Pete Kennedy, president of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, addresses a committee meeting of the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments last April.It’s only appropriate that the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund was founded on Independence Day. I join Steve Bemis in wishing it a happy second birthday.
It’s become an important legal force in just two years, filing major suits on behalf of dairy farmers in New York and California (both still pending), a buying club in Ohio, and bringing a federal case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in connection with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). It’s not had as many victories as it would have liked, but then it’s the new kid on the legal block, raising issues before judges not accustomed to seeing farmers challenging the entrenched authorities.
It also does a number of things out of sight of the courts—informally advising farmers, cooperatives, and owners of buying clubs facing harassment by regulatory authorities. In addition, it advises perhaps half a dozen farmers a week about how to organize herdshare agreements.
Herdshares are the kind of activity I think Miguel and Steve Bemis have at least partly in mind when they talk (following my previous post) about fighting back against governmental authority that seems to know no bounds.
But are herdshares really the best approach? I know they are widely used, yet they remain susceptible to the accusation they are legal subterfuge. When herdshare members become ill, they have been known to go after the sponsoring farmers in court, sometimes successfully.
Now, a New York farmer is proposing an improvement on the herdshare—an improvement because it would require consumers putting more “skin” in the game. Here is what Rick Fessenden wrote on the Rochester Farm Connection listserve a few days ago:
“In the past a number of people have approached me about selling raw milk but I’m always a bit leery of the whole thing. When I hesitate, I usually get a lecture about the benefits of raw milk (I know, I drink it too), the wonders of a cow-share program, and an exhortation to be a hero and fight the good fight.
“The problem is the person telling me all this has absolutely nothing to lose and I have everything to lose. I wonder if one reason the courts look at cow-shares as a poorly disguised sale of milk is that the ‘owners’ don’t really have any skin in the game, no financial exposure. (By the way, I’m not a lawyer or business major. I’m just some dumb farmer trying to figure things out as best I can.)
“So the idea I’ve been kicking around changes that equation, putting more burden on the consumer and less on the farmer. Were we to form a co-op, with by-laws and some legal corporate structure, a president and a board, and annual dues and then the co-op would lease the farm, lease the cattle, and pay the farmer a salary, would not the
members then be legally entitled to share in the farm’s production? The co-op
could finance operating expenses, and members could provide additional labor.
The farm can produce milk, plus all sorts of meats and vegetables to be
distributed to members. Surplus production can be sold through conventional
markets and the proceeds would go to the co-op.
“The members have more responsibility than they have as just a consumer, but more benefits as well. The farmer is protected from loss of income or seizure of his property. The co-op would assume legal liability, but individual members should be protected. And theco-op has the ability to dissolve itself and disappear. If we did run into legal
trouble the state might seize co-op assets, a bank account, a few blocks of
cheese, but we would all walk away pretty much intact, I think. Perhaps there is
an attorney out there who might weigh in on this.
“I think lots of consumers would be willing to commit more—money, time, skills, legal energy—to take back their rights. Then maybe they’d be more willing to stand up when the authorities try to break it up, as they almost certainly will do, because it challenges their latitude to control the food we have access to.”
I love the idea of involving consumers more directly in both farms’ operations, and their regulatory challenges. I’m not sure if what Rick Fessenden has come up with is the absolute best approach. But to the extent it involves consumers more directly, and increases their risk, it’s helpful. Regulators are accustomed to pushing lone farmers around–maybe if they know they’ll also be directly confronting 100 or 200 angry consumers about to lose real money, they’ll think things through more carefully.
***
I’d like to say something about a concern a few people have expressed of late: about whether the feeling they are being turned off by this blog. Gwen Elderberry put it this way a week or so ago: “I am considering discontinuing reading this blog for a while, although it has been a source of information I otherwise would not have heard about. The reason is that I am tired of overgeneralizations and oversimplifications in arguments.”
A number of blog readers I’ve met personally have told me similar concerns—that reading this blog takes a lot out of them. My inclination, of course, is to take such concerns personally, as if I’m screwing up. I’m sure sometimes I am, but a more likely culprit is the nature of the issues that come up here: they tend to be highly charged and emotional. Sometimes the debates become personal as a result. All that saps energy. I’m not sure what to do about it…beyond seeing the issues resolved! But I wanted to acknowledge it as something that may be a problem—not sure whether peculiar to this blog, or a general blogosphere issue.
