The most significant raw milk legislation in memoryaffecting 1,000 or more California home dairieshas begun a journey toward consideration, with an impressive head of steam behind it.
The Home Dairy Farm bill (AB 2505) grows out of three years of negotiation between dairy owners and state regulators. It would sanction direct-to-consumer raw milk sales by all dairies with a maximum of three milk-producing cows or fifteen goats. The main regulatory requirements are that the owners arrange for annual testing for tuberculosis and brucellosis, and include a warning label on all milk, as follows:
Raw unpasteurized milk and raw dairy products may contain disease-causing microorganisms. Persons at highest risk of disease from these organisms include newborns and infants, the elderly, pregnant women, those taking corticosteroids, antibiotics, or antacids, and persons with chronic illnesses or other conditions that weaken their immune system.
The legislation also sets out bacterial standards that the small dairies would be encouraged to regularly test forfor example, that the milk not contain more than 15,000 bacteria per milliliter or more than 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter.
The proposed legislation specifies that the milk produced by the small dairies can only be sold on a direct basis to individuals, without involvement of retailers, or of online selling efforts. It is similar to proposed legislation in Maine that has gotten a boost in recent weeks from expanded collaboration between small dairies and one-time opponents of the legislation, who last summer helped convince Maines governor to veto similar legislation. (Both California and Maine allow retail sales of raw milk by permitted dairies.)
The Home Dairy Farm bill grows out of three years of on-again-off-again negotiations between the Small Herd Working Group of small dairies and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The working group was formed when the CDFA, via local district attorney, filed cease-and-desist orders against a number of tiny dairies that were selling raw milk privately, via herdshare arrangements, without having met the costly requirements for state-mandated dairy permits allowing raw milk sales.
Over the last three years, various organizations, or stakeholders, have become involved, including local public health officials and farmer groups, according to Doniga Markegard, owner of Markegard Family Grass Fed and a leader of the negotiating effort. It was a really collaborative process with lots of stakeholders at the table, she told me. While there has been admirable collaboration, there has also been hesitancy and division among the dairy owners as well as among the regulators. A big bone of contention has been whether such small dairies should be regulated at all and, if so, how much.
Markegard noted that the CDFA hasnt indicated if it will support the proposed legislation. They have provided input when we sent (drafts of the legislation) to them, she said.
Markegard said that she and other members of the working group went and met with every member of the California Assemblys Agriculture Committee and they were very interested in (the proposal). A lot of them see the potential here to be more preventative of outbreaks from small dairies.
From surveys the working group conducted, she estimates that about 1,000 home dairies would fall under the legislation. Another possibly few hundred that are larger than the three-cow/fifteen-goat maximums wouldnt be covered, and presumably would continue with longstanding herdshare arrangements. Trying to adapt the legislation to cover such dairies didnt fly with the CDFA, Markegard said.
The raw milk producers clearly see the legislation as an opportunity to reduce the risk of regulator harassment via the cease-and-desist orders issued against a number of them; the orders can eventually lead to civil or criminal charges.
I suspect that the regulators also see this legislation as a potential way out of a dilemma–a way to deal with their growing legitimacy problem, as described in my previous post. As ever more California small dairies sell raw milk and ignore regulator warnings and orders that the dairies are violating state dairy laws, state legitimacy is undermined. Now, will the regulators be able to convince the powerful dairy lobby, which has to be concerned about the thousands of gallons of raw milk these small dairies are adding to the marketplace, to go along with the states need for legitimacy? Should be some interesting behind-the-scenes discussions going on.
Seeing as how the majority of illnesses from dairy have come from pastuerized dairy, according to the records/stats of our very own illustrious CDC, shouldn’t ALL milk and dairy products have to contain the same warning?
Better yet, why not just put the warning above on all raw dairy products and put a skull and crossbones on pasteurized foods of all kinds, dairy included? That would certainly be more in line with the research to date.
Yeah, I’ll wait for that to happen . . .
