The slow creep of control and the erosion of rights

[Dr.Who]

Jefferson said in different language that it is the nature of government to expand it's power and for individual rights to decrease. He was right two hundred years ago and he is just as right today. He was right when they made sodomy laws and he was right when they censored books and he is right as they are making the law described later in this post. This is why I think it is important for everyone to champion all rights and not just their own. It is equally important for people to actually understand what a right is so that they are not duped into championing a cause presented in the name of rights that actually decreases rights. The right you champion today no matter how small or irrelevant to your life is the blockade to the erosion of your own most cherished rights.

Take for example the small battle taking place not on the US Federal scene, not in the courts, and not even in the legislature, but in a committee in Illinois:

In Illinois there is a committee comprised of a majority of large diary representatives who make the rules which will be enforced by the Department of Public Health. These rules need not have any relationship to public health nor even to make sense. They only need to make life better for those who make the rules regardless of how it effects those who must submit to the rules and regardless of the principles that are violated.

One such rule being proposed now is that certain diary farmers must sell no more than 100 gallons of milk per month. Clearly the intent is to make it impossible for a small dairy operation to exist since if it sells less than one hundred gallons it could would have to close and if it sells more than 100 gallons it would have to become a large scale operation rather than a mom and pop type cottage industry. Do we want an economy in which the only businesses that exist are the large corporations? Or do we want an economy in which there are all sorts of business models each offering whatever product they and their customers think best. This rule would drive small operations out of business and limit consumer choice to drinking milk produced by mega corporations or not drinking milk at all in some cases if a person does not like the large scale product.

We here on House of Politics are a small community of politically active web posters and even when we disagree we do all find value in each other more than one would expect. I have posted this in the US politics section because it does in fact reflect on major policies in the realm of US politics. However, this also, as indicated in the example, is about local politics and even about the individual lives of a small number of people who would be effected by the rule, including your friend - me.

Here are some more details: The super large corporations have been pasteurizing milk for a bit less than a hundred years now and when you operate a dirty disease ridden dairy that pasteurization is a wonderful life saving thing. For the thousands of years before pasteurization humanity drank their milk raw with all of its enzymes, vitamins and pro-biotics intact. Today they make milk that can sit in a box on a shelf for six months and not go bad and people think that is good for them. You may not agree with me that this milk is unfit to drink but I am not asking you to agree. Drink whatever you want but please help me to make my own choices about what I am going to drink. In contrast to the milk that sits on a shelf for six months consider human breastmilk for babies. When a human mother is healthy and disease free her breastmilk is the best thing a baby could drink and in comparison when cow's milk is created by healthy cows it is just as safe. The pasteurization is not important at all if the milk starts out clean - it is only important when the milk starts out dirty. Do you disagree? Then by all means buy your milk at the gas station, I won't stop you.

Some time ago, as an experiment, my wife tried some raw milk to see if it would help with an autoimmune disorder she has. Unfortunately, it did not. However, we did discover that the milk from the breed of cow at that dairy had a great and wonderful impact on my son's health. The great thing about the milk was not even that it was raw but that it came from Guernsey cows rather than from the Holstein cows that are milked by 99% of the dairies in this country. Our choice for our family was simple - stop drinking milk from Holstein cows and buy all of our milk from a local dairy despite the one hour drive to get it and the three times higher price tag. Yes it is coincidentally raw and yes it is coincidentally organic. And yes raw milk in this country has captured about 5% of the market share of all milk sold. Which is why those who sell milk in bulk are getting worried. Which is why they want to make rules that would have no benefit at all in improving the quality of milk but would drive small dairies out of business and in the process of creating one-size-fits-all rules harm what is at present about 5% of milk drinkers by denying them their choice.

I believe those who see dangers in large mega corporations and the control they have over our legal system should want to help. I believe that those who call themselves Libertarians or Conservatives or Liberals should want to help. I believe that those who value some right of someone should want to help. And I believe that those who value the principle that rights in general are important should want to help. This is not just a small matter effecting a small group of people in Illinois - this is an example that is one part of a national problem.

I hope that I have influenced some of you to see that there is a slow creeping expansion of government power which is not always about creating better government but is just as often about creating more powerful mega corporations. I hope that many of you will become more politically active on the national level and that is an intent of this thread. I also hope that some of you who are my friends or simply champion rights will send an email to Molly Lamb, the Chief of IDPH's Division of Food, Drugs and Dairies. Ask her to leave the law the way it is now and NOT to issue a regulation on raw milk. If she sees that this is not an issue cared about ONLY by the very few who drink raw milk; that it is cared about by people of other views, she may change her mind. her email address is molly.lamb@illinois.gov. Consider this email to be an act in support of a national issue of your choosing.

