Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Big Dairy Beware: Donald Trump Drinks Raw Milk!

Big Dairy Beware: Donald Trump Drinks Raw Milk!

Whatever you may think about President-elect Donald Trump, you have to admit one thing. The guy sure has a ton of energy for 70 years old!
I know plenty of 40-somethings who couldn’t keep up with The Donald’s busy schedule. You probably do too. Not many people could juggle the many businesses comprising his $10 billion empire along with running for President of the United States.










  • How does Trump do it?  It doesn’t seem to be a rigorous fitness regimen. By his own admission, he is technically overweight and needs to lose a few pounds. Maybe it’s a steady supply of coffee. But, perhaps it is actually his predilection for one of the most nutrient-dense and traditional of foods: unpasteurized raw milk!
    The raw milk community in the state of Florida, where I live, is small and tight knit. If a famous personality is drinking it, word gets around pretty fast. Such is the word on the street right now.
    Raw milk is rather easily and legally accessible in the state of Florida, particularly in the area near Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s South Florida estate.
    Why would Trump want raw milk for his family? As someone who has run a raw dairy co-op for almost 15 years, I can tell you that it usually starts with the children. If a child is having a health issue, the mom seeks out the most nutritious foods to help the child heal. Other moms just want the healthiest food possible for their growing children. Raw milk from cows grazing on green grass is a common food sought for this purpose due to the plethora of probiotics, enzymes, and easily digestible nutrition that the healthy and very ill alike easily assimilate. And, once Mom sources raw milk for the children, Mom and Dad usually start drinking it too.
    Remember that the new First Lady is from Slovenia where raw milk is available via automated dispensers. These raw milk vending machines are called mlekomat. They are widely found at open air markets and other locations.



    In addition, the Slovenian government apparently subsidizes dairy farms to allow them to buy these dispensing machines to provide local, raw milk to the surrounding community (1).  Below is a map of the dozens of raw milk machines that are available throughout Slovenia.

    The great news for the traditional foods community is that the country now has a President-elect and First Lady who are sympathetic to their cause.
    Will the President-elect roll back the decades long ban on interstate sales of raw milk in the United States? My bet is that he will at least consider it, although he certainly has much more pressing issues to deal with first.



    The ban on state-to-state raw milk commerce is the single greatest impediment to unpasteurized dairy sales in the United States. Given that the President-Elect is a businessman, he will undoubtedly understand the positive implications of eliminating such a regulatory obstacle. How would Trump accomplish this given that the federal ban is the result of a court order, not a Presidential executive order as widely believed (2)?
    One way would be lack of enforcement action by the FDA. You see, there is a loophole in the ban that allows shipment of raw dairy as long as it is not in final package form. Hence, it could be argued that raw milk products that are frozen or not labeled are not in final package form which opens up shipments between states.
    Since the FDA is part of the Executive branch of government, of which the President of the United States is the head, Trump could potentially allow the loophole to be used by raw dairy farmers to legally ship across state lines. Another loophole is already being successfully used by a company which ships raw camel milk all over North America. How? Camels have feet, not hooves like cows, goats, and sheep. Hence, raw camel milk is exempt from regulations prohibiting the shipping of raw milk across state lines or within countries unfriendly to raw milk like Canada.

    I can hear the moaning and groaning from the Big Dairy boardrooms even as I type this. Let’s hope the Big Dairy Monopoly can at last be undone during a Trump Presidency allowing Mother Nature’s most perfect food to be widely available to the people once again!

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