The great news is in today's NYT, a report that sales of raw milk are seen to be rising in Connecticut --- dispite food cops' disapproval. Connecticut is one of more than twenty states which permit the sale of raw milk. Of course, Canada bans sale of raw milk on the grounds that unpasteurized milk may contain bad bacteria -- although ironically dairy farmers and their families are allowed to drink it -- without I should add any harm reported. And some restaurants get their raw milk cream from local farmers. Again no reports of illness.

I grew up drinking raw milk and I continue to drink it whenever I can. As the NYT story reports, raw milk has to be sold quickly, within a week, which means you are actually drinking fresh milk rather than the processed milk of the supermarkets and the most appalling development in dairy --- UHT milk which lasts forever without refrigeration and tastes like wallpaper paste.

Earlier in the week, the NYT reported the return of the local creamery....another great development in artisanal food.

Alas, don't look for these developments in Canada which is having trouble joining the Good Food Revolution. Dairy is regulated by the government for the benefit of the farmers not the consumers. At present, the owners of dairy
farms in Canada have an average net worth of nearly $1 million. (Fraser Institute: The Politics of Milk, 2002) They sell us milk at inflated and always rising prices and also get to drink raw milk themselves.

And one Ontario farmer Michael Schmidt is actually being hounded by the province for selling raw milk......the same stuff the farmers are allowed to drink...

For NYT story go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/nyregion/