How Now Brown Cow--Fast-Growing Demand Drives Raw Milk Prices to Lofty Levels; Fights in the Supermarket Aisle
Friday, June 19, 2009 at 04:30PM 
There’s an interesting survey going on from the Raw Dairy listserve about how much people are paying for raw milk. When I filled it out last evening, here were the results, based on 39 responses:
Some 70% were paying over $6 a gallon, and 30% were paying over $10 a gallon. I have to think that most or all of those paying over $10 a gallon are from California, where the price is on the order of $16-$17 a gallon; I pay $5 a gallon in New Hampshire, and $10 a gallon in Massachusetts. (You can fill out the survey here, but I believe you first have to sign up for the listserve through Yahoo.
The listserve had a story recently about scarcities in California, even at $17 a gallon, including a tale of how consumers await Claravale Farm deliveries to particular stores, and of how fights have broken out when the supply quickly drew down.
I glean a few messages in this information:
- There is a serious economic opportunity for those dairy farmers seeking to escape the commodity economy, especially one in whichn producers of conventional milk are losing money on every gallon of milk their cows produce. (Here's an article I just wrote for BusinessWeek.com about the implications of that trend.) These raw milk prices are certainly high in comparison to conventional milk, but need to be seen as a combination of the high costs associated with producing, marketing, and conforming to the tight regulations for high-quality unpasteurized milk. Strong demand, of course, is an essential component.
- There will undoubtedly be loud complaints about these prices, especially during these difficult economic times--and ammunition here for the “keep food cheap” crowd that dominates food production in this country. The problems being exposed in the new documentaries “Food Inc.” and “Fresh!” are fundamentally an outgrowth of the keep-food-cheap mentality. You crowd animals together, plug them with antibiotics, and feed them the cheapest junk possible—all as ways to keep your costs down, and thereby maintain margins.
- Related to the previous, this is a classic example of what some refer to as artisanal food versus factory food. Artisanal food will always cost more, as well it should, since it can only be produced in limited quantities, requiring more labor and land than factory food.
In my opinion, these three messages help explain the desire by the food lobby to push through so-called food safety legislation that treats smaller owner-operated operations treated the same as larger operations. I was speaking today with Mark Kastel of Cornucopia, a nonprofit that pushes for adherence to organic regulations, and he says the big danger in the new food safety effort is “a one-size-fits-all approach” that threatens to “economically damage the most promising part of the food economy.” He agrees with Steve Bemis and others on this blog who have pushed for an exemption for farms of a certain size.
The problem is that goes against the grain of the food industry in this country. Fast-growing numbers of smaller producers making a good profit selling nutritionally-dense food is a threat. So you try to sabotage them every which way you can.
We need not use our imaginations on this one—the heavy-handed campaigns against raw milk producers in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan demonstrate the readiness of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use the new powers it will get via food safety to expand its war on smaller food producers.
***
What goes around usually comes around. That's about all I can say about a re-hashing of the 2006 illnesses allegedly from raw milk produced by Organic Pastures Dairy Co. The discussion, on a food blog that seems to have just heard about raw milk (and explores safety issues), seemed to have ended when the two most serious cases were settled out of court, and there were handshakes all around, but apparently some sore spots remain. The discussion following the post has food-poison lawyer Bill Marler, Weston A. Price Foundation head Sally Fallon, and Organic Pastures owner Mark McAfee engaging in a discussion/debate of sorts.
Reader Comments (41)
While I agree with your 3 points above, this I cannot swallow:
"In my opinion, these three messages help explain the desire by the food lobby to push through so-called food safety legislation that treats smaller owner-operated operations treated the same as larger operations...Fast-growing numbers of smaller producers making a good profit selling nutritionally-dense food is a threat. So you try to sabotage them every which way you can."
No doubt, conspiracy theories are sexier and more exciting than what's really going on: small producers are an afterthought (or no thought) when these policies are being developed and implemented. The blogs, attendance at NAIS "listening sessions," movies like Food, Inc and Fresh, and the various campaigns to give small farmers a louder voice are working to some extent. But, comments like above really damage credibility. You're not fighting an effort to destroy niche markets. The real challenge is to find a place at the table to counter a "one size fits all" policy. As it stands, that voice is mostly ignored, IMHO.
