Miami Woman Petitions Whole Foods To Keep Selling Raw Milk, Unpasteurized

• I've been drinking raw milk for over 3 years and recently moved to Florida from South Carolina where you can freely purchase raw milk from your local dairy. I'm disappointed over the facade that the Florida government has placed on consumers who want to drink wholesome raw milk. It's a shame that I have to pretend I am buying the milk for my pet to drink. This whole anti-raw milk for consumers facade needs to stop and I'm willing to join anyone who wants to work towards that goal. I want to freely purchase raw milk from my local dairy without the farmer reminding me that it's for pet consumption only. That's a joke since I usually purchase 5 gallons. The Florida anti-raw milk facade has to be totally political because I recently returned from Whole Foods yesterday here in Orlando where I bought one of three RAW unpasteurized milk cheeses for sale, aged up to 2 years. I didn't see any warnings on the label that read "for pet consumption only." This is hypocrisy at its best. Wendy, I'm not sure what I can do, but I am interested in helping you or anyone else end this disgrace. Please contact me at debk888@yahoo.com

• I am a retired firefighter. Lately I am feeling degregationproblems with my memory and I am concerned about it. I was considering memory practice, or omega3 fish oil capsuls. What is the best bet?

• Thanks Wendy For the fight. I'm appreciating it. I do want to point out on a large scale I agree that milk should be in closed containment from udder to container for large scale operations. Those that transport across the state, etc. But on smaller scales across the country there are breeders that sell their milk by hand milking. They milk 4, 5, or even just 1 or two animals. They are meticulous and take great pride in how they manage their animals, their milking procedures, the whole process from udder to fridge. Please don't discount them by stating, "For public sales, milking into an open bucket won't cut it.".... For large public sales, yes, for the small farm that has a handful of customers who come to the farm, meet and greet the animals that supply them, meet the farmer and make an educated decision that they can trust this person, should not go with out mention. A serious breeder will always welcome a tour of the farm and see the animals and best of all start a relationship with them. and their food. This is where the grass roots movement starts.

• HAHA! "Win the battle, then the war" You don't at all come across as mad...What a loser! And by loser I mean, you did lose your raw milk at Whole Foods, didn't you? Don't have a cow-just go buy one. Then you can have all the pet milk you want!

• Thank you, Jacob. I think we are in agreement here. First, we seek to win the battle, then the war--Whole Foods is the first battleground, the state legislature is the war. I welcome your participation and encouragement in the battle for unfettered access to clean, healthy, unprocessed, natural food. Kind regards, Wendy Mathias Founder, MiamiRealFood.org

• The fact you got wrong is my slander of you, which didn't occur. There is nothing malicious in saying that a person who has mounted a petition against a major retailer is mad at said retailer. It is a reasonable assumption, but since you say it's wrong, so be it. I can accept the fact that you're not mad. I never say, or imply that raw milk is an E. coli death just waiting to happen, and I definitely don't wish or wait for any harm to fall upon you, milkborne or anyone else. Any statement I made regarding milk, death and E. coli, has to do with risk and liability. Any consumer who takes a product labeled for pet use and consumes it is undertaking a risk to their health that Whole Foods should not assume liability for. But of course, they should keep selling it. However, if the milk is in fact as healthful as you say, which makes perfect sense, then the real fight is to make it legal, not to keep it on the shelves as pet food. Thank you for your continued dialogue Wendy. This is a very interesting topic and I am reaching out to Whole Foods national and regional headquarters for comment. Keep on fighting for what you believe in.

