Posted on 06/23/2013 8:03:38 AM PDT by rickmichaels
DAIRY is a way of life in Wisconsin. Milk is the official state beverage. Locals proudly refer to themselves as “cheeseheads”. Hats in the shape of slices of Swiss are popular. A heart-stopping treat called “fried curds” is a staple bar snack. Local licence-plates read “America’s Dairyland”. All of which perhaps explains why the state authorities took the conduct of Vernon Hershberger so seriously.
Mr Hershberger runs a traditional dairy with 40 cows. State law prohibits selling milk to the public without pasteurising it first. But Mr Hershberger tried to get around this stricture by setting up a “club” which provided raw milk (also known as “moo-shine”) to its members—until state food inspectors raided his farm, destroyed the milk they found and put him on trial.
Members of the ARMi (Alliance for Raw Milk internationale) and other “food freedom” activists flocked to the courthouse, brandishing placards declaring, “My milk My body My choice” and “Land of the free? Tell my cow”, among other slogans. They likened Mr Hershberger to Rosa Parks, a celebrated civil-rights activist, and demanded the freedom to eat (and drink) whatever they like. The jury was sympathetic: on May 25th Mr Hershberger was acquitted of operating without the proper licences, although he was found guilty of moving food the authorities had ordered him to keep as evidence after the raid.
Mr Hershberger is not the only crusader for raw milk, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture not the movement’s only foe. The federal government prohibits moving the stuff across state lines, although it has no power to regulate it within state boundaries. The Food and Drug Administration’s website explains that unpasteurised dairy products are more likely to make those who consume them sick than pasteurised ones. It adds that moo-shine’s purported health benefits are unsubstantiated.
Raw-milk activists are not cowed. Their kind of milk is much tastier than the processed muck, they say. In some of the 20 states that ban its sale, they operate “herdshares”. A farmer sells stakes (not steaks) in cows that he tends. He then gives raw milk to shareholders, and charges a maintenance fee. If not the land of the free, America is certainly the land of the ingenious lawyer.
Nope, what we need is more natural immunity.
The motto of my family for the past several generations is that "every kid needs to eat a pound of dirt". That's why we got kicked out of the house to play, drank milk that was inside a cow 10 minutes earlier, ate beef, pork and poultry that was moving around on its own an hour earlier, and vegetables that were just plucked out of the garden.
The cheese head hats are actually cheddar cheese
Off topic but if Wisconsin is famous for cheese and they are Cheese Heads would it be fair to say that residents Massachusetts (famous for clam chowder) are Chowder Heads?
I’ll keep drinking my raw milk, thank you very much, big government types.
“The motto of my family for the past several generations is that ‘every kid needs to eat a pound of dirt’. That’s why we got kicked out of the house to play, drank milk that was inside a cow 10 minutes earlier, ate beef, pork and poultry that was moving around on its own an hour earlier, and vegetables that were just plucked out of the garden.”
I was raised that way. Raised my kids that way. No one in my family had/has any issues that today’s kids are dealing with as far as allergies and mental illnesses, LOL!
I grew up on cement in inner-city Milwaukee, but we went to the Municipal Market (basically a Farmer’s Market before they got sissified) every week for fresh foodstuffs and live chickens to butcher.
I cannot WAIT to move further out into the hinterlands. Me, my dogs, a cow, a goat or a sheep or two. An even bigger garden, etc.
Life is so GOOD when you can escape the clutches of Mother Government! :)
BUMP! :)
Great! You can run, but you can't hide. I've been researching ways to avoid the 8,000 lb. "Mom" sitting in the corner for years and have yet to discover how to do it.
The only thing I have found that appears promising is to fake your own death.
Didn't Abe Lincoln's mother die from milk sickness though?
Having worked for one of the world’s most famous Infectious Disease specialists (Dr Louis Weinstein...google him) in one of the world’s most famous hospitals I wouldn’t touch unpasteurized dairy products with a 12 foot Hungarian.Yes,I know that some of the “libertarians” around here think that *all* laws and regulations are oppressive but at least some,however,are essentially beneficial.
Yes...very fair...totally on topic though. Maybe if they had all those commies en Mass shoot their own food and milk their milk they would snap out of the spell Karl Marx put on them!
The jury states that they would not have found him guilty of that if they had know that the secondary charge arose from the first which they acquitted on.
They have since written to the judge informing him of such and have stated in public that they were wrong. They are rather upset with the state and their bag of underhanded tricks.
But you can eat boogers, and boost your immunity:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57582419/eating-boogers-may-boost-immunity-scientist-suspects/
LOL
I know you put the sarcasm tag afterwords, but the reality is that milk was responsible for 25% of all food-poisoning incidents before pasteurization. Food poisoning can cause permanent disability and even death--it is *not* a trivial matter.
Pathogens that can be found in raw milk include, but are not limited to Brucella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Mycobacterium bovis, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica. The most common, Campylobacter, can cause paralysis. The E. coli O157:H7 can cause organ failure. Any of these can kill.
According to recent studies, you are 150 times more likely to become ill from raw milk products than pasteurized milk products.
Those who sell raw milk make all kinds of unsubstantiated claims about it. None of them stand up to scientific scrutiny. For instance, lactose is neither created nor destroyed by heat, so the claims that raw milk is somehow safe to drink by the lactose intolerant have no basis. It's clear why those who sell raw milk make those claims--it's expensive to pasteurize milk and keep up with all of the food safety requirements--making it so much more profitable to make bogus claims about health benefits of raw milk in order to attract customers who may not be scientifically knowledgeable.
There is a reason pasteurization was invented. There is a reason most governments require pasteurization, just as they set other food safety standards. If you want to know what life is like in a place where there are no standards, or standards are not enforced, I suggest doing some research on China or third world countries.
http://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/raw-milk-hot-topics
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/consumers/ucm079516.htm
or just Google "raw milk hazards" or similar phrase.
The wisdom or folly of drinking raw milk is completely irrelevant. You are too f****** stupid to see that.
Our future..regulated milk and open boarders.
So typical of a Big Government “conservative” You bark out commands and expect me jump.
You can go to hell you fascist sob.
People became ill when they used milk from cows kept in unsanitary conditions in cities. Pasteurization was a lot cheaper than cleaning up filthy dairies. Pasteurization and homogenization also gives milk a long shelf life so it can be shipped from dairy conglomerates to stores. Control of food is everything to government.
Pasteurization also alters the chemical structure, makes fats rancid, destroys nutrients and results in the formation of free radicals in the body.
You can buy into the fear tactics and believe that you need government to be your Mommy.
You have a nice, safe day.
I know you put the sarcasm tag afterwords, but the reality is that milk was responsible for 25% of all food-poisoning incidents before pasteurization.
Also today we have too MANY regulatory govt mechanisms. Plus courts with liability enforcement, etc. And then we also have many non profits looking out for our welfare. Insurance is also a modern day factor and expanse.
My major point is that you and I have our opinion but give a little freedom to those who have other preferences. There is a tough balance between freedom and safety, even we conservatives want to impose our will on others.
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