Consumption of raw milk is legal in all 50 states, but current federal regulation prohibits interstate commerce of raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption.

Ron Paul would like to change that law.

U.S. Congressman Ron Paul has introduced H.R. 778 which would “authorize the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human consumption.”  According to the Organic Consumers Association:

The bill would not force a state to legalize the sale of raw milk from local producers, nor would it force a state to allow the sale of raw milk from out-of-state producers in its retail stores. The bill would, however, enable consumers to enter into transactions to obtain raw milk and raw milk products from other states without the transactions being in violation of federal law.

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Quebec, like the rest of Canada and the U.S., has long required raw-milk cheeses to be aged 60 days before sale to ensure against the possibility of harmful bacteria in unpasteurized milk. Artisan cheese makers have argued that many raw-milk cheeses reach their peak flavor at three to four weeks and the longer aging requirements change the inherent characteristics of those young cheeses. The North American versions of brie, camembert and other soft cheeses are very different from what is commonly produced in France, where a cheese cannot be labeled ‘Camembert de Normandie’ unless it is made according to strict rules.

The change in Quebec’s law is accompanied by new regulations controlling sanitation and handling of the raw milk and raw milk cheeses.

Let’s hope this incident of uncharacteristic government sanity crosses the border into the rest of Canada and the U.S. I’ve tasted young raw-milk cheeses given to me (because they can’t sell them to me) by some of my local dairy farmers, and the difference is amazing. I wish my government would stop protecting me from risks I’m willing to take.  But until they do, I may have to consider a quick smuggling trip across the border to Montreal.

Related stories about food policy and milk:

• Put Down That Glass of Organic Milk and Forget About Sipping Soy Milk! USDA Labeling Challenged by the Organic Consumers Association

Image credit: Marc Roussel under a Creative Commons license.

But often there’s a way around it: A herdshare program. Drinking raw milk from a cow you own is not illegal. When a milk drinker joins a herdshare, he’s buying a part of a cow — usually 1/25th of a cow — and paying each month a fee for that partial-cow’s board and care.

I own 3/25ths of a cow (a Jersey named Cinnamon), which I purchased from a local dairy farmer for $50 per share. (If I ever decide to sell my shares, the farmer will buy them back from me for the same price I paid.) Each month, I pay my farmer $22 per share for my portion of the costs of Cinnamon’s care, and each week I drive out to the farm (in Ohio, it’s illegal for my farmer to deliver my milk to me) and pick up 3 gallons of beautiful whole unpasteurized milk. It works out to $5.08 per gallon, which just a few months ago might have seemed like a lot to pay for milk. It was worth it to me because I wanted to buy my milk from a local farmer raising cows on pasture without rBGH — cows living the way cows are supposed to live — and in my area that means raw milk. It’s worth it to others because they want raw milk in particular.

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