 

[OldTrapper]

Jefferson said in different language that it is the nature of government to expand it's power and for individual rights to decrease. He was right two hundred years ago and he is just as right today. He was right when they made sodomy laws and he was right when they censored books and he is right as they are making the law described later in this post. This is why I think it is important for everyone to champion all rights and not just their own. It is equally important for people to actually understand what a right is so that they are not duped into championing a cause presented in the name of rights that actually decreases rights. The right you champion today no matter how small or irrelevant to your life is the blockade to the erosion of your own most cherished rights.

Take for example the small battle taking place not on the US Federal scene, not in the courts, and not even in the legislature, but in a committee in Illinois:

In Illinois there is a committee comprised of a majority of large diary representatives who make the rules which will be enforced by the Department of Public Health. These rules need not have any relationship to public health nor even to make sense. They only need to make life better for those who make the rules regardless of how it effects those who must submit to the rules and regardless of the principles that are violated.

One such rule being proposed now is that certain diary farmers must sell no more than 100 gallons of milk per month. Clearly the intent is to make it impossible for a small dairy operation to exist since if it sells less than one hundred gallons it could would have to close and if it sells more than 100 gallons it would have to become a large scale operation rather than a mom and pop type cottage industry. Do we want an economy in which the only businesses that exist are the large corporations? Or do we want an economy in which there are all sorts of business models each offering whatever product they and their customers think best. This rule would drive small operations out of business and limit consumer choice to drinking milk produced by mega corporations or not drinking milk at all in some cases if a person does not like the large scale product.

We here on House of Politics are a small community of politically active web posters and even when we disagree we do all find value in each other more than one would expect. I have posted this in the US politics section because it does in fact reflect on major policies in the realm of US politics. However, this also, as indicated in the example, is about local politics and even about the individual lives of a small number of people who would be effected by the rule, including your friend - me.

Here are some more details: The super large corporations have been pasteurizing milk for a bit less than a hundred years now and when you operate a dirty disease ridden dairy that pasteurization is a wonderful life saving thing. For the thousands of years before pasteurization humanity drank their milk raw with all of its enzymes, vitamins and pro-biotics intact. Today they make milk that can sit in a box on a shelf for six months and not go bad and people think that is good for them. You may not agree with me that this milk is unfit to drink but I am not asking you to agree. Drink whatever you want but please help me to make my own choices about what I am going to drink. In contrast to the milk that sits on a shelf for six months consider human breastmilk for babies. When a human mother is healthy and disease free her breastmilk is the best thing a baby could drink and in comparison when cow's milk is created by healthy cows it is just as safe. The pasteurization is not important at all if the milk starts out clean - it is only important when the milk starts out dirty. Do you disagree? Then by all means buy your milk at the gas station, I won't stop you.

Some time ago, as an experiment, my wife tried some raw milk to see if it would help with an autoimmune disorder she has. Unfortunately, it did not. However, we did discover that the milk from the breed of cow at that dairy had a great and wonderful impact on my son's health. The great thing about the milk was not even that it was raw but that it came from Guernsey cows rather than from the Holstein cows that are milked by 99% of the dairies in this country. Our choice for our family was simple - stop drinking milk from Holstein cows and buy all of our milk from a local dairy despite the one hour drive to get it and the three times higher price tag. Yes it is coincidentally raw and yes it is coincidentally organic. And yes raw milk in this country has captured about 5% of the market share of all milk sold. Which is why those who sell milk in bulk are getting worried. Which is why they want to make rules that would have no benefit at all in improving the quality of milk but would drive small dairies out of business and in the process of creating one-size-fits-all rules harm what is at present about 5% of milk drinkers by denying them their choice.

I believe those who see dangers in large mega corporations and the control they have over our legal system should want to help. I believe that those who call themselves Libertarians or Conservatives or Liberals should want to help. I believe that those who value some right of someone should want to help. And I believe that those who value the principle that rights in general are important should want to help. This is not just a small matter effecting a small group of people in Illinois - this is an example that is one part of a national problem.