Enterprise Works to Keep Local Dairy Farmers Viable
"Dairy farmers are among the hardest workers I know"
"Conn. dairy farmers have made a profit in only 9 of the past 76 months"
"The prices he receives for his milk ARE DETERMINED BY ONE OF THE MORE ARCANE FORMS OF FEDERAL ECONOMIC WIZARDY"
As an aside, I’ve never understood the idea that a herdshare is a legal subterfuge. Somewhere I read of the analogy of boarding a horse and it seems perfectly applicable here. If I want to own a horse and enjoy the benefits of riding it, and I live in the city, I need to board it where zoning allows. I can pay the facility to do EVERYTHING to care for the horse and just show up when I want to ride it. Is that a legal subterfuge to get around the fact that I don’t live where I can keep a horse? I should think not. Similarly, if I want to own a cow and drink her raw milk, but I live in the city, I can make arrangements (financial and logistical) for someone to care for her and milk her on my behalf. What is the big legal problem here?
I just want to say something about folks being turned off as of late by some of the comments posted.
I have been reading this blog for many months now… 2 & 3 times a day if I have the time. The issues discussed here are so important to me and my family. We live in NYS and consider ourselves very lucky to have access to raw milk (either from our own milking Devons or a neighboring dairy) and have been drinkers for at least 25 years now. Can’t imagine life without it and all the wonderful products we make with it.
Recently, I too started thinking of taking a vacation from reading this but quickly realized that I would miss all the passion and amazing knowledge – almost always well written – many times brilliant – sometimes… well… gross and insulting.
Keep it coming.
Second, I guess reader criticism was bound to happen; "You can please some of the people some of the time…" But please shake this criticism like water off a duck’s back – if you’re right 51% of the time, you’re doing the job – and you’re right 99% of the time – so you’re doing a stellar job!!!
As far as consumer’s putting more skin into the business, I think we should do more too.
Out of some 3,000 households in Colorado, only 10% of them support the Raw Milk Association of Colorado ($25/year membership). We need money for outreach & education, lobbying, testing, creating a newsletter, research and administration. We want to self-regulate and remain independent from government control. Few people understand that it takes their money to support that.
I think a co-op like the one described would be even more difficult to sustain than a non-profit trade association – the American consumer is accustomed to a free gift with purchase, not donating labor for the gift of real farmers making real food.
Part of what you do teaches consumers that they are "the people" and encourages/educates them. I’d be deeply disappointed if you quit writing.
-Blair
I have learned a lot from people such as Miguel, Dave Milano, and Steve Bemis.
You do a great job, David. Keep it coming!
There are several arenas of my day-to-day experience in which lately, I have had to listen to a barrage of reactive twisting of what is stated, what is intended, and general rudeness. Much of it results in making the lives of others less pleasant if we’re fortunate, but generally impairs day-to-day living in many cases. This blog is merely one of them, and it is mild. But unlike other aspects of my daily schedule, I can withdraw from it more easily. If as a nurse I didn’t have to comply with HIPPA laws, I could write you an eyeful, and other readers might understand a little better what I’m talking about. It is those who comment who will not read nor write responsibly or with consideration whom I could step away from for a while.
Perhaps I have an attitude problem with attitude problems.
David,
As Ive mentioned to you at least twice, there is a successful herdshare here in CA that I think came into being using a model proposed by FTCLDF. Here is my understanding of the basic plan and the three types of costs:
**One becomes a herdshare member by paying a Cow Owners Association a one-time, non-refundable, ounce of silver (usually a silver dollar). One can be a member and still own no shares. The Cow Owners Association (The Herdshare) owns everything (the cows and equipment) and contracts with the agister. (From Wikipedia: In English law, one who takes cattle to graze for remuneration. In Western United States, agisters are land holders who hold themselves out as providing pasturage services.)
**The Herdshares individual owners, according to the number of shares owned, pay a one-time fee to the Cow Owners Association, an amount established by the Cow Owners Associations Board of Directors, which covers the cost of cows, the purchase of equipment and perhaps other minor miscellaneous stuff.
** The herdshare owners pay a monthly maintenance fee (based on the number of shares owned) to the Cow Owners Association to cover monthly expenses the agisters salary, the maintenance, health, and feeding of the herd, the costs associated with growing the herd, and office expense including billing.
** The individual herdshare owners, proportionate to the number of shares owned, gain the benefits of whatever is produced by the herd (the milk and the new calves that grow the herd) as well as bearing all the expenses.
The cost of the milk reflects only real costs. It is a little more expensive than commercial real milk, but there is generally way more cream and it is available for pickup the evening of the day it was milked. The agister calls himself a lactovore and doesnt get rich.
It appears sanitation is again the common problem.
David K. The herd-share sounds ideal.
