Trafficking In Raw Milk

It's early Saturday morning, and the Brooklyn street is almost empty. Except at one half-open store, where about 30 people are lined up in the narrow aisle clutching empty backpacks, shopping bags and suitcases. At the door, a man checks each entrant, asking "Are you here for the...pickup?"

Someone shouts "The van's coming!" and the place burst into action. People run into the street and come back hauling heavy cartons and cooler chests. Then the store empties as quickly as it filled, as everyone lugs their contraband purchase home.

And "lug" is the word. What's being distributed at this store -- and in countless offices, backyards, homes, churches and parking lots across the country -- is milk. Raw milk.

Apart from illegal drugs, raw milk -- milk that's unpasteurized and unhomogenized, just as it comes out of the cow -- may be the most briskly traded underground commodity in the United States.

By a conservative estimate, some 500,000 people in the U.S. drink the stuff, says Sally Fallon, president of the Weston Price Foundation, which is dedicated to spreading the word about raw milk -- and making it legal. Her guess is that the true total is closer to a million. Even the Food and Drug Administration, which is doing its best to keep raw milk out of the mouths of citizens, has acknowledged that about 3 percent of U.S. milk drinkers drink it raw.

It's not that those Brooklyn milk-buyers were doing anything illegal -- drinking raw milk is legal in every state. So is buying it. What's not legal, except in eight states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Mexico and Washington), is selling it to the general public. The other 42 states have a variety of bans. In some, it can be sold only on the farm. In others, it can be sold only as pet food. Some outlaw its sale altogether. Federal law prohibits transporting it for sale -- even from a state where it's legally sold -- across state lines.

The state of Georgia is trying to get a bill passed to make the dairies put charcoal grey coloring in their raw milk so people will not want to buy it! How ludicrous can you get?

For the full story on MSN go to: Raw Milk Article

I love my raw milk and get it here in Texas every two weeks. There are about 12 families in my group alone and at least 6 other groups in the surrounding area.

Raw milk has all the goodness still in it. It doesn't spoil, just turns to buttermilk! There is so much cream on top I can make butter and still drink a richer wholesome milk!

Texas legislators are in the process of adding more hardship to raw milk drinkers by stopping us from picking up milk for other folks when we go to get our milk. This will mean that if you are busy with kids, school, or other appointments and can't go get your milk, your neighbor will not be able to get it for you. It is approximately 100 miles to the "licensed, legal" dairy farm from my house. This will also put a hardship on the elderly who can not drive but still want their raw milk.

If the government would put this much effort into fighting the drugs coming over our borders and securing our borders we would be a lot better off! Stop trying to tell me what I can eat or drink or where to shop!