I hope that I have influenced some of you to see that there is a slow creeping expansion of government power which is not always about creating better government but is just as often about creating more powerful mega corporations. I hope that many of you will become more politically active on the national level and that is an intent of this thread. I also hope that some of you who are my friends or simply champion rights will send an email to Molly Lamb, the Chief of IDPH's Division of Food, Drugs and Dairies. Ask her to leave the law the way it is now and NOT to issue a regulation on raw milk. If she sees that this is not an issue cared about ONLY by the very few who drink raw milk; that it is cared about by people of other views, she may change her mind. her email address is molly.lamb@illinois.gov. Consider this email to be an act in support of a national issue of your choosing.

Let us see here. 100 gallons per month you say. The weight of milk is approximately 8 pounds per gallon, and the average Holstein will put out 26 pounds per day, and some as high as 42 pounds. So, you are talking about a two cow, or a one cow, operation here. And then you are talking about raw milk which is safer, and healthier, if it comes from a goat. Just as a hint, if the goat is fed alfalfa it will be chalky, and if it is fed brush it will be bitter. If you feed it pea hay, soybean hay, or lettuce, and other vegetable/fruit scraps from the grocery store, it will be sweet, and taste much like cows milk. Then too, Jersey is better then Guernsey, and if you let it set over night you can collect the cream that rises to the top, and make butter. However, I diverse here.

Since the 80's, and some would say the 70's under Nixon, we have been moving to globalization. And that is the major threat to the country, and the "mom and pops"

 

[Hobo1]

Your example of milk regulations, in my opinion, hardly makes the bottom of the list of government of erosion of rights. To find some of the more significant areas were rights are being eroded, we need to look at the flow of campaign money into the federal government decision making process.

PACs and SuperPACs funnel billions of dollars into the campaign/ election process. As a result, major corporations and special interest groups are able to manipulate elected officials. Every bill introduced in Congress is heavily influenced toward the benefit of the special interest groups - and to the determent of citizen's rights. We need to reform campaign financing to truly protect our rights.

Support for voter education is essential for this democracy to have informed voters.

My point is this: to truly stop the erosion of rights, people need to be more involved in politics, particularly on a Federal level. Write your Congressman and Senator; participate in protest activities; be involved in Internet sites that support small government. The ACLU is one of many groups listed here: http://constitution.org/cs_organ.htm

 

[Dr.Who]

Let us see here. 100 gallons per month you say. The weight of milk is approximately 8 pounds per gallon, and the average Holstein will put out 26 pounds per day, and some as high as 42 pounds. So, you are talking about a two cow, or a one cow, operation here. And then you are talking about raw milk which is safer, and healthier, if it comes from a goat. Just as a hint, if the goat is fed alfalfa it will be chalky, and if it is fed brush it will be bitter. If you feed it pea hay, soybean hay, or lettuce, and other vegetable/fruit scraps from the grocery store, it will be sweet, and taste much like cows milk. Then too, Jersey is better then Guernsey, and if you let it set over night you can collect the cream that rises to the top, and make butter. However, I diverse here.

Since the 80's, and some would say the 70's under Nixon, we have been moving to globalization. And that is the major threat to the country, and the "mom and pops"

Thank you for responding and for your thoughts.

I have considered goats milk both raw and pasteurized. In my area I do not know where to get it raw but I have seen plenty of goats around so I assume it could be done. I don't happen to like the taste of goat cheese so would anyone in my family like the milk? Additionally, the goats milk in the store sells for $14 per gallon and I can only assume that raw organic goat milk from the farmer would only cost more. Interestingly, the Guernsey milk also taste different depending on the season and what the cows are eating. About half of the jersey cows in this country share the mutation that makes Holstein milk undesirable to me while only 5% of Guernsey cows have this mutation. I have tried the jersey milk and I like the taste just fine; it is rich and good for making cheese or butter both of which I have done. But I want to be able to make the choice to stay with the Guersey milk and for any of you to get your milk at the store, or to get goat milk or jersey milk...

The proposed rule in Illinois applies to raw goat milk too so it would also be unavailable if the rule passes. And that really is the important point here - that our food choices are being wittled away.

 

[Dr.Who]

Your example of milk regulations, in my opinion, hardly makes the bottom of the list of government of erosion of rights. To find some of the more significant areas were rights are being eroded, we need to look at the flow of campaign money into the federal government decision making process.

PACs and SuperPACs funnel billions of dollars into the campaign/ election process. As a result, major corporations and special interest groups are able to manipulate elected officials. Every bill introduced in Congress is heavily influenced toward the benefit of the special interest groups - and to the determent of citizen's rights. We need to reform campaign financing to truly protect our rights.