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Raw unpasteurized milk and raw dairy products may contain disease-causing microorganisms. (Everything contains disease-causing microorganisms.)
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Persons at highest risk of disease from these ORGANISMS(Not raw milk.) include newborns and infants, the elderly, pregnant women, those taking corticosteroids, antibiotics, or antacids, and persons with chronic illnesses or other conditions that weaken their immune system.
I wish this group the very best of luck and hope that the lions, tigers and bears mind their manners. With this grass roots action in CA….it sure takes the heat off of OPDC….we appear centrist and mainstream amongst all of this pioneering effort. It was very nice to hear that Doniga reached out to Shawna Barr, one of RAWMI’s LISTED cows shares, for support etc. Raw milk is a team sport and a successful raw milk producers community is a community of people and producers that mentor and help one another. A rising tide floats all boats!!
With 1000 CA based small family herds “teaching raw milk”….the broader raw milk markets are on the verge of explosion. The very good thing about this “act” are the solid safety standards that are part of this legislation. It could clearly be a model for other states. A congrats to CDFA and DPH is also in hand as well. Remember, this comes on the heals of the RAWESOME raid, the Mike Hulme and other attempted small herd Shut downs. This is a peace negotiation after some pretty fierce ugly stuff.
Mark
I want to mention that this bill also comes in the wake of the Foundation Farm tragedy in Oregon where raw milk from 2 or fewer cows may be produced and sold under any and all conditions. The drafters of this CA bill recognize that freedom and responsibility go together. My hope is that by decriminalizing the 3 cow farm, producers may more readily access training, mentorship and valuable lab services to aid them in the production of how quality, safe milk for their communities. When farmers feel the need to hide out and black markets emerge, safety and access to information decrease.
I too hope that CA can serve as a viable model for other states, and that AB 2505 is a first and important step is CA dairy reform.
I agree!! This bill brings forth standards and an expectation that all raw milk producers follow basic food safety guidelines. It is a very good thing. This bill also brings down some of the fearful hiding walls that simply are not needed. What is needed are clear standards and mentors that help each other. Blind production with no testing is not comforting or reassuring. The only way to know what you are doing…is to measure what you are doing. This act provides good guidelines….the only thing missing is testing. That is the reality of this bill. I invite all small herd owners to test their raw milk routinely to measure their programs success. After all, this bill does provide for the state to come in and test samples if there is a complaint. Why wait for a problem or a surprise?? why not test routinely and know what your numbers are…..and know what you are doing. You deserve to know the information so you can sleep at night and your dear customers deserve excellence and nothing less!!
Would it be feasible for RAWMI to set up a shared fund that would make scheduled lab testing possible for those smaller operations that maybe just can’t afford it? Just for record keeping and peace of mind as you say. Where are the nearest labs in places like Wyoming, Idaho, Dakotas, Montana etc?
The frustrating part is that there are many labs located much, much closer to me. Every university and community college has at least one lab. In the past several months, I have literally called every campus and private lab within a 200 mile radius, asking them to offer milk Coliform and SPC testing services. And so far no deal. Labs explain that they simply cannot help us. They have much regulatory issues for them to overcome as well, as well as cost prohibitions. There is perhaps political pressure as well, not to be seens in support of raw milk. But I am speculating on that.
Coli and SPC tests are simple to run. Especially using technology like this: http://nelsonjameson.com/3M-Petrifilm-Coliform-Count-Plates-p2021.html You don’t need a high tech, specialized lab. I can even run these tests on farm, and many raw milk farmers have gone to doing just that, in order increase testing frequency without busting the bank. On-farm testing is useful, but cannot replace the lab. It is difficult to reproduce the controled testing environment of a lab on the farm.
So I’m not sure what the answer is. Ideally, labs would be located much closer to the farm, in the communities where the food is being produced. This would save farmers money, and I believe, yield better diagnostics for producers. Ideally, farmers and labs would in communication and partnship with one another, each understanding the significance one the other’s work.
