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Shortly after PDH’s announcement, Edwin Shank, the owner of the Family Cow, voluntarily suspended all sales of
raw milk even though recent test results from the farm’s milk had all been negative for campylobacter, mentioning on
his website that several customers had called to tell him that they were sick. On February 2 the Maryland Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene reported it had found campylobacter in two unopened jugs of Family Cow raw milk.
In a post on his website, Shank stated, “… it was us. Food from our farm has made people sick.” The bottling date on
the milk was January 16.
On February 6 the Family Cow resumed sales of raw milk; during the time, Shank made major renovations to the
dairy operation. His handling of the situation and willingness to accept responsibility drew praise even from opponents
of raw milk.
Media coverage of the Family Cow was constant and extensive from the time PDH issued their January 27 release
in both the local and national media. The media double standard in reporting raw milk foodborne illness compared
to outbreaks caused by pasteurized milk was easy to notice again. In October 2011 PDH issued a health advisory that
Brunton Dairy in Aliquippa had been found responsible for sixteen illnesses that it attributed to the consumption of
pasteurized milk produced by the dairy between March and August 2011. Two lawsuits had been filed against the dairy
by people who claimed they had become sick from the dairy’s milk with one of the litigants stating in his complaint
that he suffered septic shock and kidney failure as a result of consuming the farm’s pasteurized milk, requiring dialysis
three times a week. Media coverage on the Brunton Dairy outbreak was nonexistent compared to the reporting on
the Family Cow—further evidence of the media bias against raw milk.

CALIFORNIA – ORGANIC PASTURES
After being under a quarantine order for a month that prohibited it from selling its raw dairy products, Organic
Pastures Dairy Company (OPDC) resumed selling to the public on December 16 after the California Department of
Food and Agriculture (CDFA) issued a press release announcing it had lifted the quarantine of OPDC (see Wise Traditions
Winter 2012 issue). That morning OPDC owner Mark McAfee had filed suit to lift the quarantine. McAfee resorted to
the courts after CDFA had kept the quarantine on even when the dairy had passed inspection by the department and
all testing done on OPDC products had come up negative. CDFA has tried to put McAfee out of business before and
this looked like more of the same. The one product CDFA refused to let the dairy sell again was raw colostrum; prior
to the quarantine, OPDC had sold the product as a dietary supplement which was not regulated by CDFA. McAfee
blamed passage of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act for the change in the department’s position on colostrum
and for the more hostile regulatory climate for raw foods that has since developed.

RAW MILK LEGISLATION
Here is an update on the federal bill HR 1830 as well as a summary of a number of raw milk bills that have been
introduced in state legislatures.

FEDERAL HR 1830
With the increased FDA aggression against raw milk producers and consumers, HR 1830, a bill that would ef-
fectively overturn the interstate ban on raw milk, continues to take on greater importance. There is significantly more
support for the bill than there was the last session of Congress when it was initially introduced (2009/2010 as HR 778).
HR 1830 now has five cosponsors; the bill’s sponsor Rep. Ron Paul (TX) did not have a single cosponsor during the
prior session.
Those who have not used the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund’s HR 1830 petition to ask their U.S. Rep-
resentatives to cosponsor HR1830 are encouraged to do so. Please go to www.farmtoconsumer.org/hr1830. More
congressmen are becoming aware of FDA’s abuses of power and misplaced priorities in its raw milk enforcement
actions. Continued and sustained support for HR 1830 is needed to move them to focus more on this issue. There is
still a chance for there to be a hearing covering FDA persecution of raw milk farmers this session of Congress.

KENTUCKY
SB 47, a bill that would codify the right of individuals to enter into contracts for the shared ownership of livestock,
passed the State Senate and was forwarded in February to the House Committee on Agriculture and Small Business.
“The bill recognizes the right of individuals to purchase shared ownership in farm poultry or livestock, and enter into
a contract prescribing the terms and conditions of the poultry or livestock production including the right to consume
the products produced by the poultry or livestock.” No permit would be required for those entering into contracts for
the shared ownership of livestock or poultry and the state would have no jurisdiction over the arrangement between
the individual and farmer for the shared ownership of livestock.
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