Support for voter education is essential for this democracy to have informed voters.

My point is this: to truly stop the erosion of rights, people need to be more involved in politics, particularly on a Federal level. Write your Congressman and Senator; participate in protest activities; be involved in Internet sites that support small government. The ACLU is one of many groups listed here: http://constitution.org/cs_organ.htm

I agree that the list of gov erosion of rights is large and certainly includes examples more egregious than this. This one happens to be hitting me right now. If I lived in NY and drank soda I might complain more about that law. If I had a mental illness and owned or wanted to own a gun I might complain more about that law.

As it is I think all of these laws are wrong. I don't have much say in the federal scene but right here on this milk matter just a few emails could make the difference.

Now about the PAC's and the laws that congress makes: The PAC gives money and the low life scum congressman accepts it full well knowing that it comes with strings attached and he writes or passes the law that should never have been passed. I blame the congressman who took an oath far more than the PAC. We dont need campaign finance reform we merely need one law that makes it illegal for congress to write laws that only benefit special interests, and another that makes it so that the congressperson who does it can be prosecuted. In this milk matter it is not hard at all to see that most of the people on the panel own large scale dairies and the rules they create are only of benefit to them and at the direct detriment of the small farmer.

 

[OldTrapper]

Thank you for responding and for your thoughts.

I have considered goats milk both raw and pasteurized. In my area I do not know where to get it raw but I have seen plenty of goats around so I assume it could be done. I don't happen to like the taste of goat cheese so would anyone in my family like the milk? Additionally, the goats milk in the store sells for $14 per gallon and I can only assume that raw organic goat milk from the farmer would only cost more. Interestingly, the Guernsey milk also taste different depending on the season and what the cows are eating. About half of the jersey cows in this country share the mutation that makes Holstein milk undesirable to me while only 5% of Guernsey cows have this mutation. I have tried the jersey milk and I like the taste just fine; it is rich and good for making cheese or butter both of which I have done. But I want to be able to make the choice to stay with the Guersey milk and for any of you to get your milk at the store, or to get goat milk or jersey milk...

The proposed rule in Illinois applies to raw goat milk too so it would also be unavailable if the rule passes. And that really is the important point here - that our food choices are being wittled away.

Get together with some neighbors, rent a small piece of land, say an acre, get ten goats, and produce your own milk. No one has a say in a private group such as that, and it is a thing that more are going to have to do unless they just want to be slaves to the government, and the multi-national corporations. BTW, if you get Sanaans you will get the Holstein of goats, Nubians are the Jersey, and Torgenbergs are the Guernsey. I used to milk cows for a living, had my own goat herd since my kids were lactose intolerant, etc. Done right none need be pasteurized. What has destroyed the quality of milk is mass production. Ever thought of a community garden?

 

[Cruella]

What is the reason why the government limits selling raw milk?

 

[dogtowner]

What is the reason why the government limits selling raw milk?

political contributions of course.

 

[Hobo1]

If you have every been to a dairy farm, you can understand why raw milk can be dangerous. Many milking cows are kept in a muddy pen. Even the most conscientious farmer can't keep these pens completely clean -- so the belly of the cows get muddy and dirty (cows don't use toilets).

On the way into the milking barn, a spray system (like a lawn sprinkler) washes the belly of the cow. This is an attempt at sanitation, but hardly equal to manually washing the udder with soap and water.

Marginal sanitation practices mean that the milk is, to some degree, contaminated with bacteria that can make you sick. So, the milk is heated (pasteurized) to kill the germs, thus making it it healthy to drink.

So if you want to drink raw milk, make sure the dairy farmer you buy it from is super-conscious about sanitation.

 

[Cruella]

You used to be able to buy raw milk from a dairy, even here in liberal California. As a kid, I drank lots of it on my granparent's farm. But I do understand the reason why, when it's sold to the masses, that it's probably best to have it homogenized. I do think however, that raw milk should be available to those who understand the differences. If enough farmers made people sick, it would lose it's popularity.

That's just like a lot of people are on board with all these "organic" vegetables, etc. But in reality, they are the ones most likely to cause e-coli. Nutritionally, they aren't really much better, if any.

 

[OldTrapper]

If you have every been to a dairy farm, you can understand why raw milk can be dangerous. Many milking cows are kept in a muddy pen. Even the most conscientious farmer can't keep these pens completely clean -- so the belly of the cows get muddy and dirty (cows don't use toilets).