On that link to the constipation blog, talk about a credibility destroyer. Since I'm actually fascinated with the idea of finding common ground, and moving past one size fits all, it is just sad to see what the "leaders" in the raw movement continue to say (in the comments part of the blog piece). The "know your farmer" is an excellent idea in theory, but has failed for raw milk in some parts of the country.
Once again, she must be getting her information from a farmer that is bent on telling lies. It sounds like Sally Fallon needs to ask the farmer about the facts again. Maybe she doesn’t know that he originally stated that the Martin child was talking on his cell phone when the farmer called the hospital and now the story switches to he was sitting up in bed and eating. That’s the problem with lies. One tends to forget what story was told.
Regardless of everyone’s opinion as to why the Martin child became so ill (HUS), e.coli 0157:H7 does this type of damage. The Martin story is about the damage this pathogen can do to a child’s little body. Here’s the latest outbreak. You many not want to eat Nestle Toll House cookies. 70% of the victims are under 19 years old.
http://www.marlerblog.com/2009/06/articles/case-news/nestle-toll-house-prepackaged-refrigerated-cookie-dough-linked-to-e-coli-o157h7-illnesses-25-hospitalized-7-with-hemolytic-uremic-syndrome-hus/
cp
I respected the businessman representing raw milk for his independence and tenacity in going to a large dairy meeting (NCIMS) recently, and getting a seat at the table. Then he spoke...there and elsewhere. Okay, the stuff was great material to laugh at over drinks later, but the overall disrespect toward food safety, and moreover the attacks on victims of food poisoning, were sobering. The latest comments on that other blog by the so-called leaders in the raw milk movement show their immaturity and, frankly, naiveté. Too bad loyalty trumps logic when it comes to the hard questions in this movement.
by Marler Clark 6/19/09
"We urgently need increased funding for the agencies responsible for public health"
The math is simple --more people--more resources -- the faster the outbreak can be detected-- and means fewer illnesses.
Oh if we only had just a little more money we could eliminate E. coli, ebola, hiv, tb, std, chd, mental illness, warts and raw milk!!!
Perhaps someone should tell our leaders spending more money has not worked well up to this point and that the bottom of the unending money pit has been found and that pit is now filled in with the IOUs of many future generations. Economic child abuse? And no one is outraged?
To protect the public from food bourne illnesses produced by the system is about as futile as a dog chasing its tail. Big Ag has utterly failed we must return to small farming and soon.
That story from 2006 has been beating that poor dead horse so many times, too many unanswered questions. When the same old rhetoric is used time and agian, it only serves to shut out those who did listen. Until new information comes to light, what purpose is it to continually beat a dead horse?
I haven't seen the new documentaries “Food Inc.” and “Fresh!” yet. A coworker said she wasn't sure she wanted to know how her food was produced/processed as she knew it would cause her to change her diet. There are a few of us who bring in fresh foods from our gardens, it encourages others to use the farmers markets and to try growing thier own.
Kudos to the small producers, I hope they continue to profit.
I paid $7.59 for 1/2 gal raw milk at the CO-OP yesterday. On OP's web site it is $5.00 for 1/2 gal. Since it is unadulterated and tastes a whole lot better than boiled milk, it is worth it.
It would be nice if the raw milk was sold at the farmers market under the freeway on Sundays.
Food Safety Enhancement Act HR2749
"AND NO ONE WOULD BE ALLOWED TO DRINK RAW MILK"
Food Safety? Yea sure and indeed the world is flat!
If TPTB be do not succeed in taking away our ability obtain raw dairy [and all natural foods] by debasing the currency surely they intend to do it by "law."
Next year we may be very happy to buy a gallon of raw milk for $30 if we are even ALLOWED.
