Friday, January 25, 2013

Waking the Sleeping Bear



A few raw milk post ago (early 2012 ) a follower of mine made a comment about being careful not to wake the sleeping bear. She was referring to the barrage of phone calls I was making at that time to many regulatory offices both state and federal to get some answers to my raw milk questions. That raw milk episode is covered HERE

Well, 12 months later, the "bear" woke up and dialed my number.

I received a phone call this morning from the IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health). Specifically the director of the Food, Drugs and Dairy Division, who asked me if I would be interested in serving on the Raw Milk subcommittee. Would I ? WOULD I ?!?

You bet your ice cold non-homogenized, unpasteurized glass of raw milk I would. The committee is focused on the revision of the current Illinois State Laws regarding raw milk production, marketing and distribution.

Thrilled I am.

So much for Just Saying No !

And for those of you who are still waiting for that last tidbit of info regarding the cost of pastured raw milk production here you go: In 2012 each gallon of certified organic milk cost us $4.13 to produce. We sell it for $6 a gallon. In figuring expenses we included everything direct and indirect that goes into the care of our dairy herd EXCEPT our own salary. Reason being, we don't pay ourselves a salary.

We do however get all the milk we can drink.

If you are interested in our exact formula for computing all costs involved in this, please email me. Happy to share opies99@gmail.com

10 comments:

  1. No matter ... go for it Girl!!!! We are standing behind you all the way!! If you need my email address it is ...

    dfw1221 @ yahoo com.

    I'll send all the emails I can & will!

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  2. Way to go Donna! The Mayor of Raw Milk Main Street!

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  3. Lady Lactation of South Pork; we salute you. Congrats!

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  4. And it's early for the bear to be up and about, isn't it? But who can tell with these modern bears, holders of cell phones and such.

    Congrats!!!

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  5. Is raw milk production a rare thing in the States? They tried to ban the sale of unpasteurised cheese here, then Prince Charles stepped in and said it was his favourite sort. T.B. is making a come-back in this country as well, but that is more to do with homeless drug-addicts growing their own strain of medication-resistant bug, rather than raw milk.

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  6. Tom, the raw milk deal here is nuts. Half the states allow it in various degrees and the other half don't. Those that allow the sale have many hoops to jump through. In some it can only be sold for pet food while in others the states can allow the farmer to bottle it and sell it in the stores. In the craziest states like Michigan and Wisconsin farmers are being fined and forced to close their doors for sales of raw milk and raw milk products. My plan is to make things easier for raw milk sales here in Illinois. Our government swears these laws are in place to protect the people when fact is there have been very few illnesses related to raw milk consumption.

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  7. Sounds like you are making some progress. Good for you! Here in Iowa, raw milk sales in any form are strictly prohibited. Heck, you can't even legally give it away. A bill that would allow the sale of raw milk is making another run through the Iowa house and senate again this year. I'm hoping the legislators will finally come to their senses and give Iowans the right to decide.

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  8. Walt,the insanity of these laws are mind boggling, but more and more Americans are getting involved as they learn it's not just about raw milk...it's about so many of our rights being taken away piece by piece by piece.

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  9. You GO, girl!! You had to learn to say no, so that you would have the chance to say YES!

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