Perhaps as more farmers seek these services, more services will be available. But if anyone has any great ideas to make testing more accessible, I’m all ear.
The warning is supposed to apply to raw milk but instead it refers to organisms that are seldom found in raw milk and have never been proven to cause illness when consumed in raw milk.
newborns and infants, the elderly, pregnant women, those taking corticosteroids, antibiotics, or antacids, and persons with chronic illnesses or other conditions that weaken their immune system. are obviously the people who need nutritious food the most and they are not denying that raw milk is a nutritious food.
Some scientific research is shaped by the need to perform replicable measurements. But these measurements do not always accurately reflect the phenomenon that is being investigated. The term streetlight effect is sometimes used to name this form of observational bias.
A police officer saw a man on his hands and knees groping about around midnight and asked him about his unusual behavior: I lost a $2 bill down on Atlantic avenue, said the man. Whats that? asked the puzzled officer. You lost a $2 bill on Atlantic avenue? Then why are you hunting around here in Copley square? Because, said the man as he turned away and continued his hunt on his hands and knees, the lights better up here.
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/11/better-light/
Testing using an IBM petri-film is great and if you do it often, you can get really good at it. They are less than $1.50 each if you do it on the farm in your own home lab. Not everyone will want to do this…it takes a little bit of a “professor science mind” to do it, but I do know many that have done it. In fact, Edwin Shank does this all the time. He has become an expert on on farm testing for coliforms. Our Cow Share friend in Tennessee has also become very good at on farm petrifilm testing. You can get addicted to the flow of data and the confort it provides. End test data provides information about how well your systems work!
It is possible.
RAWMI does plan on setting up some basic test lab facilities in CA in the near future for just this reason and to serve those smaller producers that just want the data and not the hassle. Stay tuned.
Mark
A question out of curiosity if I may?
It seems to me that many of these very small dairies might be heavily populated with Jersey cows. Since the prevalence of positive MAP tests are higher in Jerseys than Holsteins, and higher in infected cows as they get older, I was wondering if MAP was considered an issue worth testing for (and whether MAP control strategies are actively considered) by RAWMI or others in California. I do realize this is a bit of a dog’s breakfast v/v the interpretation of negative and positive results, but until someone can demonstate that MAP is NOT involved in Crohn’s, I think it would be wise to not milk cows that are likely to be shedding MAP (especially if the milk from the shedder is not diluted by the milk of hundreds on non-shedders and not pasteurized).
This might be red herring for sure, and I think everyone involved in dairying hopes that MAP is not a zoonosis. Finding infected cows before they become clinically ill, however, is also potentially beneficial for the farmer and the cow’s herdmates; which might be the better reason to consider this at this time.
John
Thanks. Occasionally I can take credit for good photos, but I am often helped by the people I write about. In this current post, Doniga Markegard helped by having some great choices of photos available.
I wonder if you are aware that pasteurization actually increases the risk of drinking milk from a cow that has johne’s disease. The paradox is that the incidence of crohne’s disease among farmers and veterinarians is very small while the incidence in those who buy pasteurized milk is growing rapidly as the incidence in commercial herds increases. The difference is that MAP is not killed by pasteurization but the cell wall is destroyed. Our immune systems recognizes MAP with it’s cell wall intact and can eliminate it . MAP without a cell wall is able to elude the immune system by entering the cells of our digestive tract lining. There it causes inflammation of those cells.Evidence indicates that even milk from a cow with johne’s disease is less dangerous to drink raw than pasteurized.
Johne’s is best eliminated by proper feeding just as crohne’s disease can be eliminated by a change in diet. A diet heavy in grain creates the conditions in the digestive tract in both cows and people that favors the proliferation of MAP. It looks as if Markegard family farm is doing it right by pasturing the cows on a wide variety of plants and not confining them to small blocks of pasture that limit their access to this healthy variety.
