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As a retired dairy farmer, I do wish I could get organic
raw milk. In California, Alta Dena sold raw milk, then it
stopped and Stueve's took up the slack. I wanted the milk
as it was: fresh and raw. They had a listeria problem and
had to quit. It is very difficult to produce raw milk and
deliver this most perishable product. I warn anyone who tries
it, unless on a “cow share” enterprise, that the
state or federal health officials will shut you down. It is
a shame; I think raw milk is possible, but it is a very problem-fraught
enterprise with sophisticated testing necessary. This enterprise
could bankrupt a farmer "toot sweet"; it’s
a shame, but it’s true. Many farmers are not laboratory
versed. Raw milk is the closest thing to blood a food product
can be.
I like the idea of people owning shares in a raw-milk dairy,
and, thus owning shares in the cows, not being “the
public.” Owners of cows can consume all the raw milk
they choose. I did sell raw milk to trusted buyers, and I
did TB and brucellosis tests annually. I was scrupulously
clean. I would not use the milk from another dairyman I know,
offered for coffee, etc. I saw pink, blue and green mold growing
in his Delaval milk receiver lines. I brushed and sanitized
with Shaklee green after each milking; he rinsed, didn't have
a milk-line brush on a cable. Raw milk is great, but there
are inherent problems compounded with a larger scale. Let
this be a warning to rosy-eyed prospective raw milk purveyors.
Thanks,
Alex Stromeyer
California
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