http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/…

 I Got Hooked on the White Stuff Back in the ’70s
No, not that white stuff. And not the white stuff that Disco Stu bought from Garth Motherloving. The white stuff I got hooked on (growing up on the family dairy farm) is raw milk — milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized. Today’s NYT has an article on the growing black and gray markets in raw milk, which the Food and Drug Administration and 15 state legislatures want to shut down.

Yes, that’s right — Uncle Sam and 15 state governments prohibit consumers from buying milk fresh from the cow. And in the nannies’ defense, milk was responsible for much food-borne illness in the era before universal pasteurization. Most consumers likely prefer protection from nasty bugs like E. coli and salmonella.

But others are willing to risk exposure to those illnesses. Some raw milk enthusiasts claim the white stuff is more healthful than processed milk. Others (I count myself among these) say simply that it tastes better that the milk you buy at the store — people who try raw milk for the first time often comment that it tastes more like melted ice cream than the stuff that comes in cartons.

So why should raw milk fans be prohibited from buying the product they want?

How much of this nanny statism can people handle. A black market for cow milk?! It’s absolutely appalling that a situation like this has arisen.  People are more than capable of taking care of themselves and their families. Instead of wasting time worrying about next weeks episode of Lost they could pay attention to the who, what, where and whens of their food supply. Personal responsibility will only make our country stronger.