• Dear Jacob, My facts are straight. As I stated, in Florida, it is illegal to: - sell raw milk for the purposes of human consumption. In Florida, it is perfectly legal to: - sell raw milk for the purposes of pet consumption - buy raw milk - drink raw milk Which of these facts did I get wrong? Your slander was in the continued declaration that I am mad as hell, and in the implication that raw milk is an E. coli death just waiting to happen. Both were malicious and false, the very definition of slander. Regarding your defamation of my character, I'm a generally private person and take my reputation very seriously. I don't relish people who've never met me assuming--and then publishing--untrue things about me. You erroneously equated my being articulate, passionate, and proactive with being mad. Then, your flippant allusion to my death in a public and global forum shocked me with chills and--momentarily--distress. Shame on you for saying such ugly and unsubstantiated things about a private citizen. That's rude. Perhaps I take myself too seriously, but I'd prefer you didn't include my demise in your argument that Whole Foods should rescind its decision to pull raw milk. Regarding your maligning of raw milk, your last remark in your follow-up comment concedes there is a risk of bacteria-related death with other common animal foods. You forgot to mention Pasteurized milk. A more balanced presentation would have also included plant foods like peanuts, pistachios, spinach, and tomatoes--all of which have had recalls in the past few years due to E. coli and/or salmonella contamination. Yet we still see those items sold at the market and enjoying vast freedoms from legislative control. As it should be with ALL possible food-borne illness: root out any cause of contamination, eliminate it, solve the problem, then continue offering the uncontaminated product for sale. In your original blog, you wrote: "Due to the risk of ecoli [sic] and other infectious buggers, it is illegal to sell raw milk in Florida for human consumption. Milk for humans must be pasteurized, a heating process that kills bacteria." Through your error of omission, you implied that pasteurized milk is thereafter safe, when in truth, it can still carry bacteria at any time after the heat treatment (e.g. bottling, storage, transport), and in fact, produces more Campylobacter than raw milk under the same circumstances. So, if almost all milk has a risk of bacterial infection, why bother drinking it all? Why all this fuss about raw milk? Because grass-fed raw dairy farmers, cows, and their products are produced with the highest humane care, attention to artisan-like detail, stewardship of the earth, and focus on sanitation. Raw milk farmers are food artisans, and its patrons are the beneficiaries of good health. All this argumentation, however, ignores the true reason unpasteurized milk has been made difficult to procure in Florida: the conventional dairy lobby and its associated equipment manufacturers, which push small farmers to the brink of bankruptcy trying to comply with their labyrinthine and pricey regulations. Once upon a time--a hundred years ago--thousands of children died from raw milk because it came from filthy, diseased, and poorly-nourished cows that were closely confined in unbelievable squalor, and produced without any regard for public safety. Instead of requiring dairies to clean up their act, government chose only to address the symptoms and said, "sterilize the milk!" but allowed the root cause--deplorable production methods--to stay the same. Raw milk is the very antithesis of this: clean up the production and you won't need to sterilize the milk. Today, legislators, in their zeal for control and self-importance, and their misplaced paternalism, continue to impose ever-stricter regulations on what we can and cannot procure to eat. And retailers, egged on by government oversight agencies, are so pressured by the threat of multi-million dollar lawsuits from unsubstantiated bacteria witch-hunts, that they would rather offer up sterile, nutritionally-deficient, overly-processed foods than offer up the most unprocessed, nutritionally-dense whole foods possible and risk their bottom line. That's the real reason retailers in Florida can't sell milk for human consumption. Kind regards, Wendy Mathias Founder, MiamiRealFood.org

• I was surprised that my "lactose intolerant" family was able to enjoy fresh milk with no problems. I've learned that pasteurization destroys helpful enzymes that aid digestion which occur naturally in fresh milk. Farmer's markets across Florida would do well to promote local farmers and sell fresh milk.

• 1. Say what you will, "I am not mad as hell," but I'll venture a guess that you are, still, and you have every right to be. 2. Do not cut me any slack. I'm cool with that, but get your facts straight too. I didn't slander anybody. Raw milk is in fact illegal to sell for human consumption, it does have to do with the fact that it's not pasteurized, and there is a RISK of E. coli and other bacteria associated with it. There is also a risk of bacteria that can lead to death associated with Chicken, Pork, Beef, and Fish.

• Hi Chuck, Thanks for chiming in and allowing some important issues to be addressed. Raw milk, handled improperly, can indeed make people sick, just as most any food handled improperly can. To ensure safety: 1) The cows must be free of disease. 2) The udders must be properly cleaned and immediately attached to a closed milking system--preferably stainless steel--that has also been properly cleaned. 3) Extreme care must be taken to ensure proper sanitation and refrigeration is maintained during storage and transport. For public sales, milking into an open bucket won't cut it. Nor will storing in unsanitary containers or shipping across distances without proper temperature maintenance. There is no need to cut the blogger some slack--he is merely commenting on the issue and has no personal stake in it. Raw milk consumers and producers need the most slack because they are the ones being persecuted in this battle. When Jacob Katel tosses about slanderous remarks that raw milk drinkers are at risk from E. coli infection, his misinformation threatens the very livelihoods of dairy farmers and the freedoms of the public to make their own food choices. Where is Whole Foods in the debate? Great question. They've thrown out their decree, but haven't been forthcoming with reasons for their decision to pull raw milk from the shelves. They'd been acting within the law by selling raw milk as pet food. We just ask that they stay the course and respond to strong consumer demand for this whole food. Finally, Florida law does not outlaw raw milk. It merely requires that when sold directly to consumers, raw milk be labeled as pet food. There is no Florida law that outright prevents retail stores from selling it, nor is there any law preventing people from buying it, nor is there any law preventing people from drinking it themselves. Read the statute here: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0502/SEC091.HTM&Title=-%3E2009-%3ECh0502-%3ESection%20091#0502.091 For those who want to urge Whole Foods to continue selling this unprocessed whole food, they can sign the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/wholefoodsrawmilk/ Kind regards, Wendy Mathias Founder, MiamiRealFood.org

• I lived in Albania for six months and drank the unpasteurized milk brought in from the countryside. It made me sick as hell till I started boiling it....which doesn't mean I oppose this stuff, but it does mean there are certain risks associated with it. Cut the writer some slack. And where is Whole Foods in this debate? Or whoever got the law passed in Florida to outlaw the stuff?

