Raw Milk on the Shelf?

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Created on Monday, 25 March 2013 21:28

Written by Samantha Knight

WHEELOCK-Vermont is changing their minds on raw milk. A bill that is sitting in congress at the moment will allow Vermont raw milk producers to sell their product at local farmer markets.Tamara Martin of South Wheelock is all for the bill. She owns the Chandler Pond farm and she says she has been indulging in raw milk for years and has never seen anything wrong with it. She believes producing raw milk now is different from 200 years ago.

"We know how bacteria grow, we know about cleanliness, and we know how to make a product really safe," Martin said. Martin even believes that raw milk has more benefits then milk from the processed milk."There's some really great health benefits to raw milk," She said. "You lose a lot in the process of pasteurizing and homogenizing the milk. You lose lose stuff that is necessary for people. Raw milk is actually a healthy product."As of right now the bill will be helping out the small farm owners who want to sell their products to the public.

The bill is S. 70 and it was introduces by Democrat Senator John Rodgers.The issue Martin is having with the bill is it will only help out tier 2 farms and Chandler Pond is a tier 1."We would love to sell our milk at the farmers market, but the bill applies to tier 2 farmers and there are only 2 of them in the state," Martin said.Martin can't afford to turn her farm into a tier 2 farm, but has hope that in the future her farm will be selling raw milk.Of course Vermont has set regulations on the selling of raw milk and thinks about 150 farms in Vermont are currently selling raw milk.