My family has been drinking grass-fed raw milk for almost 20 years now. Since that time, I have watched the war against farm-fresh dairy evolve from something the government basically ignored (because there were so few people doing it) to the present day policy which is to harass and illegally shut down small dairy farms across the county essentially bankrupting them in the process.
Remember the old quotation from Gandhi?
First they ignore at you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
We are clearly in the last phase of the war against raw milk and there is no doubt that the right for the consumer to choose healthy farm fresh foods will win. But there is still a long way to go.
This new phase of the raw milk war now involves consumers as well as farmers. Considered off-limits in the past, consumers are being harassed and threatened with trumped-up charges like allowing local farmers to deliver on their property.
Government officials are writing up phony cease and desist letters in the name of the FDA even where the FDA has absolutely no jurisdiction in order to frighten consumers away from procuring dairy from their own privately owned cows tended by farmers contracted with via herd share agreements.
Clearly these are desperate measures by a government that realizes they are losing the battle to scare consumers away from this healthy, nutrient-dense food.
In the early days of the war, government warnings that raw milk would make you sick and that those who drank it were playing Russian roulette with their health were enough to scare the majority of consumers away from seeking and trying it for themselves. With distrust of the government at an all-time high, these tactics are no longer working.
One gal new to farm-fresh dairy told me recently that if the government was against raw milk, that must mean she should drink it and that it was good for her!
With the old battle strategies ineffective, this new phase against raw milk involves trying to reason with consumers to dissuade them logically from consuming raw milk.  This “I’m one of you and here are my concerns” approach seems very real and sensible at first, but in reality, it is the propaganda snake simply shedding its skin and taking a new form all in the name of confusing the consumer into inaction.
Take a look at the slick, professional video below by “Food Poison Expert” and attorney Bill Marler. This short clip demonstrates this new approach to divert consumers away from raw milk very clearly. His website “Real Raw Milk Facts” even goes so far as to use the lingo of the Real Food movement.
Be warned if you are new to raw dairy. This tactic is just the same old raw milk propaganda repackaged in a more subtle and insidious way to infiltrate and fight the raw milk war from the inside and on the fringes of the Real Food Movement. Will it work?
Not a chance. Consumers are becoming way to savvy nowadays to fall for this type of baloney. But it is helpful to expose the new tools of war just the same.
First milk, then sprouts, juice and then lettuce. There is only one word for FDA and government intrusion, STUPID.
It was not possible to watch the video after the first few minutes. Feces in the milk? This dairy farm girl knows bullsh*t when she hears it!
OMG i haven’t been pasteurizing my home made orange juice and all the different juices i have been making in my juicer…i am gonna die..oh my…..ok stupid man…i am off to my friends farm to enjoy another glass of raw goat milk….yum yum yum..
Here is the plaintiff’s personal injury law firm that created the video.
They are ambulance-chasing for the Dairy Industry
they publish:
Marler Clark publishes premier sources of online information on food safety: Food Safety News, Food Poison Journal, Real Raw Milk Facts, and the Outbreak Database.
they endorse:
wherein they write
About Us
Real Raw Milk Facts is supported in part by Marler Clark, the nation’s foremost law firm with a practice dedicated to representing victims of food poisoning.
In 2009, two important public health sessions sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the International Association for Food Protection were held to discuss emerging issues surrounding the increasing popularity of raw (unpasteurized, unprocessed milk). . . .
The International Association for Food Protection held a symposium on raw milk –
Where the two “welcoming” speakers happen to be with “The International Dairy Foods Association” and the “Ambassador” for the “National Dairy Council”
Is anyone surprised?
BTW you may want to take a look at the slide shows that were presented.
Looks as though, by their own research, pasteurized products have nearly the same amount of pathogens as non – and WAPF members would know that these numbers are obviously “doctored.”
Yep, big time ambulance chaser types and proud of it. So much for earlier comments claiming he does go after these types of cases but only after big companies. *sigh*
from his own website:
“MARLER CLARK is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of foodborne illnesses related to raw milk. The firm’s E. coli attorneys have unmatched experience and have recovered over $600 million for food poisoning victims and their families. For more information, to speak with an attorney, or if you are a member of the media and would like a copy of the complaint.
Having consumed raw milk in great quantities over the years along with my children and extended family, I’m not inclined to believe this mans claims, especially when he throws in the leafy greens, etc. Ha
I would be much more inclined to listen to this or other government health warnings if untold number of FDA approved drugs weren’t proven to be harmful or fatal to those who took them. Time after time we are told something is safe (prescription drugs) and encouraged to take it, only to hear crickets when the class action lawsuits and wrongful death cases come about.
Our tax dollars should go into regulating the sale of raw milk since raw milk from a clean healthy cow is perfectly SAFE! Isn’t that what taxes are for? Isn’t that what the FDA is for?
Providing for ourselves is already illegal in their minds..it’s called socialism
“…new and final phase…” in my opinion, the final phase will be when USDA/FDA/MilkBoard/County or any such government entitiy says it is illegal for my family to consume raw dairy from my own dairy goats kept on my own property for my own, personal use and enjoyment. I really hope it never comes to this. While I sympathize and understand the plight of those who desire real foods but are unable to produce such on their own, my family and I were blessed with the opportunity to do this. We raise all of our own protien…with the exception of pork (I buy sausage from a local grassfed farmer). It will be just terrible should providing for ourselves become illegal!
I was drinking a glass of raw milk as I read this. Before I purchased a herd share, I read about the dangers and benefits of raw milk. I decided that the benefits outweigh the dangers and so I decided to take the risk. I do that every day with other things – the benefit of driving my car outweighs the risks (I get places fast/could die in accident)…the benefit of eating vegetables outweighs the risks (tastes good and are nutritious/could die from ecoli) and so on. Yes, I could become seriously ill or even die from drinking raw milk. But that risk is very, very, very miniscule. And if I do get sick, I won’t be suing anyone. I made an informed choice and I take the responsibility for it. And if I gave raw milk to my child and the child died or got sick, that would be my fault and responsibility. I knew it was a risk and was willing to take that risk. My choice.
And since I am an intelligent and informed consumer, I don’t need a nanny state government protecting me from myself. I am an adult and I will be responsible for myself. This war on raw milk is frightening and makes me fear for my future freedom. I know a government that controls my food supply will have complete control over me, and they know it, too.
This is very well said, JMR. There are risks in life to everything. Are we to cower in fear in our homes eating nothing but sterilized, nutritionless processed foods for fear of a germ making us sick?
I would do just about anything for a glass of raw milk! So delicious!
‘m a dairy farmers daughter who grew up on raw milk. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that I could have been the dairy poster child. My family is no longer in the dairy business, plus I have moved states away. Sale of raw milk for human consumption is illegal in our state. 🙂
I recently learned the effects on women and their menstrual cycles, which explains why I acquired issues when I went off to college and began drinking pasteurized milk.