There is a machine at work, launched by the Industrial Agricultural Complex, to churn out supposedly convincing arguments to con ignorant people that “Milk is Milk”. The current Milk is White Gold or White Gold is White Gold to be related, if but in a cagey sort of way. However, the only way Milk is close to white gold currently is in the profits of the Dairy Consortiums who push rBST and other intensive dairying practices, and who are quite happy to push small, independent dairy producers out of business. The whole concept that milk needs to be promoted is a bit bizarre. Dairy products would seem, on face value and nutritionally, to sell themselves. Why does milk need so much promotion? Is it just a case of pressing the wholesome image just a bit too far, of oversell?

As we have seen with the latest Chinese Milk Debacle, milk simply isn’t just milk. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Milk, whose image is of purity, whiteness, cleanliness, wholesomeness–white gold, even–has become one of darkness. A vehicle of poisons. Industrial and toxic poisons as bad, or worse, than any germs Raw Milks opponents may conjure our of their bag of fear-mongering tricks. And yet, pasteurized milk has a worse track record in the past 20 years than Raw Milk has had in the past 50. Not only is it susceptible to contamination post-processing, either in the bottle or the bulk tank, but it can actually be a very compromised product pre-processing. Sloppy farmers–I’ve seen them–cramming milking tubes onto unwashed, manure smeered udders; unclean, bacterial soup bulk tanks; cows with bad cases of mastitis passing clots, blood, and puss into the milk; anitbiotics, hormones; tens of small farms’ suspect milk mixed together–aw, sure it’ll be okay, it gets pasturized doesn’t it? Out it comes to store shelves, white gold. Sure, that’s better than Raw Milk, sure–wink, wink.

Now, I’m not saying that every Raw Milk dairy or cow share program is acceptable. In fact, from what I’ve seen many are not. They either skirt the law, flaunt it, or are just plain ignorant of what it takes to produce good quality Raw Milk. That being said, I also don’t agree that Raw Milk should be treated like a bio-hazzard or toxin. Milk from a grass-fed herd, safely gathered in a sanitary environment from cows which are screened regularly for disease should pose no problem ever. You can’t get Safe Raw Milk from a large herd, from a feed-lot dairy, from grain-fed animals. It’s not that hard to understand. I have outlined before my positions on this issue. I’ll say it once again–we need Education, not more Regulation on this issue. Farmers who produce Raw Milk need continuing education. The State Agricultural and Health Department staff need Education on best practice of producing Raw Milk, Consumers need to know the difference between the supposedly safe pasteurized liquid in jugs and true milk–raw, unhomogenized and fresh. There is no comparison.

But what I hear from local producers and read in the news is that continually Raw Milk Dairys are harrassed. The farmers are treated like criminals, their products like they are toxic. But what is the allowable melamine content in Raw Milk? How much pus, blood, rBST, antibiotic are allowed in Raw Milk? None, and rightly so. But what of the pasteurized, mass produced, commercially acceptable stuff? Too much is allowed, and backed by dairy board goons who get paid to promote milk production for their corporate paymasters. The farmers don’t benefit. The public pays more for an inferior product and Raw Milk is treated like a poison it isn’t.

So let’s start calling it like it is.  Milk isn’t milk. Milk isn’t white gold. It’s a liquid, sometimes pure and raw, sometimes barely healthy, sometimes so full of toxic waste it kills or maims. And lets get the rose tinting off of the Corporate Shades. Let’s get veterinarians involved in checking and regulating Raw Milk dairies. Let’s get government Ag goons pushing corporate agendas off of small farms where they are harassing good farmers. Lets lift the regulatory burden on farms who serve under 500 people Raw Milk, or meat or vegetables. The customers can sign a waiver, adopt a manifesto, release the farm of liability and enjoy real food, real flavor amongst real risks. That’s life. Let’s start making it easier for all people to get access to local food, safe with in reason, and secure from mass-contamination by the very fact it is small scale. Let’s get the WTO, NAFTA, Corporate Agri-Industry off of our backs and get back to flavor, community, and freedom. And lets get out from under the fear and paranoia that we don’t know what we’re doing, that something will go wrong, that people will get sick, die or starve. That could happen anyway and probably will if the corporate model for Agriculture continues along the way it is. If you’re going to think twice before you have a glass of Raw Milk, you’d better thing three or four times before you have a glass of pasturized bacterial soup. . .oh, err, I mean White Gold.

Technorati Tags: white gold, milk is milk, raw milk, freedom to eat, food manifesto