I can not wait to see your book out in print.
As far as this blog is concerned, I also enjoy your fresh take on the raw milk story of the day.It is an essential dialogue to vet the ideas that will transform and that have already begun to transform our nutritional concepts. Keep it coming…
This blog also gives me a barameter to measure what the FDA is up to….it seems that CP and Lykke give away the agenda and that helps me to stay ahead of the game.
I had a very interesting discussion today in Sacramento while I was speaking with various assembly staffers at the capitol. The topic of raw milk was being discussed and a small group gathered and listened intently.
I realized that PASTUERIZATION IS RACIST.
In the group that had gathered there were: Japanese, white, Hispanic and african- americans. All could drink raw milk ( and loved it ) but had been told early in life that they had a special condition because of their race.
The milk lobby and the entire dead milk long shelf life paradigm that has protected processed dirty milk has blamed individuals with a "lack of something or a personal deficiency". A guilt that they were not white enough to drink milk…is the take away message.
Well… mother nature created mammals to drink raw milk. A teat in the mouth is the first act of nature when human.There are no normal babies in the world that reject their moms breast and its life giving whole food. Raw milk from cows or goats or horses or camels is not rejected either by human mammals. It is a blessing to be nourished by liquid sunshine.
Now we have identified a racist angle along with the science behind pastuerized milk that is all politically bent and wrong.
I met with the Fresno County Health Department today. I gave them tons of data on raw milk. They agreed to share it with "the powers that be" and attempt to provide the information to Asthma and IBS suffers. We will see how it goes. They did agree that the NIH website appeared to back me up 100%.
All the best,
Mark
I am encouraged just knowing you are here!
I found this site through the Ithaca farmers at Meadowsweet farms who had been battling the Govt. in 2007. What ever happened with their case?
A week ago I got my first taste of raw milk since I was about 4 years old visiting a farm in South Dakota. I’m 46 in August.
I was in Mass. at a weekend workshop and one of the women had requested raw milk to be available for her. She explained the facts and truth about it. Described coops that owned the cows and received their milk as payment for their care. Just as you described.
The milk was delicious. And voila! I’m still alive!
I still remember the squirt of fresh milk from the cow when I was 4. It was warm and sweet.
Wow, nothing like it since.
I guess the THOUSANDS of years of humans drinking raw milk from cows and goats makes no difference to this modern government.
We should also remember this is the same government that bulldozed farmers homes during the great depression (Grapes of Wrath), killed off entire herds of Native Americans’ Buffalo in CASE they had Bovine TB in the 70’s, (never tested to be sure) and regularly enters into regulatory deals with large Agricultural companies who are more interested in the bottom line than people’s health-they kill hundreds of us every year with their "regulated" methods. I’m just thinking of tainted peanuts, melamine, e-coli in our burgers and salads and cookie dough, just to name a few well regulated food industries.
Ha!
Oh, yeah, this is also the same government that allowed Monsanto to force Iraqi farmers to quit their thousand year old tradition of collecting their seeds to grow their crops and make them buy Monsanto’s patented seeds that are also terminator seeds, i.e. sterile… Outrage upon outrage.
About twenty years ago I switched to organic milk when my toddler daughter kept getting stomach aches from the govt. "regulated" non-organic milk, jam packed with BHT, pesticides and trace antibiotics, not to mention the daily dose of PCBs that are in all govt. controlled dairy products, due to the kind of feed they are given.
As soon as I switched without telling her, no more tummy aches.
She was my little canary and I always trusted her complaints since then.
Meanwhile, I watched in horror as other girls drank the regular BHT milk and grew gigantic breasts and menstruated way too early. Its disgusting what we do to our children. We are NOT protecting them!!!!
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!!!! You rock on dude and thanks for your hard work and great ideas. I hope I can be part of a cooperative like the one you describe.
I live in Westchester county. Any suggestions?
Let the naysayers move to their little Utopian blogs if they don’t want to hear the truth on this blog.
As far as passion is concerned, the science can trump the emotional aspect of an issue, and in this case the science completely supports your efforts. Government regulation is what’s killing us, not raw milk.
If people aren’t outraged by what’s happened to our food supply, then they are NOT paying attention!
Thank you!
You are the master of spin. Thanks for giving me a good laugh today.
This blog also gives me a barometer to measure what the FDA is up to….it seems that CP and Lykke give away the agenda and that helps me to stay ahead of the game.
