Raw Milk Heats Up--UPDATED TWICE!

You see the gray color of these shadows? How would you like to have milk that color? Well, turns out that if you are a raw milk fan (and there is a growing legion of fans who are choosing unpasteurized milk from local farmers they know because of its richer taste and supposed numerous health benefits), this is what your raw milk in the states of Georgia and North Carolina will look like soon. That's because those two State Departments of Agriculture can't think of any other way to get consumers to stop buying raw milk. The requirement that the milk be labeled Pet Milk--Not for Human Consumption and the understanding that people who drink the milk themselves are assuming the risk is apparently not enough. Even those who actually use the milk for pets will now be feeding their pets this gray dye (I wrote to Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin to ask what exactly is in the dye but have not yet received a response).

Think of it this way--what if the State Department of Agriculture decided to inject a dye into all eggs to remind people not to eat raw eggs? Or raw meat? Or raw chicken? Even if they have purchased them all legally? Where is the line on this issue?

I have mixed feelings about raw milk, but I have mixed feelings about bagged lettuce, too (here's a previous post I wrote about raw milk to give you a brief overview of the issue--for instance, the need for pasteurization arose because of unsanitary inner-city dairies, not because of small family farms). But I have no mixed feelings about free choice, as long as transparent, accurate information has been presented (no lying about tobacco ingredients or appetite-stimulating food additives, for instance).

The proposed Georgia regulation will not be voted on, but written comments are being accepted up until 4:30 PM Wednesday, October 24, 2007, at the following address:

Ms. Julie Hester
Assistant to Division Director
Georgia Department of Agriculture
19 MLK Jr. Drive Room 601
Atlanta, GA 30334
Fax Number - 404-463-6670

You can download a copy of the synopses and the proposed rules from the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

For North Carolina, send ten letters with ten different signatures in an envelope to:

North Carolina Rules Review Commission
Mr. Joe Deluca Esq.
6714 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC
27699-6714

As the growing crowd waited for Rock Star Chad's arrival at the Farmer's Market yesterday with their weekly supply of raw milk, this issue was all the buzz. I got to thinking about 1993, when growth hormones were first added to our nation's mass supply of milk and we sat and let it happen. And I thought about Aurora Dairies and its utter (or, shall we say, udder) refusal to abide by organic regulations, even though it is charging a premium to customers all over the country for milk that is labeled organic but is not. And I wonder what will happen this time, on a pure and natural product that is clearly labeled and is dependent on relationships between small farmers and local citizens, just as it has been for hundreds of years.

UPDATE--October 6, 2007According the yesterday's Atlanta Journal Constitution (and my fave journalist there, Elizabeth Lee):

A proposal to start dyeing raw milk to discourage human consumption has stirred up enough opposition that the Georgia Department of Agriculture has decided to hold a public hearing Nov. 2 . . . The hearing starts at 9 a.m. in Room 201 of the Agriculture Buidling, 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta.

UPDATE--October 8, 2007

Oh, my, my my. This is a very hot issue, gang. Check out this Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog.

Raw Milk Heats Up--UPDATED TWICE!