IFF - Idaho Freedom Foundation

In this nation we have far to much Government control and expect and demand far to little personal responsibility. From butchering livestock for food through the raw milk issue of the Government's cradle to grave control philosophy all of which dramatically limit the options of those who believe and desire to care for themselves.
In a couple of weeks I will turn 72 years of age. I was raised on unprocessed cows milk obtained by hand milking a cow in what today would be an unthinkable location with respect to sanitation (Right in the cow coral). The fresh milk was strained through a clean dish towel to remove the solids which dropped from the cow or that were blown around by the wind. In those days modern refrigeration was not available do to the remoteness of the area hence milk was kept as cool as possible often above the magical 39 degrees. My Dad often joked that it to my Mom and a Jersey cow to satisfy my appetite as a baby. I survived nicely to become a healthy 72.
Could it be that by keeping our water supply and food so super sterile we have set ourselves up to be vulnerable to every germ etc. that comes down the pike?
Back off regulation and regulators.
Will Beck

If raw milk is picked up in the buyers' sanitarily cleaned containers at the farm where it's produced and that farm's procedures are open to [the buyer's inspection], and the milk is tested for pathogens on a periodic basis, no matter the number of cows milked, and the buyers all are given to understand the risks they could be exposing themselves to and have agreed to assume them and to hold the farmer/provider harmless, then these are all that are needed. A step further than this, at the buyer's stated preference, would be to inoculate each gallon of milk with 16 drops of grapefruit seed extract, which is known to kill many pathogens...bacterial, viral, and fungal. So long as the buyers know what they're getting, and what the expectations are on both sides of the transaction, there shouldn't be any problems.

Here is all that's needed in Idaho resultsfor raw milk regulations:

1. Periodic testing for pathogens.
2. Periodic inspection of the premises and procedures used.

RESULTS are all that matters!

Raw milk is a vector for all manner of sickness and illnesses. If raw milk gets sold it should be sold only at the point of production. The distribution system adds to the food safety issues inherent in raw milk.

The really difficult thing for people to understand is the place can look great where the stuff gets produced. Make a mental shift to how many people die in hospitals due to bacterial infections they get while hospitalized. Same goes for raw milk. The people who produce the stuff for sale know the stuff is a "pipe bomb" waiting to go off under the right circumstance.

Raw milk is banned outright in a majority of the United States due to..... the fact it is dangerous to have in the food system sans heat treatment to kill the bacteria that can cause us all harm.

This is not a case of the Nany State imposing BS regs on everyone.

The Statists dream is that, you as an individual can only live with their permission. As more and more regulation is placed upon the exchange of goods and services, under the disguise of safety, so too do we loose our linkage with actual market conditions. ADM and other Megalo Marts then hold the keys to the market place and not the farmer. This dynamic is a near clone to the Colonial Mercantilism we revolted against in the Revolutionary War.

Additionally, as each farm good is shipped off to a factory to be "made safe", and as the small farmer is broken, we also loose our connection with the land and basic survival. For the time being we in small town Idaho could survive a (God forbid) natural or "man caused" disaster by getting back to the basics (a few of us still remember). The government must STOP getting between the producer and the consumer. The consumer must be allowed to take a risk on a product if indeed he is free.

Beware even the most well meaning government interference. Just as a wild stallion can be gradually led into bondage with rolled oats and a soft hand, so to will the human spirit die to an altruistic Statist.

Raw milk has been a problem spot for some years.
and there really isnt a effective way to appease either side. For me the concern is what I call "the public expectation of safety"-We generally assume the milk we drink is safe and free of disease. It really wasnt all that long ago we didnt have strict dairy standards that occured post the formalin/formaldehyde days of blue milk. When it comes to food and public safety we have to walk a tight line. Think of the uncooked egg warnings now required on food service menus-who would have thought that a simple sauce could cause disease in 250 people? or the "nut" law around peanut and nut allergies (One bight of a light colored peanut butter cookie with out "fork" marks killed a good friends son). We regulate most food producers-Requiring that foods sold be prepared in approved kitchens with approved sterile processing procedures. I think the simplest way to deal with the milk issue is the signing a consent form before each sale- That states drinking un or under processed dairy products could cause disease and health issues and then let the individual decide.