On the way into the milking barn, a spray system (like a lawn sprinkler) washes the belly of the cow. This is an attempt at sanitation, but hardly equal to manually washing the udder with soap and water.

Marginal sanitation practices mean that the milk is, to some degree, contaminated with bacteria that can make you sick. So, the milk is heated (pasteurized) to kill the germs, thus making it it healthy to drink.

So if you want to drink raw milk, make sure the dairy farmer you buy it from is super-conscious about sanitation.

Have you noticed that what you are speaking of is a "feedlot" type of system where the cows never see land while they are in their milking cycle? It is either concrete, or mud. This is what happens when you have the type of dairy we have now that runs 24/7, you have a 36 stall parlor, and 4,000 head of cattle to be milked. I have seen parlors that are like "merry go rounds", and there is one milker for each turntable.

Raw milk should only be bought from a small dairy where they have maybe 20 cows, or at the most 50. Preferably a herringbone parlor, or even a flat floor parlor, where the holding area is grass, or at the most concrete that is washed after each milking, and they are not kept on the concrete 24/7, they are put on grass during the non-milking periods.

Did you also know that goats will not eat dirty, or contaminated, foods? Thus they naturally have fewer disease problems.

BTW, My first degree of three was in dairy/livestock management, and I was a herdsman for over 12 years until the dairies were more interested in hiring cheap, illegal, workers while cutting my wages.

 

[Dr.Who]

Get together with some neighbors, rent a small piece of land, say an acre, get ten goats, and produce your own milk. No one has a say in a private group such as that, and it is a thing that more are going to have to do unless they just want to be slaves to the government, and the multi-national corporations. BTW, if you get Sanaans you will get the Holstein of goats, Nubians are the Jersey, and Torgenbergs are the Guernsey. I used to milk cows for a living, had my own goat herd since my kids were lactose intolerant, etc. Done right none need be pasteurized. What has destroyed the quality of milk is mass production. Ever thought of a community garden?

Good ideas all of them except that the people who want their competition driven out of business are experts in the field and are not so easily thwarted. Here is the list of proposed new additions to the law (you will note that herdshares will be prohibited):

1. Raw Milk Sales shall only be obtained physically from the premises of the dairy farm​

2. No Person who, as a consumer, obtains raw milk shall be entitled to sell or redistribute the raw milk. ​

3.Cow share agreements or any other similar contractual agreements or exchanges are prohibited.​

4. All dairy farms selling or distributing raw milk shall be required to obtain a Grade A permit from the regulatory agency.​

5. Only unsolicited sales are allowed. The sale or distribution of raw milk from the dairy farm shall be limited to no more than 100 gallons, regardless of species, per month.​

​

6. Records of these transactions shall be kept on a department approved log and shall be submitted on a monthly basis by the 15th of the following month. Will include date and volume sold.​

​

7. Advertising, which includes but is not limited to signage, print ads, social media sites and websites, of the sale and distribution of raw milk is prohibited.​

​

8. Individuals shall bring their own milk containers to the dairy farm for dispensing of the raw milk. The dairy farm shall provide a sanitary method for dispensing the raw milk in the consumer’s container.​

​

9. The dairy farm shall provide a label for the container of raw milk. The label shall read “WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and therefore, may contain harmful microorganisms that can cause serious illness in children, women who are pregnant, and in persons with weakened immune systems.​

​

10. At the point of dispensing the dairy farm shall post the Following 8 by 10 sign “NOTICE: Raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization”​

​

11. The dairy farm shall have their raw milk tested for​

Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, E. Coli , somatic cell counts, bacteria, coliform, temperature, and drug residues, on a monthly basis​

​

12. The Coliform will be less than or equal to 10 and bacteria less than 20,000 and SCC: 750,000​

 

[Dr.Who]

What is the reason why the government limits selling raw milk?

On the surface the claim is that raw milk, being unpasteurized, is dangerous. However the statistics show that raw milk does not make people sicker any more than pasteurized milk (both make people sick very rarely and both make people sick much less than produce or deli items [ in other words that cantaloupe or spinach or bologne you are buying poses a much greater risk]) and that raw milk is quite healthy having more nutrients and probiotics than milk that has been heated to very high temperatures in a matter of minutes and then cooled just as rapidly and violently. This "industrial" pasteurization is NOT your grandma's pasteurization. Having personally read the papers from the CDC and the Dept of public health on the "dangers" of raw milk before ever consuming any of it myself I can tell you that it became obvious that these agencies were forgoing honest scientific inquiry in favor of a witch hunt.