Here is a resource/contact info sheet we prepared that itemizes the equipment and supplies that are needed. http://www.yourfamilyfarmer.com/uploads/documents/The_Family_Cow_Laboratory.pdf As you can see, the lab set up cost is extremely affordable. (Under $500 if you skip the optional light box and magnifier)
When we first set up The Family Cow laboratory, we consulted with microbiologists at Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) and two other state certified laboratories. The technicians there advised us what to purchase and also provided the initial mentoring on the correct testing and test reading methodology.
I have no monopoly on this information and I am not selling it. So share it freely. Neither am I forcing this on anyone. But I am forcefully saying that running a test-and-hold on-farm laboratory is so easy, so economical and does so much to reduce raw milk risk that it is a no brainer no matter how small the raw milk farm.
If you need to talk to someone to get your confidence up, feel free to call my cell number on the resource sheet. We have been using our lab for two years now and would never ever go back. Once you get used to pre-consumptive testing on every single lot, post-consumptive testing feels all wrong.
Other farmers that Ive taught report the same. All are totally delighted with how their lab improves their milking performance, milk quality, the level of food safety reassurance that they now offer their families and peace of mind for everyone all around.
Best ~ Edwin
Ken
…Having lost the contest on principle, with the bill in California being implemented, the dairy cartel is now raising the spectre of the Johnes / Crohns connection … as though the fault lies with micro-dairies, Herdshares, small -holders. When in fact, Johnes disease was an outworking of the perverted diet of the modern dairy system. Same as e.coli 0157.HN didn’t exist ’til it was found festering in the CAFO manure lagoons.
… “they” got away with the Big Lie ( the notion that raw milk is “dangerous” ab initio) but 20 years’ worth of hard fighting = getting the Truth out = managed to put that dog down. So now the Jones/ Crohnes connection is being folded-in to the mix. There most certainly IS a nexus of those diseases, for anyone who has the intellectual integrity to admit it.
… So MrJohn + his paymasters, would like us to apply the “pre=cautionary principle”, eh? Start with yourselves : start with MPC : Milk Protein Concentrate, which is the main factor gluing-up the guts of Americans, causing irritable bowel syndrome. Like Big Tobacco hid the scientific proof their product is harmful, Big Dairy has all the evidence necessary, proving homogenization of milk causes atheriosclerosis. Until we see those things acknowledged and corrected in the food supply, I’ll keep on wailing against the way race traitors in high places fatten on profits by stealing the nutrition out of the mouths of our children + off=shoring real jobs to 3rd world countries. I call “BULLSHIT” on a dis-information agent who projects the blame for the consequences of their crimes, on to us
Stay away from toxic immune disrupting vaccines!!!!
Ken
Simply put, Crohns is an autoimmune condition that manifests itself when the gut is missing its biodiversity. Hence…that is exactly why Crohns is cured by Kefir ( consumption of femented raw milk for six months works great along with a whole food diet!! ). I know three people that cured themselves of Crohns with Raw Kefir. Sure as hell beats a colostomy bag!!
The evening pharma advertizements love to brag about Remacade and other cancer and death causing treatments for Crohns. For the life of me….I do not see how the FDA or doctors can sleep at night knowing damn well that Raw Kefir very effectively treats Crohns and most all other Gut disorders as well.
If you take the bacterial biodiversity out of the gut, brace yourself for an autoimmune disorder. The math is just not that hard.
Without involvement of online selling efforts- can somebody explain what this means?
What is an online selling effort?
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
I would assume online selling efforts to mean advertising. However it probably includes a whole range of activities from advertising to placing orders for pickup and delivery.
They are merely expanding their range of control into this ever growing and potential venue of online commerce.
Ken
An inflammatory response occurs when the body tries to protect itself from what it perceives as an abnormal invasion by a foreign substance such as viral and bacterial antigens, or other unnaturally introduced biological substance.
