Making Milk Raw Again doesn’t appear to be on the schedule. Since this administration is largely geared towards the gain of a small portion of Americans and foreign affinity groups, while throwing bones to its shrinking (gene) pool of supporters, this isn’t surprising at all.
Milk America Raw Again
We’ve reached a new milestone in this story. Despite the fanfare, and a few deluded comments in response to my predicting this, RFK Jr’s HHS is responding to Raw Farm founder Mark McAfee with cold and bureaucratic dismissal.
From the Fresno Bee (unblocked at Merced Sun-Star):
McAfee, founder of Raw Farm, one of the leading raw milk dairies in the U.S., said a member of Kennedy’s staff reached out to him in January, urging him to apply for a possible role in reshaping raw milk regulations.
He submitted several proposals that Kennedy requested, but when McAfee asked recently to meet with top FDA officials, he was told to hold off.
“Thank you, Mr. McAfee, for reaching out and for your interest in furthering the agency’s mission to protect public health,” wrote Donald A. Prater, DVM, principal deputy director of the Human Foods Program at the FDA in a letter McAfee. “Given our need to balance agency priorities, the Human Foods Program respectfully declines your request for a meeting at this time, though we remain open to dialogue with the raw milk industry.”
When asked about HHS’s plans for raw milk, a spokesperson replied: “Secretary Kennedy supports informed choice and full transparency in food policy, affirming that Americans have the right to decide what they consume. HHS remains committed to ensuring that all regulatory decisions are grounded in gold-standard science.”
Reminders: this administration’s USDA was staffed by the seed oil and snack food lobby.
Mark McAfee founded one of the few relatively-big raw milk farms in the USA, Organic Pastures, now known as Raw Farm in Fresno, CA. RFK Jr, who lives near Los Angeles, is a customer of Raw Farm. Mark wants to sell his family’s raw milk products across state lines. I’m not at all opposed to anyone buying California raw milk, but the situation is complicated as we’ll get to later.
The plan of this administration was always to fire as many normal regulatory workers as possible and replace them with contractors/ gig workers. If you thought anything else was going on, you might be under the influence of what you’ve been shown on screens. You should question the content producers who mislead you, no matter how deep your parasocial relationship may be. Kamala’s proposed Mandatory Screen Time Limits for Adults of Advanced Age might have solved this problem. Unfortunately, the brain rot will continue until further notice.
BTW: Did you hear about that Epstein thing? Back in 2019, we found out that Trump had much more involvement/ awareness than Clinton. Apparently some have been slower in discovering this fact than others, it’s probably genetic, but late is better than never. I’m sure the GMO people will be selling a curative elixir soon enough. We’re still on watch duty for Project 2025’s section on eliminating labels for GMO products.
Federal influence on raw milk distribution
Raw milk distribution and sales are governed by the states. Thinking the federal government will legalize raw milk in your grocery store is misguided.
The FDA, under HHS, imposes an interstate blockade on raw milk sales. This is a protectionist measure put in place by food-related lobbyists to the benefit of state economies, and the businesses therein, mostly for raw milk intended for pasteurization. Raw milk for human consumption is also affected by this policy and blocked for sale across state lines.
The most that HHS could do is order the FDA to drop the interstate blockade. This would allow big farms from California and Pennsylvania to market in areas where smaller farms presently hold a legally constructed territory.
Granted, in most places, demand outpaces supply and this may not directly affect those intrastate farms. Online marketing from those farms may displace opportunities for smaller farms to grow. I’m not sure this would be fatal, but in caution, I lean towards maintaining the status quo and protecting the smaller local farmers.
Some state laws, like North Dakota, explicitly prevent farms in the state from exporting product across state lines. Whether or not the federal government lifts the blockade, some states will be prohibited from participating in this new system while others are not.
The FDA has never prevented a private membership association from distributing raw milk to members who live across state lines, with rare exception to combatting detected pathogens, so this isn’t really a huge deal for most producers.
Raw milk is not illegal (in most places)
One of the more annoying consequences of the current discourse is that it leaves many with incorrect assumption that raw milk is illegal. Raw milk produced for human consumption is governed by the states. View the Raw Milk Law Map to see if raw milk is already legal in your state.
