The case of Richard Hebron and the Family Farms Cooperative finally gets a mass-media hearing with a detailed Time Magazine article, cleverly entitled, “Got Raw Milk? Be Very Quiet”. It’s a roundup of the debate over raw milk that has simmered since Hebron’s products were seized outside Ann Arbor last Oct. 13. The article’s appearance is a pleasant surprise, since rumors had circulated that the article, which was weeks in being reported, might not be published.
Among the things that stand out to me in the article:
— It makes the key point that the raw milk debate is really about nutritional choice. A user questions why authorities go after raw milk producers, and leave thousands of pornographic web sites unhindered.
— It does a nice job of communicating the fact that many people have experienced positive health benefits from raw milk. There is a quite elegant quote from Dr. Joseph Mercola—“so many of my patients recover their health with raw milk that I perceive this as one of the most profoundly healthy foods you can consume."
–There are a few minor errors. It says no charges have been filed against Hebron, suggesting the Michigan case has gone away, which it hasn’t. It’s just that no decision has yet been announced. It also says Hebron met with FDA officials in Detroit; actually, it was David Hochstetler who met with FDA officials March 6, since he was the one sent an agency warning letter.
–To its credit, it avoids the FDA’s “Russian roulette” quote, but it plays fast and loose with at least one set of statistics, saying “nearly a third” of 168 disease outbreaks from dairy products were linked to unpasteurized items. Isn’t the other side of that statistic that more than two-thirds were linked to pasteurized products?
Overall, though, a nice job of educating the public about an emerging food and nutrition issue.
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