A normal invasion that confronts the bodys natural censoring mechanisms is more or less non-problematic. However when one considers the degree to which crohns has permeated into society, I think its logical to assume that the injection of various microbial and biological antigens into the body vis-à-vis vaccines, which bypasses all censoring mechanisms undoubtedly has the potential for causing autoimmune conditions such as crohns disease.
Clearly, there is a concerted effort to blame everything but vaccines for autoimmune conditions, and any scientist that has demonstrated that vaccines have the potential to cause such conditions have been blacklisted and vilified by the powers that be.
The potential for whole living foods such as raw milk and cultured dairy products to alleviate disorders such as crohns is clearly indicative of those foods therapeutic qualities. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food
Ken
Mr. Shank thank you for that info that is why we ask questions because we want to know even if we’re not doing it ourselves. That’s also why we make the time to read this blog.
Gordon, but he sounds so sincere inquisitive genuinely concerned how can you peg him so? And uses big small words like “zoonosis” I had to look that one up. Remember there are no stupid questions just unasked unawnsered ones. I’m still looking at the MAP and I see Jersey but not Holstein is that a state?
Herdmates, I saw them back up the Red Herrings in Russia eons ago.
Oh wait, I just noticed that despicable word “regulatory issues” so maybe it’s a question of liability or is that lie ability. If they can’t vouch for the accuracy of their test results maybe they’re in the wrong game and should keep their claws off our kids minds and stomachs.
It’s amazing how Daniga juggles her NASCAR career without getting her cows run over a flat tire. The Fumes, i saw them I think or smell burning rubber speed
The father of the child in our published photo was jailed for life for child abuse. Many of you looking at the terrible injuries on this small child will immediately assume, as did the doctors who examined him, that he was viciously attacked and it was right to jail his father.
However, what if I told you that it was later proven that this child had in fact been suffering from Kawasaki disease, otherwise known as tissue scurvy, and that his father was innocent?
Well, that is exactly what happened. Due to the wonderful work of Dr. Michael Innis and a team of experts brought in by the family to help, he is well and happy and back home with his family after his father was released from jail as an innocent man.
http://vactruth.com/2014/03/19/tissue-scurvy-not-child-abuse/?utm_source=The+Vaccine+Truth+Newsletter&utm_campaign=577da3e82b-03_18_2014_vis&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ce7860ee83-577da3e82b-389282198
Thankyou for replying to me. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.
John
I’ll further add that for the microproducer, biosecurity is of particular importance on a financial level. When you only milk a couple of cows, every cow counts. Culling even one cow is a huge financial blow, and we guard fiercely against bringing disease onto our farms. We pay a premium for replacement cows that are proven disease-free, and it is not uncommon for us to shop for a cow with red-top tubes and milk collection vials in hand. (Much to the chagrin of some sellers I’m afraid.) Micro dairymen who do not practice good biosecurity are likely not be in the microdairy business for long.
Micro dairymen/producers have been around for a long time and long before the advent of biosecurity.
Ken
The CA family cow act is all about direct farmer to neighbor or farmer to consumer direct sale connection.
If it was meant to be a prohibition of off-farm delivery after an online sale is made, they could specifically state that. I think the wording was made overly broad and vague on purpose, so people of good-will could interpret it the way Mark is, and not protest the wording while the legislation was being processed. But also so once the bill was passed,the regulators could say they had grounds to prohibit any kind of online activity regarding the transaction.
The unscientific standard procedures should be abandoned and the natural processes and the innate intelligence of the immune system respected. Medicine should adopt a common sense attitude to natural infectious diseases and their vital role in priming and maturing the immune system, for childrens long-term benefit. – See more at: http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2013/01/29/measles-vaccines-part-ii-benefits-of-contracting-measles-by-dr-viera-scheibner-phd/#sthash.CVDDO0fd.RhOCfzuW.dpuf
“Raw milk should not be consumed by anyone, at any time, for any reason” – John F. Sheehan, Director of Dairy Food Safety Food and Drug Administration, Testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates, March 15, 2007