The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. --Joseph Campbell
Our most basic connection to Nature is through food. And less and less is our food resembling it’s true nature.
I don’t know if this disconnect is the source of all our societies problems. But, I know the conscious choices I am trying to make, such as eating locally and ethically, make me feel good.
Those choices are narrowing. Terms like “organic” and “free range” and “natural” are deceptive. “Organic” farms can be as industrialized as factories and “free-range” might mean that chicken has access to a tiny doorway to an outdoor pen, if only he could get around 20,000 other birds to find it.
And, the government certainly has the ability to limit my choices further. As I’ve been trying to expand my local sources for food, I’m finding that government regulations are hard at work limiting my ability to find local food produced in an ethical, natural, and minimally-processed way.
The most obvious example is milk. Say I’d like to find a local source of milk. 30 years ago, (when I was in college), I would have had about 3800 dairy farms to choose from in Illinois. But, according to the latest numbers I found from July 2012, I’m down to 780. I’m guessing that that number has dropped in the last year and a half even further.
Now, that’s not the end of the world. But, what if I want to buy raw, unprocessed milk, from well-kept cows?
The good news is, there are still small farmers producing and offering milk that hasn’t been ultra-pasturized, homogenized, or otherwise altered. Government regulations limit raw milk distribution (as opposed to in Europe, where the industry is strong and you can purchase raw milk from vending machines). But, I can still buy it directly from farmers.
The bad news is...you guessed it. This choice may not be a choice for us much longer.
New rules are being proposed and will be voted on soon. Legislators are citing reports that bacterial illness is a higher threat from raw milk than from other foods. Raw milk supporters cite that there have been far fewer reports of illness caused by raw milk than by pasteurized milk, produce, meat, and other foods. The reports are there, but how they are interpreted really depends on your stand on consumer choice.
The new legislation will not make raw milk in Illinois illegal. Rules will require raw milk dairy farms to have their milk tested monthly for pathogens, provide specific wording on labels and signs, and keep strict logs. Most farms are fine with this; even already doing this.
However, there are two additional rules that pretty much change the game.
•All dairy farms selling raw milk shall be required to obtain a Grade A permit. For larger farms, this may be no big deal. But for a small farm, the minimum $20,000 investment to upgrade floors, pipes, containers, etc. could never be recouped.
And...
• Only unsolicited sales are permitted and cannot exceed 100 gallons per month.
Huh??
Basic math. Even if the farmer is charging a $10 a gallon for this milk, that equals...$1000 income per month? Before feed and expenses? And possibly paying back a $20,000+ loan for facility upgrades?
Another dairy farm out of business.
I’m not commenting on the studies, benefits, or statistics. I make conscious decisions, and I expect you do too. I am, however, curious about what is driving this legislation. Safety studies? Perhaps. But given the fact that tobacco farmers are still in business, I wonder. Big business? After all, demand for raw milk is actually growing as consumers are becoming more health conscious. Could it be that my choice in this matter is being eliminated so that my food dollars can be redirected into the industrial food system the government generally supports?
I know many of you don’t give a rat’s tail about raw milk. But many of you do support small farmers, or economic diversity, or local agriculture, or just plain having a choice about what you eat. I hope you’ll stay with me as I offer more info on this. Please, comment below. I really want to hear your thoughts.
Thank you so much for exposing the absurdity of the current milk debacle. So much of national food policy is aimed at protecting us from the very monster they have created by subsidizing megacorporate agriculture. Small sustainable farms are not the ones engaging in risky behaviors. In my home state of Massachusetts, our traditional fall drink is raw, unpasteurized apple cider. Massachusetts residents now have to drive to New Hampshire (live free or die) because Massachusetts is forcing producers to pasteurize…removing the probiotics, nutrients, and much of the flavor.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like it will be a long road to re-orient our food system, but I am heartened that there are so many of us becoming conscious of the madness.
Thanks, Jane. New Hampshire sounds like my kind of state. I wonder what the statistics are of food-related illness there, as opposed to their neighbor states where pasteurization is required?
ReplyDeleteI love your whole family's dedication to eating locally. It can't be easy with kids. I just try to keep up with eating healthy foods, eating organic foods, non-GMO foods and finally supporting my local farms. I have found that with a large family to feed, it is very expensive to keep up paying higher prices and end up back at the local grocery stores. I think you are right on about the government supporting the industrial food system and it's not fair to the small farmers. But small farms are not able to grow enough food for low income people and still make enough money to keep their farms open, without any government subsidies. By making regulations on producing milk, meat, etc. that only megafarms can afford, the small farms don't have a chance. If local communities learned to grow their own food, it would disempower the whole industrial food system by reducing our co-dependence on the system. I know, easier said than done, but worth a try.
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