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ROANOKE, VA -- Renee Brodin grew up in a big city but has lived on a farm inMoneta for years and about five years ago she made changes to herdiet which included finding a way to get raw milk in Virginia whichis harder that what you might think. She says, "It was hard to get first of all I mean I think itwould be easier to get moonshine than to get raw milk." For some people it is just as illegal as moonshine to sell. In adocumentary called Farmageddon Kristen Canty shows state andfederal raids on farms across the country because the raw milkbusiness is so strictly regulated in many states. She says, sheproduced the movie in part because she doesn't understand why wecan eat all of the processed or fast food we want, but raw milk isillegal to sell in half the states across the U.S. includingVirginia. Renee Brodin lives in Moneta and has been drinking raw milk for thepast five years, "In Virginia while it is not legal to sell it on aretail market or to go to the farmer and purchase it what we do iswe own part of a dairy herd. So we bought into a dairy herd and soif you own the cow you can drink the milk." She signed a seven page contract with a local dairy farmer in orderto get raw milk, it isn't illegal because she owns stock in hisdairy farm. I tried raw milk and will admit I was nervous. what's thedifference? I just noticed that it's creamier than the pasteurizedversion I'm used to. She can give it to me, but if I bought itfrom her we both would be committing a crime. Renee and her family have lived on this farm for more than 20 yearsthey raise grass fed Icelandic sheep but she drives one hour toRoanoke each week to pick up raw milk from a local dairy farmer... She says, "My friend Yvonne and I usually go together and make aday of it." Yvonne Williamson is a breast cancer survivor and credits raw milkas a cure of sorts, "My sinus problems disappeared my sonsasthma disappeared and my allergies disappeared. Ran out of rawmilk would get pasteurized milk we woke up sinus problems headachescan't drink this stuff it made us feel ill." Yvonne isn't the first to give this much credit to raw milk. Cantysays it cured her son's allergies. I talked to a food science expert at Virginia Tech and got a wholedifferent view. Dr. Renee Boyer, Virginia Tech Department of Food Science andTechnology assistant professor explains, "Objective science tellsus that there really is no difference in the vitamin and proteincontent between raw milk and pasteurized milk." Even still, Renee and Yvonne tote a cooler to Roanoke each week toa local store that serves as a drop off location for milk that isdelivered by the dairy farmer they have a herd share contract with. During the stop, we find Dick Dearing picking up his weekly supplyfrom the same farmer, "I come here and I pick up three gallons aweek." Renee, Yvonne and Dick are three of dozens who go to these lengthsfor raw milk in our part of Virginia. No matter where you get your milk, I have found raw milk is anemotionally charged issue and my research on the topic brought mehere to Virginia Tech's Dairy Complex to find out more about itssafety. To try to get a better idea of why the regulations are so strict...remember I tried the milk.. and didn't get sick. but that may notbe the case for everyone... Dr. Boyer compares raw milk to other potentially dangerous foods toconsume, "You wouldn't consume raw beef you wouldn't consumeraw poultry or raw eggs without cooking them and a lot of the samerisk associated with those products is also associated with rawmilk." Dr. Bob James Virginia Tech Department of Dairy Science professorsays, "I suspect a lot of the cow share people are diligent aboutit... but that still doesn't eliminate that risk and that is a riskthat I am just not willing to take." As for claims of raw milk's healing powers? Dr. James says, "There are other very, very, very, minoringredients you really don't know there is no research to show theimpact of them on human health." While one local raw milk dairy farmer talked to me over the phone,he didn't want to go on camera even with the raw milk exchange"protection" that comes with that lengthy contract he has withRenee. He just wasn't willing to risk talking to me about aproduct that people like Renee, Yvonne and Dick go to such greatlengths to get. I checked with The Virginia Department of Agriculture for moreabout those raids we saw in the Farmageddon documentary. I was toldthere have been no such raids in the commonwealth that come tomind. The state inspects dairy farms, but the only time federal agentsget involved is when they believe an organized network of dairyfarmers is transporting raw milk across state lines or selling itover the internet illegally. The scientists I talked say there are some people more susceptibleto serious side effects from food borne illness that can come withraw milk: children, people with weak immune systems, the elderlyand pregnant women. Link to more about the Weston A Price Foundation taht Renee Brodinvolunteers with and can provide information about obtaining RawMilk in Virginia. You can also email for more information. Link to more information about the potential dangers of Raw Milk fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Link to current research from CDC regarding Nonpasteurized DairyProducts and outbreaks associated with it. Link to Kristen Canty's documentary Farmageddon. Link to information from the Food and Drug Administration aboutregulating raw milk across the country. Link to the Department of Dairy Science at Virginia Tech. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Embossing Machine , Tile Roll Forming Machine Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Double Layer Forming Machine.
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