• I have been buying the raw milk for my special needs yorkie who has many issues including difficulty absorbing calcium. Nobu starting drinking raw milk at the age of a year old. He is now 3 years old and we were told he would never make it to 2~ I would like to know who is leading the effort to get whole foods to stop selling the milk. It is not only safe, it is the closet thing to mother's milk and has extradordinary benefits. I am worried, my little guy will not eat any more...this is crazy!~

• No one on record has ever died of raw milk, E-coli which has sickened people has come form tainted meat. The reason pasteurization has become law is simple; the dairy lobby. When you see how much money has been poured into the dairy lobby from equipment manufacturers the natural progression is to make pasteurization mandatory. This insures the equipment producers profit. Standing up to the status quo of profit mongering is a strong part of this outrageous and inane business decisions of retailers (i.e. Whole Foods) to ignore the "law" of supply and demand. I applaud Wendy for her effort and all the reasons people have given to acquire the product they demand. Please contact your congressional official and demand sane business practices and to stand up to the lobbyist whose sole reason for lobby is to promote profit for their industry.

• If it weren't for people like Wendy Mathias who care to learn and tell others about nutritious food, we might have a nation of obese diseased humans who have depended on the government to protect us from the harmful practices (toxic fertilizers/hormones, pesticides/antibiotics, herbicides, waste pollution, etc.) of factory farming. Oh, wait a minute, that's what we DO have! Let's remember that dairy cows, and all conventional livestock, are treated heavily with antibiotics because they dwell in such concentration that it is necessary to prevent rampant disease. It is the over-use of antibiotics that has lead to resistant strains of bacteria that now are killers of humans. We're reading about it in the news regularly. It's time to educate ourselves and take action. Thank you Wendy.

• If it weren't for people like Wendy Mathias who care to learn and tell others about nutritious food, we might have a nation of obese diseased humans who have depended on the government to protect us from the harmful practices (toxic fertilizers/hormones, pesticides/antibiotics, herbicides, waste pollution, etc.) of factory farming. Oh, wait a minute, that's what we DO have! Let's remember that the over-use of antibiotics has lead to resistant strains that now are killers. We're reading about it in the news regularly. It's time to educate ourselves and take action. Thank you Wendy.

• Raw milk is safer than Pasteurized milk, which is associated with chronic disease as well as more food poisoning incidents than raw milk. Raw milk is a healing food. I thought the Whole Foods guy was an independent thinker. Then why is he kow-tow-ing to the USDA freaks who are only trying to protect the industrial milk producers? I want to have access to the healthiest foods, including raw milk, and support small, sustainable grass farms. Florida has plenty of grass, we should be a leader in grassfed meat and milk production in the world. And Florida would be a leader, if it wasn't for antiquated and ignorant laws designed to protect industrial producers at the expense of consumers and small farmers.

• Thank you for posting this op. ed. and publicizing my petition. A few corrections and clarifications on your opinion piece are needed: 1. Pasteurized milk is still subject to E. coli, lysteria, salmonella and other contamination. Pasteurization only kills bacteria at the point of heating. It does not prevent bacteria from growing in the milk after that point. Pasteurized milk is a dead product that is vulnerable to contamination. Raw milk from grass-fed cows that is obtained in a responsible and sanitary manner, however, is safer to drink than pasteurized milk because it still contains immunoglobulins that convey protection. 2. Raw milk from grass-fed cows is more nutritious than pasteurized milk. It is a good source of vitamin C (destroyed by pasteurization), vitamin D2 (destroyed by pasteurization and replaced with synthetic D3), lactase for digesting lactose (destroyed by pasteurization), and conjugated linoleic acid (a powerful omega fatty acid and antioxidant that prevents cancer and reduces triglycerides and atherosclerosis). Conventional pasteurized milk has none of these benefits. 3. Raw dairy farmers have a vested interest in maintaining the highest quality possible to ensure a strong consumer demand for their niche product. Pasteurization, in contrast, allows conventional dairies to be lax in their cleanliness and sanitation, as they rely on the pasteurization process to "clean" the milk. 4. I used to be prejudiced against raw milk too, until I discovered the unique story why pasteurization was first instituted--most doctors were against it because they knew that pasteurization would destroy any benefits in the milk. Consider reading The Untold Story of Milk, by Ron Schmid, ND. Perhaps with a little more research, you'll extol, rather than excoriate, raw milk's virtues. 5. I'm not mad as hell. I am concerned and eager to see Floridians maintain reasonable access to unprocessed and natural foods. This issue is about having free and unfettered access to the healthiest foods possible without government and corporate nanny-states trying to dictate what is best for us. In conclusion, consider all the other raw animal foods that we foodies eat without a second thought: raw fish (sushi), raw meat (steak tartare), and raw eggs (mayonnaise and aoli). Raw, unprocessed food is not the danger--improper preparation is. Let's not allow prejudice, misinformation, and big government dictate our food choices. Let us be a nation free to seek out the healthiest choices for ourselves. May the healthiest person be left standing. Kind regards, Wendy Mathias Founder, MiamiRealFood.org

• If Whole Foods does, indeed, stop carrying raw milk, those interested in still purchasing it can find (semi) local providers through the Weston A. Price Foundation.... realmilk.com

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