Oregon Farmers May Go to Prison Over Raw Milk Ads

Joshua Cook | benswann.com

Image: DeesIllustrations.com

There is no free speech when it comes to advertising raw milk products in Oregon. In fact, those who violate this law may face possible jail time.

Most states in the country have significant restrictions on the sale of raw milk, and at first glance, Oregon’s seem like some of the less extreme ones.  Sales are outright illegal in 20 states, and though Oregon does not allow the retail sale of raw milk, it does allow small organic dairies – with three cows or fewer, only two of which can be lactating at any given time – to sell their product directly to consumers.  The catch, however, is that these dairies are prohibited from advertising their product.

Christine Anderson filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in the hopes of changing that.  She owns and runs Cast Iron Farm, a two cow dairy and has taken great pains to ensure the process creates the highest quality, safest milk possible, combining modern and traditional methods.  The government’s concern is that raw milk may carry harmful bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, but such hazards are usually a product of human milk processing, not the cow, itself. Anderson’s process minimizes these risks.

Last year, the Oregon Department of Agriculture told Anderson she must remove the milk prices from her website, and as part of this, she has been unable to advertise sales when she has a surplus of milk and is forced to waste much of it, feeding it to her pigs.  She also felt compelled to remove information about her milking, bottling and testing methods from her website, because they could also be construed as advertising. The irony of this, as her attorney has noted, is that this actually keeps consumers from accessing information which could help them make safer raw milk choices.

There are a growing number of Americans who consider raw milk to be much healthier than that which is pasteurized.

The pasteurization process destroys proteins, enzymes and probiotics which many consider integral to digestive health.  Digestive health has been increasingly linked to overall health, with allergies, infections and even autoimmune disease being connected to digestive issues.

Another issue facing smaller farms is that big corporations like Monsanto and the milk lobby have millions of dollars to advertise their products. They control the public narrative and have the power of the mass media to essentially eliminate smaller competitors.

However, the public is waking up and are concerned about pasteurized milk products that may contain growth hormones. Many countries have already outlawed the artificial hormone rBGH used to inject milk cows in order to maximize production. Starbucks, Chipotle, and Ben and Jerry’s state that their dairy products are rBGH-free. Concerns over chemicals, hormones, and drugs in pasteurized milk has helped raw milk sales. The trend to buy local and natural foods continues to be a popular trend in the U.S.

Those in rural communities are fighting draconian laws and regulations imposed by politicians who are influenced by special interests and lobbyists. Farmers like Anderson are filing lawsuits while others are using jury nullification to stand up for their Constitutional rights.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “a Hennepin County jury found Alvin Schlangen not guilty of three misdemeanor counts of selling unpasteurized milk, operating without a food license and handling adulterated or misbranded food.” Each count carried a maximum sentence of three months’ imprisonment.

Source: benswann.com

Six good reasons to avoid "conventional" grocery store milk

John McKiernan | Natural News

Image: www.politicususa.com

You’ve probably heard misguided nutrition advice telling you that low-fat dairy is good for you. You might also hear “be sure it’s pasteurized, because raw dairy products are dangerous.” In fact, the truth is that the low-fat, pasteurized, homogenized, GMO grain-fed, hormone and antibiotic-laced milk is the real danger to your health.

1. Pasteurized/Ultra-pasteurized

Heating milk destroys bacteria, but it also destroys enzymes, making it harder to digest. Many people diagnosed as lactose intolerant are only intolerant to pasteurized milk, because it lacks the enzymes necessary for digestion. The Campaign for Real Milk website notes that pasteurization’s worst offense is the fact that it makes most of the calcium in milk insoluble – meaning the body is unable to use it. However, the pasteurization of industrial milk is actually necessary, because it’s essentially dirty milk that would otherwise be dangerous.

Ultra-high temperature, or UHT, pasteurization, a processing method that heats milk to extreme temperatures, destroys virtually all the micro life within milk – making the proteins virtually indigestible. More than 80 percent of all the organic milk sold in the U.S. is UHT pasteurized.

2. Homogenized

Homogenization, a process often called “the worst thing dairymen have done to milk,” is the breaking down of fat molecules in milk through very high pressure. This stops the fat from rising to the top and creates a “consistent” product. It also makes milk fat toxic to the body. Homogenization releases the enzyme xanthine oxidase, which is damaging to the body once it’s broken into unnaturally small pieces. Arterial walls can begin to accumulate xanthine oxidase, which subsequently promotes heart disease.

3. Low fat/Non fat

When you consume low-fat or skim milk, not only are you drinking a denatured food, you’re contributing to obesity. A 2005 study published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine followed 12,829 children ages 9 to 14 years. The study found that drinking reduced fat milk was associated with weight gain, whereas full-fat milk was not.

4. GMO grain-fed

Cows are meant to eat grass, not grains, which is why milk from grass-fed cows (raw milk) is much healthier. It’s notably higher in CLA – a fat that can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk for heart disease. In general, grain-fed cows that live in CAFOs produce less healthy milk that’s lower in vitamins, minerals (particularly calcium) and omega-3 fats. As far as the GMO aspect goes, we’ve already seen what they do to pig’s stomachs.

5. Antibiotics

80 percent of the antibiotics sold in this country are fed to food animals, and 23,000 people die from antibiotic-resistant infections each year. Coincidence? Not likely. The FDA allows antibiotic residue in milk, because there’s really no way to avoid it, other than not using antibiotics. As a result, they decide what a safe level of antibiotic residue is, and that becomes the amount you’re exposed to.

6. Hormones

Hormone levels in industrial milk are high for two reason: Cows are treated with artificial growth hormones created by bio-tech companies (which are banned in many countries), and they are milked about 300 days a year – for much of that time, they are pregnant. Milk from a pregnant cow contains 33 times more of the estrogen known as estrone sulfate than milk from a non-pregnant cow. Nobody knows the extent of the risks presented by these dietary hormones, but there is plenty of concern in the scientific community about their possible link to cancer.

Raw milk

If you’re drinking raw, whole milk, you will, for the most part, avoid each of these issues. Despite what critics say about raw milk safety, the truth is that you’re chances of being hospitalized from drinking raw milk are about one in six million. In other words, you’re three times more likely to die in a plane crash than to be hospitalized from drinking raw milk.

Source: naturalnews.com