If the state wants to notify the public if the milk is raw, let them satisfy their desire to control. This would let consumers also satisfy their right to make decisions. Everybody is happy. There are more important issues. I survived 20 years of raw milk - in fact I never had a sickness from raw milk.

Raw milk can be a bacterial cesspool and can actually kill people. It just as complete a diet for microbes as it is for humans. Depending upon the bacterial load at the collection point under the best of methods to mild a cow the milk has to be below a certain microbe level to get pasteurized into Grade A milk we all know and buy at the local market. If if fails it goes to manufacturing grade milk.

Raw milk bacteria loading can geometrically double ever 20 minutes under ideal conditions. I will stick with pasteurized milk.

The three cow limit is not a good idea. It would effectivly prevent anyone from marketing in stores or any place where they would need quite a bit of milk to be economically viable. I doubt it would stand a court test but someone with three cows would not have the resources to fight it.
The issue of testing for bacteria is nonsense . All milk that is sold commercially is tested as a sample is taken at the farm before loading. If it does not pass that load is dumped.
This is really an issue that the larger dairyman are raising in order to put small dairymen out of buisness. Marv. Patten has survived many years by watching the political winds and he may not be able to stand up to pressure from the large dairymen.
As a dairyman for many years I think I know what I am talking about

Where's the personal responsibility? Even when one buys milk at the store, it is up to them to check the date on the product.

I don't test my local milk at home, but I trust my supplier. The small farmer is in business because he loves to provide a great product to local people. He cares about the milk he's selling to his neighbors. I wish we'd get back to more local suppliers, so we don't need to make it harder for them to run a business!

Government regulation - it's killing capitalism and America!

p.s. where do I go to fight this?

People certainly do have a right to expect not to get sick from the food they eat or drink. One way to do that is to make sure you know the source of your food, and to be able to see it produced to make sure it is handled in a safe manner. We love to have people visit our farm and see how we do things!

If food is being prepared in an unsafe manner behind closed doors where no one can inspect, there is certainly cause for suspicion, and I, for one, would not buy that product if I could help it. Nor would I purchase other products that are known to cause health problems for humans, such as tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.

The government does not limit the production of tobacco, rather the federal government actually subsides it. Nor are there limits to growers of barley or hops needed to produce alcoholic beverages, even though tobacco and alcohol are known to cause many deaths daily. People are expected to choose for themselves the amount of risk they are willing to take. It doesn't seem to reflect much on the producers of those products, at least they seem to continue to produce and market massive amounts of their products.

While it may be appropriate for the government to require periodic testing for bacteria contamination in raw milk, it is strictly unconstitutional to restrict the producer in the amount of cows milked on a daily basis. America was built on free enterprise, and I, for one, want to see it kept that way!

They just don't get it..test and inform then let the consumer decide! Once again big business (corporate Dairy) and Big Brother need to "protect us" as we are to "dumb" to direct our own lives. (Of course this just happens to "protect" their entrenched interests...

If Idaho would stand firm advocating only SMART and minimal regulation, low taxes and TRUST their citizens to be informed and capable of managing their own lives the state would flourish.

Idaho needs to be that shining city on the hill that Reagan spoke of, if we can become that freedom loving people and government, the rest of America will flock here in droves. Budget crises solved.

In freedom
Hatchet Jack

We should be free to sell whatever products we produce. I think we should enact a law like some other states do which allow the farmer to sell any of his/her poroducts from his farm with no regulation or penalty. That would mean, for milk, that if I wanted to buy raw milk from the farmer who produced it then I could go and buy it directly from his farm. Another provision could be that it would have to be taken in MY (the consumers) container, thereby relieving the farmer of the liability of un-sterile containers.I think that if the milk is to be distributed though re-sellers then testing and the current regulation(s) are fair and lend to public safety. I grew up on raw milk and appreciate it's wholesomeness. The government which is all protecting is all controling and I have had enough of paying the 13th highest state and local tax rates in the nation.