Please visit this website and learn alittle about "Ancient Milk" the word used to describe raw milk by the FDA and the NIH. All the claims and good things about rw milk are clearly stated here.
I wrote a raging spewing 400 word post and then erased it as not being constructive. I detest your lack of responsibility taken by the FDA for the hundreds of thousands of deaths that they cause each year by their sterile food and drug pushing greed based poliices. You are both part of that carnage. Please respect that we want no part of that.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/probiotics/
Mark
The magic ancient milk argument isn't going to help much in changing policies IMHO (they will keep laughing). There are plenty of alternatives to raw milk for probiotics (and nutrient dense foods). If you want to increase access to raw milk and change policies, instead, consider a message that speaks to TPTB's concerns: 1) acknowledge that outbreaks from raw milk can happen and show empathy for the patients (even if you don't have any - at least fake it), and 2) demonstrate that raw millk can be made as safe as any other raw product that is sold to the public through sanitiation, HACCP, warning labels, etc. Simply being organic and feeding grass is not a viable food safety plan.
Perhaps if representatives came to the table with more thorough, science-based approach to food safety instead of unaccepted health claims, and focused on the unfairness of food bans , there could be some progress.
Why is a policy required to purchase food? What law states that any entity has the right to dictate what one buys or consumes?
"There are plenty of alternatives to raw milk for probiotics (and nutrient dense foods). "
Why must one use an "alternative"?
"If you want to increase access to raw milk and change policies, instead, consider a message that speaks to TPTB's concerns:"
Your statement is one-sided. Why doesn't tptb consider a message that speaks to the people regarding conserns. It is a freedom of choice that is being taken away from the people.
"1) acknowledge that outbreaks from raw milk can happen and show empathy for the patients (even if you don't have any - at least fake it), and "
I must have missed it, who and when was it said that outbreaks from raw milk can't happen? I do recall empathy for those children and the nurse from NoCal, I also recall the continued slamming of those who oposed what was said. As said previously, the same old rhetoric burns people out and they stop listening.
"2) demonstrate that raw millk can be made as safe as any other raw product that is sold to the public through sanitiation, HACCP, warning labels, etc. Simply being organic and feeding grass is not a viable food safety plan. "
This has been done, Claravale & OP are 2 daries that have shown it is possible.
Shame on anyone for expecting people to conform to anothers beliefs. Why are people expected to conform to "science based" approach? Those unaccepted health claims are factual to those who it has shown a positive result for. Shame on anyone who belittles those facts.
I've had patients over the years who have lowered thier cholesterol significantly by eating a bowel of old fashioned rolled oats a day. In 30-60 days it was "normal". Thier experiment worked. Good science there. AND they didn't have to worry about horrid side effects of any statin drugs. Amazing! I can only imagine that to tptb that wasn't true science. It doesn't matter that it worked for those people.
Food safety- you have the confined feedlots, the poor soils, the contaminated crops, that harbor numerous deadly pathogens, the animals are fed unnatural feeds, they are injected with numerous chemicals, they are sent to slaughter houses where they obtain more variety of pathogens, they are subjected to chemicals, irradiation, God knows what else. This is your idea of FOOD SAFETY? How could that be? It is poisoning of the masses.
What is scientific about this? What is scientific about the current governmental food safety regs? Potentiates (sp) Pollution, contamination of animals, people and the environment.... This produces a scienario of what should be unaccepted health and welfare towards the human race and the environment.
I have seen nothing that shows that tptb are intending to clean up anything....only more of the same.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/647.html
The Health Dangers of Genetically Modified Food [and genetically modified bacteria and the COVER UP that took place]
60 minute video by Jeffery Smith author of Seeds of Deception
Let the so called food safety experts prove what Jeffery Smith states is wrong.
The mountain of evidence against the so called food system has surpassed the tree line and can easily be seen by all if they only open their eyes and look!
Believe TPTBs scientists? I don't think so!
The people upholding the regulation aren’t bad people, but the policies they have to adhere to are skewed in Big Ag’s favor. The aim of Big Ag is to produce tons of cheap food, not artisinal food. There’s a world of difference here.
