOWN DUE TO HIS LACK OF CONCERN FOR NOTHING BUT FILLING HIS POCKETS AND PRETENDING THAT HE CARES ABOUT A PERSONS HEALTH.
FUNNY HOW IT IS CONSIDERED HARASSMENT IF YOU ARE NOT IN FAVOR OF IT. THERE ARE REASONS FOR NOT SUPPORTING CERTAIN THINGS. PEOPLE THAT DO NOT SUPPORT IT HAVE RIGHTS TOO.
I THINK THAT EXPLAINING THE RISKS OR SHARING AN UNPLEASANT STORY ABOUT A CERTAIN COMPANY IS GOOD INFORMATION TO PASS ALONG. I WOULDNT WANT TO BUY A PRODUCT FROM SOMEWHERE THAT HAS HAD THEIR PRODUCT TAKEN OFF THE SHELF MORE THAN ONCE AND HAS AN OWNER THAT JUST WANTS TO PASS THE BUCK OFF EVERYWHERE ELSE.
LIKE OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM….GIVE ME A BREAK. !!
I never once said that folks opposed to raw milk should not be able to speak their mind. My point is as others have suggested that there is an unscrupulous agenda to discredit some of these farmers using tests that may be flawed. So, in that case, it is absolutely harassment. No one, for or against raw milk should stand for this type of dirty politics.
Unlike our healthcare system, producers are very interested in producing a safe product. Fixing the healthcare system would result in corporations making less profit and no CEO will allow that to happen.
You mention a key point, you say I WOULDNT WANT TO BUY A PRODUCT FROM SOMEWHERE THAT HAS HAD THEIR PRODUCT TAKEN OFF THE SHELF MORE THAN ONCE AND HAS AN OWNER THAT JUST WANTS TO PASS THE BUCK OFF EVERYWHERE ELSE. The point is you have the choice no one else is making that choice for you. It is yours and yours alone.
I totally agree with you about sharing stories. How else can we learn from the mistakes of the past? There needs to be a paradigm shift how we can help farmers produce clean, safe raw milk from just shutting them down! Are there some producers that need to be shut down? Yes!
Rod
Yes, there are producers that should be shut down.! I 100% totally agree with you.
If you put Mark in parentheses to allude that I am Mark McAfee I can assure you that I am not. While we may weigh about the same, I am a few inches taller.:-)
Think of it! She has drank raw milk since the age of one in 1914 without one day of sickness attributed to drinking raw milk yet as she says "I drink at least two glasses a day of good milk", said with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.
Over her lifespan she has no doubt consumed thousands of gallons of raw milk coming from thousands of individual milkings from hundreds of cows. Amazing? No, as this story is
repeated throughout the Amish community and world wide in some
of the most underdeveloped countries imaginable.
Think of the government doing a study of those who drink raw milk and are over the age of 50. Do you think they would publish the results?
OP dairy is mass producing raw milk. Is this wise? Is this how nature intended raw milk to be sold and consumed? Mark McAfee is pumping out more and more milk. His business is booming. He had to go outside his farm to purchase other milk to meet the demands of his business. This is my personal opinion, but I think selling raw milk on a large scale is asking for a contamination disaster.
I dont think the government posting results of people over 50 would be a fair study at all.
NEXT EXCUSE !!!
I’m not sure what you meant by "NEXT EXCUSE !!!" ?
I read Joel’s point as: SMALL farms that raise cows the way nature intended produce a healthy, safe product. Mary is right, mass produced (anything) is asking for trouble. His other point was that the government (influenced by big business) would not publish such a study because it would show just that point. They would never conduct such a study in the first place, because they know the answer already, but want to keep it from the masses.
Humans have been consuming raw milk for thousands of years. It was not until mass-produced milk in contaminated circumstances came around that people got sick.
I am grateful to Mary McGonigle-Martin for her continued research and sharing of her findings. It is through such sharing and education that we can work to prevent such horrible illnesses (as Chris and Lauren are suffering) from happening to others.
will be produced or sold unless WE SAY SO!
Case in point.
In January Dannon introduced Activia yogurt. The first probiotic additive to a yogurt on the market. They can’t make it fast enough to meet demand.
Now I eat this every day. It’s really good stuff! The taste is fantastic and I like the consistency, a smooth pleasant not too sweet taste. yummy! I recommend it but it is expensive.
So here we have the lab guys at Dannon saying "You know what? After we kill off the good bacteria lets re-introduce more and give it a new name and it will be so good it will sell like hot cakes!
