Local foods on a soapbox

This article, "Old McDonald had a farm... and He Got Arrested?" showed up in my inbox the other day, and I thought it was worth blogging about. It chronicles the fight of big agriculture-friendly government against the small farmer. A very nice read. Oh, and if you click to it, please know that I do not endorse their ads.

Some highlights:

But as the re-emergence of a farm-to-consumer economy draws increasing amounts of cash out of the mass-production factory system, the new movement is bumping up against suddenly energized regulators who claim they want to "protect" us from pathogens and other dangers.
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In Pennsylvania, dairy farmer Mark Nolt continues in a standoff with agriculture authorities because he refuses to sell his raw milk under a state license. In August, authorities confiscated thousands of dollars' worth of milk products using a court order. He argues that because he has private contracts with his area customers, he doesn't need a license, and he continues to sell directly to consumers, despite the fact he could be arrested at any time.
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Dairy regulators use the protection argument to justify their crackdown on raw-milk producers, though they tend not to mention the obvious: If consumers are buying milk unpasteurized, then that doesn't leave much for processors to do.

Nor do any of the regulators like to talk much about the new economic model that is emerging in the farm-to-consumer model. Farmers who sell their cattle to processors may receive $2 a pound, compared to anywhere from $5 to $18 a pound, depending on the quantity purchased and the cut of meat, when they do their own slaughtering. Similarly, when dairy farmers sell milk to processors for pasteurization, they receive in the neighborhood of $1.50 to $2.50 a gallon (depending on bacteria counts and whether the milk is organic). When they sell direct, they receive $5 to $10 a gallon.

Woo Hoo! Go farmers, I say!

I'm also following the law recently passed in California that will essentially eliminate legally purchased raw milk (yes, this is an opinion article-- here's a more official-sounding one). I still need to get a letter sent to the governor to let him know that raw milk fans are watching this issue. I'm sure that our agriculture officials around the country are, too.

Here's a quote I love from the first, opinion article:

While many centuries of human beings have been consuming raw milk and somehow escaping the grim reaper, the California legislature, they know better.

Coliforms are not pathogenic. They do not cause disease. Turns out, they actually act very effectively to protect raw milk against pathogens like E. coli 0157:H7. Coliforms make vitamin K, B-1, B-2, B-6 and B-12 and without coliforms, and the beneficial colicins they produce, we would die.

Ahem.