Science is a good thing to have on your side. Scientific dogma is not. Quite a few of the more virulent pathogens have arisen from our attempts to sterilize our environment. Perhaps it would be better to understand that enriching and culturing a few L. monocytogenes cells from a product is fairly wasteful and meaningless if in general there are no associated illnesses. At the same time, it is reasonable to have an appropriate warning label on foods such as soft cheeses that might contain the organism.
The "one size fits all" model of agriculture won't work. It is impossible to monitor effectively and has the horrific effect of turning peaceful, productive people into law-breakers. This is the status quo, however. Until more small farmers are invited to the regulatory table, things will remain dysfunctional.
If that is so, it is a sin equal to actively pushing small farms into oblivion.
Never mind. The reality is that the “movement” is looking dangerously as if it might reach critical mass, and perhaps sooner than later. If the notion that industrial-style food is neither safe for bodies nor economies takes hold, then Con Agra and Monsanto and all the rest will be in very serious trouble. THAT is the issue for industrial ag right now. And as the evidence builds that all this heart disease and diabetes and cancer and developmental disease and on and on is related to our food, watch out. Likewise, if the bell ever rings in our collective consciousness that local economies (and the human community relationships that require them) are being killed off by centralized production models, and by centralized control of just about everything, then there will be no stopping the cry for reform.
"But is there truth in advertising? "
I would say, NO, there is not.
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/animalwelfare/
How could anything from these places be good for anyone?
The warning sign is about the size of a 3 x 5 card. It is hooked to a clip that is attached to every shelf. You can't miss it when you purchase raw milk. In big letters it says, “Customer Advisory” and then below that it says, “WARNING” in bold letters, followed by this sentence: This product has not been pasteurized and therefore may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.
I’m curious if the raw milk point of sale warning signs are in all stores across the nation or only in California. Kudos to Whole Foods Market for being proactive on this topic. Consumers need to be aware of the choice they are making before they purchase raw milk.
Don, thank you for the link to the videos on GMO food. I am looking forward to watching them. I just finished reading a book on the topic that Bill Marler posted on his blog. It is excellent. http://www.marlerblog.com/2009/06/articles/lawyer-oped/robyn-obrien-the-unhealthy-truth/
Mark, you got caught with your pants down….stop with the lies!
cp
What happened to Joel? Or is everyone in the raw milk argument, (did he even argue for raw milk?), particularly those with rational statements, represented only by Organic Pastures and Weston A. Price Foundation? Is every argument made a venue for you to lash back at them instead of having constructive conversation about a topic at hand? I fail to see what Mark McAfee has to do with my statement about Karma.
Please, do tell me how the Karma may affect Joel Salatin.
http://polyfaceyum.blogspot.com/2009/06/joels-visit-to-washington.html
Maybe I read too many different blogs that day. There are other players in this than Mark McAfee and Weston A. Price Foundation, with different perspectives though. That story is old. There are clearly many food poisoning issues - frozen pizza, peanut butter and cookie dough for instance.
While our economy is struggling, and people in the world are hungry, incorporating a monster like the NAIS is hardly a priority, in my opinion. Educate the public, but do not limit their access to resources. Spend all that money on education. That is where I stand, and I doubt you will convince me otherwise, even with pictures of a dying child. There are so very many things children are more likely to die of. Take accidents for instance, or burn injuries. Starvation may even be one of them. I'll look that one up. 1/100,000 loses a life and there are new regulations to protect EVERYONE. Like healthcare regulating nurses out of being able to actually take care of their patients, we are going to regulate ourselves out of being able to eat. IMHO, it is a power struggle, power issue, not a safety one. Who can sue who for what? Whose fault is it? That is what "food safety" boils down to.
Regretably freedom of choise isn't one of our trump cards for they have even severely limited that as well. And all in the name of food safety.
I am away for 24 hours and now I have been caught with my pants down and lying??!!
Would someone please clue me in....when were my pants down and what lies have I now told?