This is ok for big business to do but don’t try this at home. No siree! The government will be knocking at your door if you try to market raw milk or yogurt products. Does not matter if you can prove it contains no harmful bacteria.
You say Mary observed that I use the EXACT (your emphasis) statements that a certain Dairy Farmer uses? Are you now alluding that I posted as An Amazed Reader for that is the only post where I see where you could get such statements from Mary? I am sorry to disappoint you, that wasnt me either.
I do agree with Mary, raw milk should be produced from small farms to local consumers. The question is what is an acceptable size? If too small, it would be difficult to afford the equipment, facilities and overhead let alone any profit. If too big, you can not pay attention to the fine details necessary. What is the answer? I dont know but that would be a good study for someone.
Rod
I learned all the information about the positives of raw milk and its good bacteria on this blog and then took this knowledge and supplemented it into our familys diet through other means. We use probiotic capsules/power, fermented vegetables, pasteurized yogurt & kefir, and Kombucha Chinese tea. My sons health is flourishing since weve added a probiotic powder to his diet. He takes it twice a day.
Organic Valley produces a good product of pasteurized milk. They use all local farmers and grass fed cows. I would like to see them add a probiotic back into the milk. I view this as a win-win situation. For hard core raw milk drinkers (I mean this as a compliment), this option may not be acceptable. I dont know. I do believe good health can come from many avenues.
Here is the problem: Those foods and supplements you mentioned also carry a risk of contamination. People do die after eating foods that have been pasteurized and otherwise "cleansed" of bacteria.
The point is that there is no such thing as perfect protection. But by consuming natural, unadulterated food such as raw milk we improve our chances of staying healthy, by boosting our immune systems. Melissa helped make that point by deducing immunity to be one of the elderly raw milk drinker’s secrets. (A very important sidebar: The elderly womans raw milk-induced immunity extends well beyond the microbes that might exist in her milk because, by providing a virtually perfect blend of high quality food constituents, raw milk improves her cellular health and function.) On the other side, our blind focus on killing bugs to produce health has hurt us, badly, by diminishing our immunity, and making us MORE susceptible to disease.
Again, no reasonable person is suggesting that grossly dirty food should be tolerated. Sensible steps to maintain cleanliness are welcome and necessary. But obsessive, bacteriophobic hygiene, and its kin, distrust of natural products, are truly dangerous.
When I find the article that Mark is quoted with the exact wording that ROD uses, Ill send it to you. I have to dig but I know I have it.
You might then see where that came from.
This blog is like taking a stimulating college course. You get information, people discuss it, new information is added and then you find your thinking about it throughout the day.
So..Ive been thinking. Maybe it is a good thing to have the sale of raw milk illegal. For people that really want to drink it, they have to work for it. It forces them to do their homework; to find a farmer the sells raw milk. They get to know the farmer, see the cows, and to ask questions about what the cow is fed and the health of the cow. Cows are loved in this environment. It creates an energy of appreciation for the healthy product they produce. Selling milk is not about making tons of money. Im sure this process mimics what was done 100 years ago when someone didnt have their own cow to milk. It seems the problem with contaminated milk began when it started being mass produced.
Now you have California where raw milk is legal. I saw it on the self. I thought maybe I should try this for Chris. I went to the website and read about the testing so it made me feel safe. I read information on Joe Mercollas website, which lead me to The Weston Price Foundation and then to the Real Milk website. They all send the same message, raw milk is wonderful; a miracle food. Never once on any of these websites to they mention/caution about the possibility of a foodborne pathogen (and if they do, I missed it).
I still had reservations, but with all these people praising its use, I simply picked up a bottle off the shelf and gave it to my son to drink. I didnt have to work for it. Three weeks later, Chris becomes contaminated with e-coli 0157:H7. How I wish raw milk was illegal in California.
Its a different perspective from most that come to this blog, but its something to ponder.
Talk about stimulating…
Your words: "So Ive been thinking. Maybe it is a good thing to have the sale of raw milk illegal. For people that really want to drink it, they have to work for it. It forces them to do their homework; to find a farmer the sells raw milk. They get to know the farmer, see the cows, and to ask questions about what the cow is fed and the health of the cow. Cows are ‘loved’ in this environment. It creates an energy of appreciation for the healthy product they produce. Selling milk is not about making tons of money. Im sure this process mimics what was done 100 years ago when someone didnt have their own cow to milk. It seems the problem with contaminated milk began when it started being mass produced."