I cant speak for Lykke, but if you think following what I have to say is somehow linked to the FDAhow ridiculous! Is this your way of destroying my credibility as to the ideas I share about raw milk safety? Link me to the FDA? Mark, I have a challenge for you. See if you can make comments without a spin. It is unnecessary. Say what you have to say with out degrading or demeaning others.
Let me spell this out loud and clear for you. I am a concerned mom. I dont work for the FDA, CDC, or as some have suggested, Marler Clark. I dont get paid to post comments on this blog.
I, like so many who blog here, am interested in healthy food and the state of our health in general. The only area I have a different opinion about is raw milk consumption for children. I also have an issue with the leaders in the raw milk movement for their use of deception to make people feel safe about drinking raw milk. Outbreaks are downplayed or lies are made up about them. Everyone should be asking why these tactics are used.
So back to the question about research studies and raw milkI would love to know if fermented raw milk is as safe as pasteurized milk. Does the fermentation process kill pathogens? If it does, then fermented milk is what children should be drinkingnot milk straight from the cow. If the movement is encouraging families to consume raw milk and small family farms to produce raw milk, it should be in everyones best interest to investigate the possible safety aspects of fermented milk. If a research study discovered the lactic acid bacteria count of fermented milk kills pathogenic bacteria (not reduces), wouldnt this be positive information for the movement? I thought I couldnt be the first person to ask this question, so I did a search and found this study http://www.biokplus.com/pdf/Millette_et_al_2007.pdf .
This study used a probiotic culture (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei) in what appears to be pasteurized milk. I would like to know if the same results (or even better results) would be reached from fermenting raw milk and raw milk with kefir grains.
Lykke, I would like to hear your thoughts on this research study. Maybe you can break down the findings into simple English for us.
cp
I normally get uncomfortable from cp’s posts. But I’m with her on the fermented milk issue. I too have raised this issue in the past, but no one seems to respond to the suggestion that we ought to look more at fermented raw milk and cream from kefir, yogurt and other cultures rather than unfermented raw milk. If you get can milk fresh out of the cow’s udder, maybe that’s a different matter.
I’ve always been disappointed that any research I’ve seen on milk and bacteria doesn’t also test samples of kefired raw milk.
It’s the epitome of industrial dairy with a mix of Disneyland.
I agree that this blog can be disheartening to read sometimes. But that’s because I feel so discouraged when I read what the government and big ag are up to. This blog is a wonderful source of dairy, ag, and health news and I’m glad to be better informed for reading it, even if the message is disquieting sometimes.
The article above may shed some illumination on fermented dairy in general, not necessarily in a raw state.
However, to those who do not understand sustainable animal husbandry starting with the soil all the way to the glass of milk, no authority on the subject will ever convince them of the efficacy of clean, fresh, pastured, farm fresh milk, or meat, or chicken, or vegetables, or any other whole, mother-nature designed food. If 100% "safety" is what your goal is regarding food, then sterilized, industrial ""phood" is the way to go. However, if actual nutrition is the goal, then find your milk farmer, your vegetable farmer, your meat farmer, your fruit farmer who uses sustainable, organic, agricultural husbandry/practices. They are out there and they do provide excellent nutritionally superior/dense health-building nourishment.
Just my HO. Alyssa
The researchers goal was to study the use of 2 strains of lactobacillus in preventing antibiotic associated diarrhea, not to study food-borne pathogens in milk. I doubt if the delay of growth rates achieved in this study are comparable to what could be achieved by culturing pathogens in fermented raw whole milk.
As is typical of most research, this study was reductionist, not wholistic. It used only 2 cultures, lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus casei. Kefir grains have something like 38 different bacteria and yeasts, and I think this combination would have more bacteria-inhibiting effect than just 2 strains of lactobacillus.
This test measured each food borne pathogen individually. In real life, all bacteria would be comingled together, which I think might affect communal growth of some bacteria.
This study removed organic acids and bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances in an attempt to isolate the effects of the lactobacilli strains by themselves. Of course all of these elements would remain intact in unaltered raw milk.
The pathogens were inoculated into reconstituted nonfat dry milk. An altered environment from raw whole milk.
I would like to see a study measuring what grows in a glass of fermented raw milk kefir over time.
The only spinning I do is separation of raw cream.
I am glad to hear that you are not a secret agent of the FDA or Marler.
I do have to agree with you that a study of Kefir vs. Raw Milk vs. Pastuerized Milk all innoculated with pathogens then studied for die off would be very interesting.
This is more easily said than done. This is called a pathogen recovery test. When BSK did this type of test, the coliforms dominated the batches and nothing could be recaptured or counted in some of the batches. This was especially true of Salmonella and its arch enemy "the Ecoli coliforms and the colicins" .
