Raw milk cowshares spread in Alberta

From a letter to Gordon Watson in B.C. from Charlene in Edmonton Alberta:

Judith, Eric, Michael and supporters at the Edmonton court house in February 2011.

The real milk is flowing under the cover of darkness.  Hard to find a cow share but more and more people I am sure are starting them.  Found one lady who was advertising on Kiijii until I told her that it was not a good idea.  I got her a couple of customers from the Slow Food event that I attended.

South Dakota raw milk farmers under attack from Department of Agriculture

Here is an excerpt from a fascinating letter to the editor, which appeared on the Black Hills Today website:

Publishers Note (from Black Hills Today): Dear readers the following letter was mailed to me from Lila Streff of Streff Ridge Farm Goat Dairy in Custer South Dakota.  I find this letter to be one of the most critical letters to the editor I have received in years and highly recommend you read it in its entirety.

New barn no longer good enough for new S.D. "requirements".

“I am the youngest of 10 children raised in the country on real food. We had a huge garden, raised our own beef, chickens, and even a pig once. Of course we had eggs from free-range chickens, we made bread everyday, and milked cows and goats. The goats were added to the farm when I was born.

In late August of that year, I bought Ginger, a Toggenburg goat. My son’s allergies were relieved immediately and so were mine. My hay fever and stomach problems were gone.  After people heard that I was milking goats and had raw milk, they wanted this milk too. Some people were sick and dealing with health issues. Others wanted it because they are sick “of” the pasteurized product from the store. They were also deeply concerned about the hormones that were given to cows, and they wanted a healthy alternative. I hated turning people down and was compelled to find and purchase more goats. At 42 years old, I became the new “goat lady” in our area.