If you missed the first part of the meeting, you can read it here

Okay, the rest of the meeting.

Sorry to disappoint, but, if you were waiting for me to let you know what the Board decided, they didn’t.

After Armand addressed what Bruce Salsbury of Lorenae Dairy said, he presentd the board with a 55 page science report on raw milk and offered to make each member a copy and Fed Ex it to each one of them.

No one took him up on his very generous offer so he encouraged them to read it and even quoted from a few of the (impressive)studies in it, still, no one seemed impressed.

After mentioning the sub-committee to Karen Prescott several times and not getting an answer, or so much as a change in the expression on her face, Armand finally had to press her on it. She said they had presented the idea to the State Milk Board Advisory Committee?

 Yes, the Milk Board has an Advisory Committee. Apparently made up of the same people only different? They all hold similar positions to the Milk Board members,   ( health dept. employees, dairy farmers, etc.), but the only person that is on both the Advisory Committee and Milk Board is the secretary, Gene Weisman.

Karen then said, after more pressing, or pulling may be a better word, the advisory committee hadn’t made a decision because of budget issues and she had no idea when they would decide.

We literally had to drag each little bit of info out of her. She wasn’t volunteering anything!

I addressed the board after that and we reminded her that they (the Board) were supposed to be forming the sub-committee before this Milk Board Meeting and we had been wating for a phone call since she had said she would be calling soon to let us know who the members of the Raw Milk Sub-Committee would be.

After stammering a bit she said they wouldn’t know anything until the Milk board Advisory Committee met again.

And, again, more dragging to get her to tell us she thought that might be sometime around the end of June. Thanks.

I then asked Karen if all action against anyone selling raw milk would be on hold until this could all be reviewed she said “yes”.

The Milk Board’s legal advisor (not sure if she is an actual atty. or not) spoke up and said that there would be action if the law was broken by bringing milk into Greene County. I said that that WAS the issue to be reviewed, the law says a consumer may purchase raw milk and have it delivered to him for his or her own use. She mentioned the A.G.’s opinion said that milk may only be purchased on the farm and that was what the Milk Board was using to make their decisions and the Board would not be able to really tell us anything until a decision had been made by the court in the Bechard case. She then said that no one could bring raw milk in to the county unless they had a food permit. Karen piped up at that point and agreed it was a food permit violation.

No, I didn’t continue to debate the issue with the Board’s legal advisor. I’m not familiar with the “Food Permit Ordinance” Greene County has. When I asked for a copy of the ordinance the legal advisor stated they were published regularly. I, of course had to ask where are they published? Her response was “at the Office of Adiministration website.”

Um, could you give me that website?

“It’s the Office of Administration website.”

Okay

maybe  here?

I did, however, remind everyone that science no longer supports that raw milk is dangerous, or, that pasteurized milk is safe. I also stressed that there is a large volume of raw milk sold in SW-MO and NO ONE is getting sick. We just want to be able to keep doing what we have been doing, customers meeting their producers to pick up milk.

A member of the board, a dairy farmer, then asked me “so you’re telling me he (meaning Armand I guess) can milk a filthy cow and just sell the milk?”

I answered “no, then people would get sick. Great care is taken by raw milk producers in the care of their cows and their milk.”  honestly, the rest of that little discussion (which was only a few sentences) is a blur because I was trying so hard not to cuss.

So, nothing was decided. We’ll wait for the Bechard’s next hearing on june 4th. Hope to see you there!

Read the law and the A. G.’s opinion for yourself, I’d love to hear what you think………..

 The Law…..

Missouri Statutes
TITLE XII PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
Chapter 196 FOOD, DRUGS AND TOBACCO
FLUID MILK AND FLUID MILK PRODUCTS

196.935. State milk inspection required on all graded fluid milk or milk products pasteurization required, exception.  

No person shall sell, offer for sale, expose for sale, transport, or deliver any graded fluid milk or graded fluid milk products in this state unless the milk or milk products are graded and produced, transported, processed, manufactured, distributed, labeled and sold under state milk inspection and the same has also been produced or pasteurized as required by a regulation authorized by section 196.939 and under proper permits issued thereunder. Only pasteurized graded fluid milk and fluid milk products as defined in subdivision (3) of section 196.931 shall be sold to the final consumer, or to restaurants, soda fountains, grocery stores, or similar establishments; except an individual may purchase and have delivered to him for his own use raw milk or cream from a farm. (emphasis mine)

AG’s opinion….

” Conclusion

It is the opinion of this office that section 4 of House Bill No. 1280 prohibits a dairy farmer from selling raw milk to the general public from a distribution center set up by the dairy farmer and located away from his farm premises.”

Signed by Atty. Gen. John C. Danforth, 1973

Is it just me or does that sound like he’s talking about a roadside stand or something? We have been told by the Board that according to this A.G. opinion, raw milk cannot even be delivered to someone who has prepaid. The Milk Board is using this “opinion” to say NO RAW MILK CAN BE BROUGHT IN TO GREENE COUNTY.