In a previous post, I encouraged the purchase of raw milk when choosing dairy products.  However, you may have found it very difficult to locate any in stores. There is a scary trend happening across our country due to powerful lobbyists. The dairy industry doesn’t care for competition from the smaller farmers and are utilizing scare tactics to edge raw milk from the shelves.

These tactics have managed to scare many retailers — including Whole Foods — into pulling the products from their shelves to avoid potential litigation. You may have even seen in the news how a small store in Venice named Rawesome was raided by the police and people were arrested… just for selling raw milk products! This intolerance toward the raw dairy producers is extremely out of place for California, which is typically a very liberal state.

When I was in Michigan visiting family a couple years ago, I looked to see what kind of raw dairy they had available. I found that in other states, people have to buy “shares” of a cow at a farm so they are then able to get their “own” milk. This convoluted game evolved so people can have the freedom of choice to purchase and consume raw dairy products. In a frightening turn of events, Wisconsin residents just lost these rights due to a judge’s decision. Brought to my attention via Whole9:

 Wisconsin residents:
“Do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer;” and
Cannot enter into private contracts without State police power intervention.

–Judge Patrick J. Fiedler’s Decision in Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund vs Wisconsin Dept of Agriculture, 9 Sept. 2011. On Sept. 30, he stepped down from the bench to work for a Monsanto law firm.

If this doesn’t give you chills down your spine, you might not be paying attention. It isn’t too far a stretch of the imagination to think of the beef industry trying to do something similar to force the grassfed ranchers out of the marketplace. These days, you can still find raw dairy products at Sprouts as well as some of the local farmers markets — for now.

See also: Got Raw Milk? Be Very Quiet by Time Magazine

WOD 11.28.11

Power Snatch 3-3-3

Buy In: Tabata Push Ups/Squats
Rest 1 minute, then

4 rounds for time:

• 20 Push Ups
• 20 Squats
• 200m Run