TodayFarmer, state government square off about 'raw' milk
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Article RatingOn most days, people passing by the family farm of Newville resident Mark Nolt would see cows grazing on grass and children playing in the field.
Two weeks ago, people would have also seen police raiding his barn.
About six police officers and a handful of trucks paid Nolt a visit to confiscate his hold of illegal unpasteurized milk and other dairy products. The raid came after Commonwealth Court injunction in July ordered him to stop selling the dairy products, and after a judge found Nolt in contempt of court on Aug. 2 for disobeying the order.
The dispute is simple: The government says so-called "raw" milk, yogurt and cheeses could make customers ill, but Nolt says pasteurizing milk does as much harm as good and the government is infringing on his civil rights.
"The Constitution clearly spells out we have the right do private business," Nolt said. "And the Constitution spells out life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Pennsylvania law forbids selling raw milk without a permit, according to Chris Ryder, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture. He also said farmers are not allowed to sell almost any raw dairy product, like soft cheeses or yogurt, even with a permit because their longer shelf life makes them too unsafe.
Although a debate about pasteurization sounds more appropriate for 1907 than 2007, Nolt is not alone. Raw milk proponents have sprung up across the country recently to argue against a process regarded as one of the biggest boons to public health of the last century.
On July 4, a Washington D.C.-based food advocacy group formed a legal defense fund to help give farmers the right to sell raw products.
Nolt said pasteurization kills as much good bacteria and vitamins as it kills harmful bacteria.
"It would destroy natural vitamins and goodness of milk and milk product," Nolt said.
And, he said, raw milk and its various products taste better.
But Ryder said drinking raw milk can be harmful.
He said Nolt might be endangering customers, especially the elderly and children, because without a permit the milk has greater potential to make somebody ill.
"We do not get any reports of people getting ill from pasteurized milk," he said. "We do get reports from people drinking raw milk."
He said the state has decreased the risk of drinking raw milk with the permit system because inspectors can make sure barns are clean and cows healthy. But he said even then, people still run a risk when drinking the milk.
Still, Nolt, who at one time did own a permit but dropped it because it did not apply to most non-milk dairy products, said he defied the court order because he thought his customers deserved unpasteurized milk.
"We would feel very bad not doing for our customers what we would want them to do for us," Nolt said.
But if Nolt continues to sell raw dairy products, he said the police told him he will go to jail.
The loss of business has been a hardship on his family, he said, but his religion helped him persevere.
He even took his police "visit" in good humor.
"The 'visit' was what really amused us," Nolt said. "It was a full-scale raid."