I’m thinking that over, and can’t disagree with your premise. But what a shame if modern commerce is such that whole-food production "business" of (or should I say "growth-oriented business") will always be dangerous. If that is true, then living as we do in an America where farms are no longer integrated into our communities, we’re sunk.
Anyway, thank you for near-poetry!
Mary and Melissa, I see here on this blog that you both have family members who have suffered from E.coli contamination, and have suffered terribly for it. I feel a great deal of empathy for you both, and for your loved ones. The thing I don’t understand is that the CDFA testing of Organic Pastures products during last year’s recall all turned out to be negative for E.coli. Am I missing something here? Was OP proven to have been the cause of the contamination your family members incurred?
And I agree that if we made raw milk illegal because of the risk of contamination, then we would also have to make spinach illegal. I don’t think jumping to legislation is the answer. This is America, and we the people have the right to eat and drink what we want. If you don’t want to drink raw milk, then don’t drink it! I don’t understand why people who are against raw milk want to force others to not have access to it, to "work for it".
This whole argument smacks of the pro-choice/pro-life argument. Pro-choicers don’t want to force everyone to have abortions; they just want each woman to have the right to have one, and for it to be a decision between the woman and her doctor, not the government. Pro-lifers don’t agree with abortion, and so they don’t want anyone to have access to it. They want to impose their own personal beliefs on everyone through legislation. I have never understood this. And the debate about making raw milk illegal seems to be a very similar argument. Well, I’m pro-choice about abortion, and I’m pro-choice about raw milk!
Elizabeth, I always enjoy your commentsthank you.
KenI admire you so much! You live what you believe and you and your family are an example of the all the positives raw milk has to offer. My family is an example of the negatives. We are definitely on the extreme ends of the continuum. Most raw milk health stories are probably in the middle.
DaveYou got the point I was trying to make. I dont believe raw milk should be illegal to sell.
Maggie, my son and Melissas daughter became ill after drinking OP raw milk Labor Day weekend of 2006. Two other children all became ill after drinking the same milk on the same weekend, but they didnt develop HUS, experience complete renal failure, pancreatitis, being placed on a ventilator, or seizures. Three of the four children all had the same e-coli blueprint, which means it came from the same source. The children all live in different counties within California and the only common food they ate was raw milk. They were never able to isolate the bacteria in Chris stool sample, so that is why only 3 of the 4 had the same blueprint. Despite the fact they never found evidence of e-coli on OPs farm, doesnt mean the milk wasnt contaminated. The matching blueprint in the children indicates that OPs milk was contaminated. This is why the dairy was closed down.
Despite my experience, Im still pro raw milk. Meaningpeople have the right to drink it if thats what they choose to do. For obvious reasons, Ive made the choice never to drink it again.
And it also doesn’t mean that it was. I am not singling you or anyone out. What I quoted, I did so in generalization. I thought I had read that at least one of those kids in southern CA that had gotten sick, had eaten contaminated hamburger and it was thought to have come from there.
If you were to google milk recall, you’d see numerous recalls of contaminated pasturized milk over the years in many areas of the US. More so with pasturized, then with raw. The spinach with E-coli had run-off from a nearby dairy and also the fertilizer that is used today is processed different than years gone by, it has more contaminants in it. If you visit one of those common dairies you’d see the cows laying in thier own excretement, udders dragging in it, and if you squeeze one of the teats, you most likely would get some blood and pus before the milk let-down. Major dairies feed the cows un-natural feed, cows eat grass, not grains, nor the feed that is mixed with animal parts. plastics, and other waste products. I drive by a few dairies on the way to a friends house. I milked my grandmother’s cow over 30 years ago, Cows don’t stink like the feedlot dairies do. When asked about drinking raw milk, I would tell people to research where that milk comes from. I was not aware that OP bought milk from other dairies, that is new information for me. I drink raw milk, I am very picky where it comes from. Because I see the nasty feedlot dairies, I won’t drink the pasturized milk in the stores, some of those germs don’t die at high temperatures; maybe that is why more and more is being ultra-pasturized?
You research a doctor before you choose him/her as your physician don’t you? Well you should know where all your food comes from, and the processing of it also. Depending on the govt or anyone else, to tell you something is safe; in not a good thing. Follow the money.
