On-farm raw milk sales are legal in Illinois under 410 ILCS 635/8, which provides a farm-direct exemption for milk sold from the producing farm. No retail store or delivery sales are authorized.
Illinois permits on-farm raw milk sales under a farm-direct exemption within the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (410 ILCS 635/8) and associated Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines. Producers may sell raw milk directly to consumers at the farm where it is produced without a full Grade A commercial dairy license, provided the farm meets basic herd health requirements. Raw milk sold under this exemption must be labeled appropriately. The Illinois Department of Public Health enforces food safety standards and determines which farms qualify for the farm-direct exemption based on scale and operating conditions.
Illinois has maintained an on-farm raw milk access framework for many years, serving consumers primarily in rural areas of northern and central Illinois and in the outer suburbs of Chicago. The state's framework does not permit off-farm delivery, farmers market sales, or retail store sales of raw milk. Illinois herdshare arrangements also exist in informal practice alongside the on-farm sales framework, though the state does not have an explicit herdshare statute comparable to Indiana's. Consumer demand is particularly concentrated among the natural food communities in the Chicago metropolitan area, whose members often travel to rural farm locations to make purchases.
Official government documents and legal resources for Illinois
Illinois statute providing a farm-direct exemption for raw milk sold from the producing farm to consumers, under which on-farm raw milk sales are permitted without a full commercial dairy license.
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Founder of the Slow Food movement, the Ark of Taste, and Terra Madre, Carlo Petrini spent four decades defending artisanal food traditions, raw milk cheeses, and the right to good food worldwide.
Raw milk is accessible in most US states. No vending machine network has developed in any of them. The reasons are structural: no machine-specific framework, a bottling default, shopping habits incompatible with raw milk’s shelf life, and farm geography.
Where to find raw milk vending machines across Europe by country, with local search terms and directory links. Covers Italy, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, and England.
Raw milk in France is available at the farm gate, from automated vending machines, and on the shelves of organic grocery stores, including Biocoop nationwide.
Switzerland’s federal food authorities have confirmed raw milk vending machines are permitted under a consumer information framework. Austria operates a formal inspection regime under AGES with mandatory boiling notices. Two Alpine approaches compared.
Squeezed by merchant pricing that paid farmers roughly 30 cents on the euro, Slovenian dairy farmers built a direct-sale raw milk vending network that now spans close to 70 locations nationwide.