But what motivates the witch hunt? One factor is misplaced faith in pasteurization and a lack of understanding of the safety of raw milk from healthy cows on clean farms. (regularly vat pasteurized milk still contains some microorganisms as it is not sterile and still needs refrigeration and still goes bad after a week or two. It is not necessarily bad for you but it does lack some good things. However, ultra high temperature pasteurization does sterilize milk making it either shelf stable without refrigeration and sterile or at least extends its shelf life to about a month. I personally would toss a glass (or box) of this stuff in the trash if it were ever given to me. IMO, UHT milk is the stuff that should include a warning label).

But just misplaced nannyism is not the only factor at all. The board that will be making the rule here in Illinois contains mostly members who own large dairy farms and they are scared now that the raw milk market has reached 5% market share. The farmer I buy my milk from is one of the members of the board (very much in the minority) and has told me personally what the motivation is.

 

[Dr.Who]

If you have every been to a dairy farm, you can understand why raw milk can be dangerous. Many milking cows are kept in a muddy pen. Even the most conscientious farmer can't keep these pens completely clean -- so the belly of the cows get muddy and dirty (cows don't use toilets).

On the way into the milking barn, a spray system (like a lawn sprinkler) washes the belly of the cow. This is an attempt at sanitation, but hardly equal to manually washing the udder with soap and water.

Marginal sanitation practices mean that the milk is, to some degree, contaminated with bacteria that can make you sick. So, the milk is heated (pasteurized) to kill the germs, thus making it it healthy to drink.

So if you want to drink raw milk, make sure the dairy farmer you buy it from is super-conscious about sanitation.

You are so very much correct that cows that are not living in sanitary conditions will not enable a manufacturer to produce a healthy product because it will be contaminated. The Grade A permit that large dairy farms are required to have necessitates that the cows be milked on concrete (where they sometimes spend their whole lives). A practice intended to reduce bacteria in the milk but which actually increases sickness in cows resulting in milk that contains pus and antibiotics. This milk must be pasteurized to be safer to drink.

The dairy where I get my milk lets the cows graze in a field of actual grass, tests the milk, washes the udders, and handles the milk with care. They eat organic grass (or organic hay in the winter), get no antibiotics because they don't need it, and the milk is safe never having caused an illness.

In comparison lets look at human breastmilk again. Do we pasteurize it? Or do we make sure that mothers who breastfeed are healthy? Would any doctor propose that infants not be given raw human breastmilk whenever it is available or don't they actually have large-scale PR campaigns designed to encourage woman to breastfeed?

Just before pasteurization of milk became popular the country was experiencing an industrial revolution (anyone who read The Jungle in High school knows just how dirty it was then) and the sons of two doctors died at around the same time as a result of drinking contaminated milk. One of these doctors began a campaign to clean up the dairies which would have reduced profits and the amount of available milk to a growing urban population and the other began a campaign to pasteurize all milk and allow dairies to increase production. Through the usual political events pasteurization won and even though these two methods could coexist side by side the politicians did everything they could to mandate that all milk be pasteurized. It was impractical to force a family that drank the milk from its own cow to pasteurize it so the law never covered all milk 100%. Today the politicians are attempting to increase their control over more of the milk supply.

Yesterday it was sausage, today it is milk and large sodas, tomorrow it may be every single food stuff you might ever consider eating including the raspberry you pick in your own backyard. There are stories circulating on the internet about this kind of government regulation on the food you grow yourself. According to Snopes these stories are "mostly false" in other words somewhat true. Next year they might be completely true.

 

[Dr.Who]

You used to be able to buy raw milk from a dairy, even here in liberal California. As a kid, I drank lots of it on my granparent's farm. But I do understand the reason why, when it's sold to the masses, that it's probably best to have it homogenized. I do think however, that raw milk should be available to those who understand the differences. If enough farmers made people sick, it would lose it's popularity.

That's just like a lot of people are on board with all these "organic" vegetables, etc. But in reality, they are the ones most likely to cause e-coli. Nutritionally, they aren't really much better, if any.

California is one of the easiest places to buy raw milk. they even sell it in jugs in some stores. In Wisconsin it is completely illegal. In Illinois it is highly regulated. In Arizona it is legal to sell it retail. If you continue to look at all the states the conclusion you would likely draw is that any state with a powerful dairy industry will have the most regulations.