Where does the most common contamination arise? Processing plants,unwashed hands of contaminated food workers (Hepatitis is commonly spread this way;Many contract it and may have little to no symptoms (mild flu) and later in life be diagnosed with cirrhosis (and other liver diseases) and not know where they got it). Contamination also comes after food leaves the processing plants, mis handling during shipping, store freezers breaking down and the stores refreezing food, leaving milk on the loading dock, especially during summer.I know I have bough milk that spoiled within 3 days of purchase and not be near the expiration date, most likely from mishandling in shipping…. Life is full of choices. I don’t eat raw fish or chicken and my beef has to be medium rare. If a place "looks" dirty, I won’t eat there.
I prefer to focus more on the fact that the good contents in organic raw milk might, just might save this nation from an obvious peril that being a nation of tragic decaying health in the face of such amazing affluence.
I also refuse to get involved in a discussion about personalities. Mark McAfee may or may not have the perfect personality so Ill stick with the facts that have so positively influenced my life.
I have said elsewhere that I bless the day I met Mark McAfee; however, that blessing really started by meeting Kimeli Naiyomah an incredible spokes person for Raw Milk who comes from Africa. His story involving milk, which I suggest you read, is amazing, yet I really paid closer attention when Kimeli invited me to a lecture at Stanford University, where Mark spoke.
I believe if we as individuals do not manage information carefully, the information will perversely manage us. This happens all too frequently in America, when rumor versus fact seems to sadly prevail.
Im struggling with the debate on this site because Im a 69 year-old man who lost a blossoming career in my early 40s. I also lost a career as a professional hockey player in my teens when due to a lesser-pronounced degree of the same issue, the scout for the Montreal Canadians told me if only I had better endurance, theyd love to have me on their team.
Then, in my early 40s when I could no longer withstand the ardors of traveling I was forced to give up my career as a top rated corporate trainer. Are you beginning to see how much my low energy has cost me, not to mention my country in hard dollars? Multiply this by all the other masses of people suffering with some degree of energy issues and the cost to our nation is nothing short of staggering.
So, when I think of this, it makes me mad. I drank milk in my youth like it was going out of style. I was an athlete turned bodybuilder and thats what we all did. Now, I wonder just how much pasteurized milk might have contributed to the premature deaths of virtually all of the many star bodybuilders and weightlifters I knew.
The night I met Mark and heard this amazing information, I was fortunate enough to steal a bottle of milk from him. I took it home had a glass and it felt real good going down. I was especially conscious of it because about one year earlier after eating in public places, I had a severe gastric issue. Ever since that event I carefully scrutinize everything I ingest. I woke up the next morning and I realized something very powerful within me had just occurred.
Since this day in October, I have been able to do things in the gym I thought were over forever. If I had a tough workout previously, I was exhausted for as many as 8 to 10 days. And no matter how I watched what I ate, I could not get rid of those last 10 difficult pounds of fat. If I drove outside my community I would tire easily, yet recently I drove to and attended a school in Las Vegas, returned home like nothing had happened. This is huge to me!
Thus, due to significantly improved energy, Im now witnessing my body and mind become much more youthful and Im even contemplating a major business venture that I previously thought impossible due to low levels of endurance and energy.
I now feel that the copious amounts of milk I drank in my youth then unwittingly harmed me semi permanently. What else could it have been, when at this later stage I am invigorated beyond belief since implementing Raw Milk in my diet? That is to me the only logical conclusion.
I even want to shout this from the mountaintops. Lets look at what works. Lets do what we can to help those who are attempting to help the public. Lets overcome our tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water. Rather than refute Organic Raw Milks viability, lets be understanding and help versus criticize.
I believe that we are literally insane if we allow this political war to continue. Those who have become opponents of Raw Milk I feel are being managed by information and may not be responsibly managing the information from what appears to me to be confusing reports. And, why slay a mans character because you may not like him or agree with him? The issue of Organic Raw Milk is far beyond one person such as Mr. McAfee.
And how many times must we attack people who we later turn into heroes.
As far as I am concerned, if the worst thing were to occur on a farm such as Organic Pastures, I would want to help to alleviate the problem and not condemn them for it because the potentially positive results of such an effort by far outweighs the problems. Plus the value of Raw Milk from my experience tells me it is dynamic beyond the the average American’s perception (likely due to their poor nutrition) and that this particular product alone can aid.
If we have any concerns, of which I also am very sensitive, Id want to support research to HELP farms producing Raw Milk versus suggesting we legislate them out of business.
Have you noticed the rise in sales of the juices from exotic fruits and berries, such as Nonie and Mangosteen etc.? Im not saying that they are not good. But, the clamor for them demonstrates our desperation as a society to feel better. My personal experience is that Organic Raw Milk is at the head of the line in helping in such an endeavor.