Here is a link for an article written about the CT Farmstead Dairy Alliance in the Norwich Bulletin, and another article (go to page A4, Thursday, April 30th) published in the Mystic River Press.Below is an article in its entirety from the Waterbury Republican:
Alliance fights for right to drink raw milk
Group says product is safe and healthy
BY BRIGITTE RUTHMAN REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Farmers, food store owners and consumers have banded together to try to stop the state from removing raw milk from retail store shelves.
The new Connecticut Farmstead Dairy Alliance was formed in the aftermath of discussions in February when legislators considered a bill, endorsed by the state Department of Agriculture, that would have tightened restrictions on raw milk sales and banned retail sales to assure a safe supply.
The bill did not gain enough support to be put to a vote. With the support of Agriculture Commissioner and Winsted native F. Philip Prelli, it is expected to resurface someday.
Farmers say it could limit raw milk sales to those within traveling distance of farms that sell it, and make it harder for the dairy industry to survive against rising costs and shrinking profits. The popularity of raw milk offers dairy farmers another option, one that can be more profitable.
Just as Prohibition pushed alcohol sales into illegal and unregulated territory, a raw milk ban would create a black market, they say.
Prelli told legislators in February the new rules were prompted, in part, by a July outbreak of E. coli that sickened seven people in the Granby area. Raw milk is inherently risky, he said, no matter how carefully it is collected. “There is a reason why we have been pasteurizing milk for more than 50 years,” he said. “Before that, 25 percent of food illnesses came from milk products, and that number is now down to one percent. It’s one thing to go to the farm and make a decision and effort to buy raw milk and another to buy it in the store where it is presumed safe.”
More attention is currently given to monitor health and safety standards at the state’s 14 farms that produce raw milk than the 150 others that send their milk to be heated and churned to kill bacteria and increase shelf live, processes known as homogenization and pasteurization.
The Alliance , which has a steering committee of seven, is working to develop a manual of management practices for farmers and to educate consumers. A Web site is planned. The group will also serve as a voice in Hartford for the state’s 14 licensed raw milk producers, a number that is expected to grow as interest in community supported agriculture and locally grown produce expands.
Milk sold to processors returns a little more than $1 per gallon. Farmers are getting $5 to $8 from consumers eager to shell out the extra.
“It’s a quality issue,” said John Pittari, owner of New Morning Natural and Organic Foods in Woodbury. People want to know where their food is coming from, and are willing to take some risks for what they are buying. Raw milk is the handcrafted edition.”
In Litchfield, retired microbiologist Dorothea DeCecco is a proponent of the taste and health benefits of raw milk, and a member of the alliance’s committee. “The bill was an overreaction to an isolated incident,” DeCecco said. “We should be helping these people, not driving them out of business.”
At the Abbey of Regina Laudis Dairy in Bethlehem , Sister Telchilde Hinckley supervises a small dairy of five cows which produces milk and cheese for up to 60. “We are committed to the highest standards so you can feel safe in your choice,” Hinckley said. Milk collected safely from a healthy cow is not inherently risky, she said.
Once again Baldwin Brook Farm is pleased to offer our own organic, grass-fed pork and beef for sale for the 2011 season .
On the farm you can also purchase fresh eggs, local raw honey, local maple syrup and Baldwin Brook Farm raised nitrate-free pork from heritage breed pigs.
