Other area food activists support the idea. Does the government force people to eat food that’s healthy or not healthy? Is heated milk not healthy? And why? You can check out the UC Davis Small Farm Program website to see what niche farming in Sacramento and Davis is all about and what programs help educate and support the idea of niche farming. See the Small Farm Program – University of California. Just because the food is local doesn’t make it unhealthy or healthy. It’s a neutral matter until the food is inspected by someone. You could consult a food safety attorney.
If you look at the government’s side, the ordinances protect consumers from farmers who believe their product is safe. Someone has to make sure the product is safe. But does the government actually have the staff, resources, and money to oversee every product all the time produced by niche farmers? On the other hand there is a website called Raw Milk Facts that shows you what the state rules define.
Most Sacramento shoppers do not want to eat uninspected foods. No body wants to suffer from illness from microbes in any type of food. Regulation is good for those who buy and eat food and supplements of all types. You have to look at the options other than dropping the safety regulations on foods.
For example, niche businesses that process niche meats could build smaller plants that do business with small producers of meat. The same goes for milk, cheese, and other food products made on a smaller scale for the specialty customers. Maybe you need a set of safe standards for food not widely distributed that costs less to the small, niche farmer.
The problem with raw milk is that more people want it after reading the health issues that change when heated milk is consumed. In Europe you have raw cheese eaten by kids that is supposed to be healthier than the heated and processed cheese you find in most restaurants and supermarkets in the USA. But what costs a lot of money is the research on raw milk. Scientists are studying bovine leukemia viruses, for example.
The issue for the small farmer is that the current safety laws benefit mostly the biggest farms. Some niche farmers think that it’s the large farms that have more concern about public safety. If the small farmer has the energy to check the milk and it checks out clean, how does the public know that the small, niche farmer has the training to look at the milk under a microscope or have the money to pay for a scientist to do that to make sure the milk is guaranteed clean and safe to drink for the young and the old?
It’s an issue because you have people in Sacramento who only drink raw milk. So far, you can buy raw milk in Sacramento in some of the health food stores and a few of the natural food markets here. But as you’ll notice on the container of raw milk you buy in Sacramento or any other store in California, there’s a government warning that’s also printed on labels of raw milk products in all states.
The raw milk container must bear the following labeling: “WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and persons with lowered resistance to disease have the highest risk of harm from use of this product.” Just in case you need a reminder, if you’re pregnant, you’re immune system is lowered. And if you’re an older adult, your immune system also is less efficient than when you were younger.
Children also have immune systems that are weaker than adults. So you need to keep a balance. Sacramentans, do you want to be able to buy raw milk, butter, colostrum, cheese, and quephor in health food store coolers? If you want raw milk cheese from organic, grass-fed cows, make sure the label says the cows were grass fed, not grain fed. And if you’re buying cheese, the package will tell you how long the cheese was aged, for example 180 days for some cheeses, or eight months for other raw milk cheeses. Some raw milk cheeses were aged less and some raw milk cheeses are not organic.
So check the label. What you really want if you want a raw milk cheese is that the cheese is organic, has been aged eight months, and what you’d wish for, is that the milk came from grass-fed cows, not grain-fed cows. The best time to buy this type of cheese is when it was made at the time the cows at the new spring and summer grass. But that’s the ideal you’d wish you could see written on the labels of the dairy products.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Niche dairy farmers want improved food regulations & lower licensing costs – Sacramento Nutrition | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/nutrition-in-sacramento/niche-dairy-farmers-want-improved-food-regulations-lower-licensing-costs#ixzz1Tf2nYtcG
3 Wheeled Cheese 