“Their footprint may be small” but “their mission is mighty”

Ramona, who calls herself “a Virginia foodie”, and is author of “the Houndstooth Gourmet” blog, writes oh so charmingly about the “Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market” — where of course they sell locally-produced raw milk. Some excerpts:

Raw milk for sale to the public at Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market, in Pennsylvania. Photo via the Houndstooth Gourmet blog

“….I suppose my first experience eating “locally” and “sustainably” and “for a social cause” came over a decade ago when I worked at the University of Pennsylvania.  I frequented The White Dog Cafe on Sansom street which was a short walk from the hospital, and happened to be a very popular spot among those who lived and worked in University City. The owner, Judy Wicks (whose accomplishments and awards are enumerated here), was on a mission that was unknown to me at the time. She wanted her restaurant to support local purveyors using organic and sustainable farming practices, and moreover, benefit her employees and people all around the world.

That’s called having a lot on your plate.

Looking for raw milk in Louisiana

Looking for raw milk

Further to our last post (see below) about raw milk being driven by consumer demand, here’s a case in point: A 23 year old former librarian now living in northern Louisiana with her husband of 4 years is looking for a legal source of raw milk. Here’s her story, or the beginning of it at least.

Read the whole story complete with comments on her blog.

“My current quest is to find raw milk.

It’s been going on for a few weeks now.

I believe I finally have a contact or two that will pan out.

I also got in touch with the State Office here and found out the regulations. I don’t want to do anything illegal and I don’t want to get any dairy farmers in trouble!

For anyone interested, it is technically legal to buy raw milk for animal consumption in Louisiana. Hey, the state believes in evolution, so am I an animal?

Raw milk driven by consumer demand

Here are some excerpts from a story by Kimberly Hartke which has appeared in at least two online “papers”, the Owen Sound Sun Times and the Woodstock Sentinel Review.

“The Michael Schmidt case boils down to this. Is a cow boarding program a scam, or is it a legitimate, legal means of exercising one’s rights to consume a legal food, in places where it is illegal to sell it?

Judge Cary Boswell, who found Schmidt guilty of contempt, acknowledged that his ruling “had nothing to do with whether or not people have the right to consume raw milk.” Canadians have the right to consume raw milk, yet its sale is prohibited by law. Is it not logical for citizens to find a legal way to exercise their rights? And, should it not be the role of government to secure those rights?

Schmidt of Glencolton Farms is not the only farmer who sells his cows to shareholders. Numerous farms in British Columbia offer cow shares. In the U.S., 28 states allow raw milk sales in some form. In the remaining states, where sales are banned, there are hundreds of cow-boarding programs.