I will do some research and see if a properly designed lab test can be crafted to measure pathogens over time after innocualtion into Raw Milk Kefir, raw milk and pastuerized milk.
The question is this….what temps do you want them held at and what pathogens do you want tested, and what intervals for testing should be used? I suggest 40 degrees F, test at: one day, two days and four days and seven days. This temp is what most raw dairy is kept at. I would suspect that higher temps would make a better pathogen killing environment but that is not the standard retail or home environment.
I suggest Campylbacter, Salmonella, Listeria Monocygenes and Ecoli 0157H7. All in separate batches.
If this is what you think makes sense….please respond. I would like the results to pass muster with Lykke and CP and any other critics out there. OPDC would be the one paying for the test….unless someone wants to send me $2500 dollars.
Let me know what your ideas are and I will get to work on this project.
CP….great idea. I also deeply respect your position as a mom and protection of children from infection and disease. This is my goal and mission as well. There are thousands of kids in CA that no longer run the risk of dying from Asthma tonight because of the living food we produce at OPDC.
Mark McAfee
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/25qbitewe.html?scp=19&sq=raw+milk&st=nyt
Heres a fellow who makes raw milk cheeses (aged at least 60 days) in Port Chester. He has to get his milk from somewhere and certainly knows other sources.
Also, there was an article on the front page of the NYT (it was last August and it may have been on the front page of another section) about how real milk aficionados were going to great lengths to get their milk and how pervasive this subculture had become. It was good reading.
As you may know there are quite a few underground arrangements that residents of NYC and close-in suburbs use to get their real milk from up-state and CT. I grew up in Dobbs Ferry 50 years ago. How truly rural is upper Westchester now? Close-in pastureland is prohibitively expensive, so if you cant ferret out a connection, be prepared to make the drive to Duchess County or further.
Before our Cow Owners Association was formed a year and a half ago, we were lucky. We had to drive only 35 minutes one way twice a week to pick up the good stuff. Now its much closer and waaay more convenient.
Good Hunting!!
http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/health/ama_pharmaceutial_and_insurance/news.php?q=1247062136
I think the owners assisting is great. What would make me hesitate is that not eveyone would keeps sanitation up. Not that it would be intentionally missed. The potential for contamination increases when there is an increase in various hands touching/working with the animals and equipment.
I believe I am still good at mucking out stalls, I can sew a mean suture, wash equipment and animals and I am trainable. Yet when it comes to supplying foods with a higher contamination potential, I would be leery that I may have missed a step and contaminated the milk. I take fruits and veggies in to work to share often and never think about contamination.
It appears to me that as long as the animals and environments are healthy, the contamination occurs in the processing steps for most food borne out breaks. How would you teach and ensure sanitation is optimal? Or would the acutal milking and bottling be done by just a few experienced people?
I gave the wrong address for my blog. It should be http://rcfessenden.wordpress.com/ Thanks, Rick
Thanks for coming to my defense, the virtual hugs and supportive thoughts. I am used to being called names and even punched and spit at a few times. I have never taken any of it seriously. It is all about Karma points in my book. Petty crap is just that. But thanks anyway.
I am really most interested in the positive mutual space. I really really want CP adn Lykke to help me find some common ground and do a good study about pathogens in Kefir. CP has a really good idea here and I want to see it become a landmark peacemaking gesture with shared value.
I have yet to hear anything back on my proposal to fund and perform a test that can be of serious value. This is really disheartening. Thats what hurts us all the most. It is the jab and then the retreat with out investment in anything positive. This really shows the intent.
I am at the table waiting…do I just go it alone? Again? CP, I am waiting and I want this little study to be our study not my study that will eventually get tomatoes thrown at it. This time lets do it together and see what the data shows based on mutual design. Last time I tried to do something good with the BSK labs study….I was scorned and rediculed. Lets do this one together.
Mark
It sounds like a self-sufficient community. Something that may be slow to catch on, but I think it could grow with time and the idea would spread, especially with the hard times so many are facing.
Mark,
I’d help if I knew what to do?
You and I will never become a we. Take my idea and run with it. You have CREMA and the OPDC website to advertize. People can donate money to the cause if they like the idea of the study. If the study is conducted correctly, it will probably get published. The problem with the BSK study is that you did the interpretation. If PhDs present the results in a published study then it will be considered valid by all who read it.
Does anyone have an idea as to how much would be needed to conduct this type of study? Step one is to collect enough money. Step two is to find a university professor interested in conducting the study. I’m sure you and Sally can find someone who is interested.
cp