To Write or Not to Write About Raw Milk...That Is the Question
I slept badly last night. I know the reason, and it has to do with the raw milk problem in Michigan.
Since mid-day yesterday (Thursday), I’ve been in possession of information about the details of the distribution of raw milk scheduled for today (Friday) to Ann Arbor-area members of the Family Farms Cooperative. Normally, this would be no big deal, since the distribution has been happening regularly on Fridays for several years. But since the sting operation Friday Oct. 13, when the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Michigan State Police seized the co-op’s raw milk and other products from manager Richard Hebron while he was driving to Ann Arbor, there has been no distribution there.
Yet the state has been so intent on preventing it from resuming that it served Ann Arbor retailer Morgan & York with a Cease-and-Desist order to prohibit it from allowing the co-op to use its warehouse, as it had been doing for a couple years.
So I figured I’d post something first thing today to the effect that the distribution was scheduled to occur today, with an explanation that I was constrained from providing details about the wheres and whens of the delivery and pickup by members--much as I'd like to celebrate the event--for the same reason co-op members were reluctant to discuss it yesterday: everyone feels intimidated. I even wrote the item.
But as I tossed and turned last night, I realized I was nervous even about posting something first thing this morning. What if the police and MDA read my posting and decided to track Richard Hebron’s truck…and confiscate his goods again. That would be a disaster, and I’d be at fault.
So I decided to put off posting anything until mid-day today, when the distribution was already well under way or even completed.
Unfortunately, the kind of anxiety I experienced is exactly what the MDA wants everyone to experience. It wants farmers to be so scared they back off from leasing cows to distribute raw milk and it wants co-op members to avoid using it. Richard Hebron is to be applauded for his bravery in resuming deliveries.
But what we have is a situation not unlike what happens in repressive countries when the government tries to prohibit people from having access to normal products like, say, certain movies or alcohol. People gather surreptitiously to do their business, out of the glare of government authorities. The U.S….repressive? It doesn’t look that way, but it sure feels that way.
The Complete Patient
In her comment, Kimberly is right on to point out my inadvertent use of the terms "buy" and "sell" in connection with the distribution of the co-op's milk. The Michigan authorities would have everyone believe that the milk is being bought and sold, when in fact the Family Farms Cooperative has gone to great lengths to legally lay everything out in the way Kimberly has described. I have been careful to generally use the term "distribution," but in this post I used incorrect terminology in one sentence. I have corrected that sentence. My apologies.
I like Miguel's description of breaking down the walls between producer and consumer. I've never thought of the trend toward buying from local farmers in those terms, but it resonates.
LDF asks one of the questions I've heard a lot as well: Why are the Michigan authorities so intent on interfering with people drinking raw milk...and spending considerable sums of limited taxpayer funds to do it? I'm not sure we'll get a quick answer to that question, but maybe in time.
I was most taken with LDF's chilling observation: "I wish I felt safe attaching my name to this post. But I do not.And that itself is a disturbing commentary on this whole situation." Feeling unsafe to comment about milk. Pretty sad.
4 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (4)
This is the same way that Richard Hebron does things. The members of the co-op have come together to lease cows and board them with an amish farmer in Indiana. That farmer feeds, cares for and milks the cows. Richard Hebron then picks the milk up from the farmer and does the driving to take the milk to the members of the co-op. He does not sell the milk.. he distributes it.
It sounds like a minor detail but it's not. I really appreciate that the real milk my children drinks comes from cows that are *mine*. I may not take care of them daily but this is my cows in the same way that a rented apartment would be my apartment.
It was indeed a celebration today. All of us were so glad to see Richard again and to regain access to the wonderful food our cooperative produces. My kids cheered when they got to drink fresh, delicious, health-giving raw milk for the first time in two weeks!
My fellow members and I will go to great lengths to ensure the vitality and longevity of our cooperative. Of the many reasons why, here's one: As Richard said one day, "That milk was walking around the pasture just a few hours ago." How's that for motivation?
The state should be supporting this movement that has given new life to local small farms.
Our personal choice to personally investigate the farms and the integrity of the farmers and to choose to support them should be a private arrangement and not subject to state scrutiny. If the products were being sold in stores, they are welcome to oversight that is appropriate and needed. This is an individual choice, the public is not involved.the state has no business in this arena.
The most common comment I have heard from dozens of people is why have they wasted our tax dollars on this victimless "crime" when there are so many other more important issues facing the state? That is indeed the question. And that is something worthy of an investigation. Are the larger dairy interests putting pressure on the state?
I wish I felt safe attaching my name to this post. But I do not.And that itself is a disturbing commentary on this whole situation.
Thanks to everyone who are not just drinking good milk, but helping to change farming practices and awareness of our food and food sources.