Proving that de facto corporate control of community foodways using the government as its hired thug is not just the purview of North America, Ireland has moved to ban all raw milk sales by the end of 2011.
This shocking development appears to be in response to an enormous and rapid surge in the sales of unpasteurized dairy since late 2010 when Irish dairy farmers realized the full implication of a 2007 European Union directive that actually superceded an Irish ban on raw milk sales by the Department of Agricultural Fisheries and Food (DAFF) in 1996.
One farmer told the Irish Times that his raw milk sales this past summer went from zero to 400 liters (about 100 gallons) per week in nothing flat.
The surge in raw milk sales in recent months has not brought any increases in food borne illness or disease, leaving one to ponder why the Irish government is moving so strongly to outlaw raw milk with one fell swoop.
As described so eloquently by William Campbell Douglass MD, the reasons are really not that difficult to grasp:
“Pasteurization is the hammer that industry uses to nail down control of everyone’s milk money.
Without pasteurization laws, farmers can sell direct to consumers and earn a good living. With those laws in place, however, most farmers have no choice but to sell their milk to Big Dairy operations for pennies on the dollar.”
Dr. Douglass MD goes on to say:
” … responsibly produced raw milk is not the risky cocktail you’ve been led to believe. In fact, bans like this one aren’t about safety at all – and they never are.
Farmers aren’t the only ones getting the shaft here – consumers also lose big, because pasteurization kills everything in milk worth having: powerful natural probiotics and healthy dairy proteins as well as key vitamins and minerals.”
The new ban planned to go into effect by year’s end was proposed by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and is to be enacted as statutory law on behalf of the DAFF by the Department of Health.
I find it curious that the Irish ban on raw milk sales coincides with changes to the lineup of grassfed butter produced in Ireland by Kerry Gold. Not only is the new “full fat” Kerry Gold tub butter that is being marketed as “more spreadable” than the traditional brick butter not nearly as yellow indicating poorer quality butterfat that is lower in nutrition, but the addition of the new reduced fat butter ominously indicates a more profitability based product line such as what would be promoted by the monopoly controlled Dairy industry in the United States.
It seems that Big Dairy has landed on the Emerald Isle in full force with the political and financial goal to control every drop of quality dairy produced by this primarily grassfeeding nation where cows graze on lush grass for most of the year.
Clearly, marketing control of the grassbased dairy produced in Ireland is a moneymaking opportunity with far too much profit potential for Big Dairy to pass up. Â Using the government to secure corporate control of the market by banning raw milk sales under the guise of improving public health is the crucial first step.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources: Banning Raw Milk Letter published in the Irish Times
I’m so glad you posted this Sarah. I was sat down reading your blog (which I only discovered last week & love), enjoying a cold glass of my soon to be illegal raw milk when I saw this post & it moved me that so many of your readers care.
At the moment, the ban has been delayed. I don’t know how long for as apparently the relevant govt. departments are being cagey & secretive about this ban since the beginning. They were hoping to get it through without alerting the public in any way but obviously this didn’t happen. The government are not open to public opinion on this subject & have flat out refused to allow the Irish public to vote on this matter. In doing this they have actually harmed themselves more than helped themselves. Tell us Irish we can’t have something & we will fight you for it regardless of whether we want it or not. Alot of people who can’t care less about raw milk have joined the anti-raw milk ban wagon purely based on the government not allowing us to decide for ourselves. The government claim the usual “danger to health” as their reason for banning raw milk sales. The truth of the matter is that the government pays 33 cent per litre to the farmers for their milk. Dairy farming is a livestyle choice for farmers in Ireland, not a career as farmers cannot make ends meet getting paid 33cent/litre. I pay slightly over double that price to my local raw cheese maker whose milk is tested 3 times a week. In recent months, I have heard of raw milk being sold for €4/litre. The government obviously want to stop this as they want control over the nation’s milk & are not willing to pay.
For updates look are http://www.rawmilkireland.com There is a lovely petition on the main page for signing. They are also on facebook.
Kerrygold does not use raw milk, and has never used raw milk, in making the butter and cheese you enjoy. The farmers who own our dairy co-op provide raw milk that we pasteurize before turning it into butter and cheese. We use the same milk for all our products — the new spreadable or lower-fat butter, or the traditional butter and cheeses we have made for years. There is no difference except the reduced-fat butter has a lower percentage of fat. Consumers have been asking Kerrygold to provide a butter that is lower in fat so they can continue enjoying our high quality product.
It really bothers me that goverments world wide dictate what we can and cannot eat, I thought that at least here in the US it was a free country!
Makes me want to boycott Irish products. But why punish Irish farmers because they have a government that is just as stupid and corrupt as ours?
The good news is that no Western nation can financially survive much longer. With government nonsense like this, we should just start from scratch.
The FDA is losing the fight here. The Irish equivalent will lose the fight there. The Irish have had a taste… once we have a taste, we never give up, lol!
Ireland Moves to Ban Skyrocketing Raw Milk Sales – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/CtwJ6Bab
just having a glass now 🙂 what is this ridiculous crack down on raw milk all about. if the “idiots” had been here 100 years ago they could have taken the whole world to court and jail for drinking and selling raw milk. !!!!!!!!!!!
Friends @KerrygoldUSA do you have any insight into why Ireland’s banning raw milk sales? http://t.co/2OfdGRO4
Please contact the Ireland Department of Health (www.dohc.ie) regarding the reasons behind why Ireland looking at a ban on raw milk sales.
That is very sad, too bad. I had some faith in Europeans being wiser about this, but I guess no nation is immune to greed.