More Dairies Are Producing Raw Milk

The US Food and Drug Administration warns that drinking unpasteurized milk "is like playing Russian roulette with your health." Massachusetts is one of 28 states where raw milk can be sold for drinking purposes, the Boston Globe reports, and in the last two years the number of dairies selling unpasteurized milk has jumped from 12 to 23.More people want to eat unprocessed food and so there is now a growing customer base for unpasteurized milk. Drinkers are convinced that raw milk helps cure allergies and asthma. A recent European study of 15,000 children found that children who drank raw milk had lower incidence of these ailments. The US FDA totally disagrees with these findings, by the way.Meanwhile, more families are buying raw milk, and paying good prices for it, too. One buying cooperative is paying Massachusetts dairy farmers $6 to $8 a gallon for raw milk. Above are Raymond and Pamela Robinson of Hardwick, Mass., who turned their conventional dairy to an organic operation.