All this fuss over a little raw milk?
By LUELLA DOW
Contributor
Recently I read an article about a Lancaster, Penn., dairy farmer. The fact that he is a farmer at Lancaster is a clue to anyone that his business would probably be especially clean and well run. These Amish people are famous for their food and neatness.
After two years of harassment by the Food and Drug Administration the man finally said, “I'll have to shut my business down.” What was his crime? Selling raw milk. The local news media shouted that the farmer sold the milk across the state line. Bad boy, that one.
One of the farmer's customers said “I can't believe the federal government is raiding Amish farmers at gunpoint all over a basic human right to eat natural food.” Another pointed out that taxpayers were forced to pay for abortions of people they didn't even know, “but God forbid we want the same milk our grandparents drank.”
Is raw milk really dangerous? Some would say yes. With unsanitary surroundings it could be. But that's not the milk causing trouble, it's the surroundings. My grandfather milked cows by lantern light and brought the full bucket, sprinkled with a tiny smidgen of hay dust, into the house. He poured it through a clean white cloth into gallon jars, and carried it to the cool cellar. There, the cream would rise.
I grew up on raw milk. My parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, neighbors, friends, etc. grew up on it. Millions of people I will never meet have enjoyed it. I happen to be one of the lucky ones who had the privilege of skimming the cream from a jar of raw milk. Real whipped cream is much different than that contrived in a laboratory.
One particular thing bothers this writer more than others. An investigator from the FDA used an alias to pretend to be one of the Lancaster farmer's customers and had milk delivered to residences in another state. Then the FDA could say, “See, I told you he was selling milk across the state line.”
When is it right for the keepers of the law to lie to get the results they want when the intended perpetrator would be in even more trouble for doing the same? What does it teach young people who are beginning to form their opinions of right and wrong? It's OK to lie, says the FDA, when it gets the results you want.
The unhappy outcome? A farmer is stripped of his livelihood. Those who are supposed to be protectors of the law have sullied their reputation. The farmer's customers must find another source for the milk they want. The FDA's victory has become a sham.
I'll try to find a happier story for next week. Suggestions are welcomed. In the meantime drink your milk before the FDA outlaws calcium.
Luella Dow is a Cheney-area author who can be reached at [email protected].
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