For your information...I look pretty darn good with my pants down. I just finished a one month milk diet that included about 300 pushups , god knows how many pull ups,and running a couple of miles per day... I have never felt better.
CP....just for your information..."magical milk" is not discussed at the NIH-DHHS website. Ancient Milk is described as milk prior to the advent of the required "killing of filthy milk" and parboiling or pastuerization.
I would love to take you or any one up on an invitation to discuss raw milk and deliver the hard science about its effectiveness in controlling or eliminating: IBS, Ulcers, Lactose Intolerance, Resp Infections, asthma and allergies, colds etc. In addition to the hard science referenced at the NIH website, there is a mountain of peer reviewed study from EU and published in the JAMA, Lancet and other notable publications.
When I was at the NCIMS conference and the FDA refused to take delivery of six inches thick of hard data and research supporting amendment of ( interstate commerce of Raw Milk that is tested and inspected by state agencies ) CFR 1240.61 and refused to be in the same room with me and refused to hold a conversation with me....the answer is simple: This is an FDA learning disability problem....Not a failure on my part to try and communIcate with them. It cost me $1800 to try and talk with the FDA.
CP and Lykke,.....you suffer from the same syndrome. You have an agenda to support.
I spent the last three days at two conferences and EXPOS here in Fresno. Raw milk was even spoken about my our wonderful Mayor during the keynote as the invitees drank our delicious raw chocolare milk.....Yum was the word. OPDC was the special guess of Wholefoods at two of them. They were proud sponsors and shared their table with OPDC. The reason....we share the same passion and message for WHOLE UNPROCESSED FOODS.
From these three conferences....we now have six more Fresno doctors prescribing raw milk to kids ( because the chief of medicine at the leading pediatric center VCH prescribes it very effectively ). Each of these western trained doctors expressed to me their reservations about the side effects of pastuerized milk on kids. We have problably 100 new raw milk consumers and we will have ten more tours of the dairy next week.
This paradigm igores you....this paradigm will shift not because of your dying back ground noise but because of simple economics and the truth at the raw grass roots level.
The truth is this....the dairy industry is protected by lies repeatedly told to them and the public about raw milk in support of pastueurized milk. Many people are now scared of pastuerized milk and many are scared to even try one glass of raw milk becuase of their experiences with pasteurized milk....because it gave them a terrible gas pain and the runs for hours.
When I can convince these same people to try raw milk....guess what, they emerge with a look of bewilderedment and a smile....then they get pissed because they know they have been lied to not by Mark McAfee but GOT MILK and the FDA. Then they say "this is good stuff" and want more.
It is becoming quite the slogon....you are not lactose intolerant.....you are pastuerization intolerant.
The only products that seem to have life in processed dairy are thos with bacteria and culture....the cheeses and yogurts....the dead products are dying taking innocent hard working dairymen with them.
CP...that is the big lie. I have tried several times to engage you and or meet with you to share.But you do not engage....you namelessly shoot from behind rocks
CP....my pants are up at least for now. Naked is pretty darn nice here at the dairy and the cows do not seem to mind at all. At least I get some natural sunshine. Not sure where you get your sunshine if any.
If you get the impression that I think you are irrelevant....you are right becuase you are, The people that matter are the people. The hundreds of people that I spoke with and sampled raw milk with in the last few days. Those people matter. The truth has been exposed and you are part of the dust of dead food history. What you represent is indigestible and fake just like your name.
FOOD, Inc is now creating tons of calls at 1-877 RAW MILK ( OPDC ). People are getting it.
Processed food is making us all sick. Unprocessed whole foods make us well. This is true food safety. Not your paradigm of sickness profiteering and sterile preserved junk calories.
What do you not get about this?
One more thing. Dr. Amanda Rose shared with me that one of the interesting findings of her raw milk consumer study was this: raw milk consumers are generally much smarter and more highhly educated than the standard consumer.
Fancy that.....
Mark
BTW, loved your entertaining evidence list. # 11 is quite creative. Out of curiosity, how do you know this information…that both kids were wearing bracelets that warned medical provider to not give antibiotics?
cp