Raw Milk is illegal in twelve U.S states and only legal for pet consumption in four.  My question to you is, why?

I can buy a cow for a third-world country for $500, so that people will have fresh milk to drink.  For hundreds of years people here in the United States have used cows to not only supply meat, but to also supply milk. But now the FDA and the government not only want to take away freedom of choice when it comes to milk consumption, but they also send raids of FDA enforcement agents against small local farms.

What are the benefits of Raw Milk?

Raw milk contains enzymes, good bacteria and nutrients that are otherwise killed in the pasteurization and homogenization process. Raw milk has been known to cure many diseases, and many people that are lactose intolerant are able to consume raw milk and cheeses.

What are the risks with Raw Milk?

Because Raw Milk is not heated to kill off harmful bacteria, there is the chance that raw milk could be contaminated.  People run the same risk when they buy foods off of the grocery store shelves.  We hear about consumer recalls on a daily basis, where things like spinach and peanut butter are contaminated with e-coli and salmonella.  When we look at the history of raw milk, we find that disease and sickness only happened when locations and animals were kept in unsanitary conditions.

Unfortunately because of regulations today in the processed dairy industry, many companies don’t feel a need to keep conditions sanitary.  It’s not regulations that make food safe, it’s the farmers.  If you need further proof of this, just watch this undercover video done at a Land O’ Lakes farm.

“Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now.” Paraphrased: If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.

-Thomas Jefferson from Notes on the State of Virginia.

I’m not saying we should all drink raw milk. The debate goes on and on as to whether it’s good for consumption or not. This isn’t about forcing anyone, or asking for a radical change across our nation. It’s about freedom of choice. Small farmers should be able to sell raw milk to those who choose to buy it.  Local Food Activists are meeting at Capitol Hill this Wednesday, March 16, 2011, with legislators to discuss the The Food Safety Modernization Act.  Should this Act pass, it will give the FDA even further power to make raw milk illegal and shut down small, local farms.

Question: Do you think that raw milk should be illegal, or do you think that people have the right to choose?

Find out what your state laws are for Raw Milk.

See More Raw Milk Facts