Source: farmtoconsumer.org

INDIANAPOLIS

What’s one issue that really gets you fired up?

Freedom? Religion? Sports?

How about milk? How about whether milk should have to be pasteurized?

That may seem an unlikely. But ask the folks at the state Board of Animal Health, who have seen hundreds of people weigh on the subject as part of the agency’s virtual public hearing about whether Indiana should allow the sale of so-called raw milk.

“There are people who are really passionate about vegetarianism or eating lots of nuts or this vitamin or that vitamin. This is similar,” said Kathleen Dutro, a spokeswoman at the Indiana Farm Bureau.

“There are people who genuinely believe that pasteurization and homogenization cause the milk to lose something,” Dutro said. “Most people think, ‘Nope, we’re only losing microbes.’ But some people say, ‘Yes, we’re losing something vital.’”

Legislators played with the idea of legalizing raw milk earlier this year but ultimately decided to send the issue to a summer study committee, in part because the Indiana Farm Bureau opposed the idea. Officials there say pasteurization makes milk safer.

“Any incident could reflect badly on the dairy industry as a whole,” Dutro said. “We have a responsibility to all of our members.”

The Board of Animal Health started its virtual hearing on June 1 as part of the larger effort to decide whether Indiana should legalize the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk for human consumption. Currently, farmers can sell raw milk for animal consumption.

Janelle Thompson, a public information officer for the Board of Animal Health, said the state has received responses from several sides of the issue. Comments have come from health professionals, consumers and even some people from outside Indiana.

“Food is something that people get to choose, so there are lots of opinions about it,” Thompson said.

Even though the comment period started only three weeks ago, the agency has already received about 200 comments. Nearly 90 percent of the comments favor legalizing raw milk for human consumption.

Freedom to choose

“I think that the purchase and consumption of raw milk should be a personal preference,” said Jenny Skirvin of Portland. “I, if given the choice, would purchase raw milk.”

“I prefer to make my own cheese, sour cream and cultured milk products,” said Connie Fields from Mooresville. “Having access to raw milk will make it easier and more wholesome, nutritionally, for my family.”

Some proponents of the sale of raw milk say that the issue is not only a personal preference but an issue of freedom.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, said he supports the sale of raw milk to humans based on freedom. “I have a number of these types of farms in my district. They are a small, emerging new market. I’d like to see the government get out of the way,” he said.

Banks also said that he plans to introduce legislation in the next session to “help small farms flourish in a rural community” and that the sale of raw milk will be included in the legislation.

Mark Grieshop, the owner of Pasture’s Delights, said government should not restrict a farmer’s ability to sell raw milk for use in whatever way the consumer wants.

“This is America,” Grieshop said. “If we are going to be ‘free’ then let’s walk the talk. America was founded on the principle of freedom.”

“While some people may choose to relinquish their food responsibility, it should not be de facto policy that all American people give up their food freedom,” he said.

Pasture’s Delights is a farm in northeastern Indiana that sells free-range chickens and herd shares of cows. A herd share is when a person or family pays for the boarding and care of a cow, which then entitles them to a portion of that cow’s milk. Herd shares are one way farmers in Indiana provide raw milk to consumers without breaking the state’s law.

Risks of illness

While many of the comments in favor of the legalization are from farmers or consumers, most of the comments against the sale of raw milk for human consumption come from health professionals.

Terry Smith, the environmental director at the Adams County Health Department, said that “permitting the sale of raw milk in Indiana would be one of the most irresponsible — and downright dangerous — acts that a legislature could ever consider enacting.”

“Please do not fly in the face of science in one area of food-borne illness where we have made, and should not yield, progress,” said Dr. David Taylor, a physician from Bristol.

Comments are open until Sept. 1 and can be made at http://www.in.gov/boah/2615.htm.

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