I had a very interesting experience attending the Public hearing on the Wisconsin Raw Milk Bill in Eau Claire, Wisconsin this past week with my sister who so graciously took off work and did most of the driving (thank you Carol!)

Many of you know I am a proponent of fresh, unprocessed and whole milk consumption as I've written about it here before.  Recently the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture has cracked down on anyone taking this type of milk off the farm except a milk wholesaler.  These officials said at the meeting that they are very concerned about the safety of this product.  About 450 people turned out for this meeting, most of whom were there to stand with the producers who have introduced a bill which would make it legal to buy fresh, unprocessed, whole milk from the farmers.

I gained some interesting perspective from some of the speakers:

* In Michigan the term "Raw" is only referred to as milk destined for pasteurization.  There they would call milk that is destined to be consumed in its natural state, "fresh, unprocessed and whole" (hence my revised terminology above.)

* Michigan makes this distinction in product names because they have found that when a farmer is producing milk to be consumed in its natural state the incidence of contamination is miniscule (especially compared to testing of "raw" milk destined for pasteurization.)

*There will always be some risk in drinking this product, just like there is some risk in eating sushi, rare steak, and over-easy/sunny-side-up eggs.  Some people are willing to take this miniscule risk because they see the benefits as outweighing it in all of these cases.  Anyone who wants to be completely safe is still able to obtain pasteurized milk and fully cooked fish, steak, and eggs.

*One speaker against the bill stated that he could not find any benefits when searching on the web.  Wow. See:  http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/organic-parenting/raw-milk-55061801 for an excellent essay with great links, one of just many, many places on the web that tell about the benefits.

The bottom line for me is freedom.  My hat said "Milk" and "Freedom" on it.  I was proud to stand with all the farm families who attended the meeting.  These people are trying to make a living providing a niche market with a quality product their customers want.  Why does the government have to get between me and my farmer?  I am not saying anyone else should drink fresh milk.  I don't think I would ever want to eat raw fish, but I would never want to take away the freedom of someone else who did.       

See http://www.jsonline.com/business/87234707.html?page=2 for an article in the local news about the meeting.

Public Hearing on the Wisconsin Raw Milk Bill 3/10/2010