In protest of a state and federal crackdown on unpasteurized milk, the Santa Cruz Food Rights Coalition will be milking goats and passing out cups of the superfresh stuff near the Downtown Farmers Market this Wednesday, Sept. 7. Protesters will gather at a secret location downtown, put their goats on leashes and embark on a “mini-parade” down side streets to the market at 3pm.
“We’re going to have 20 to 30 volunteers. So we’re hoping to have a pretty big event—plus the goats,” says Mali McGee, co-owner of Milk Farm Mama and one of the event organizers.
What’s got their goat? The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the federal Food and Drug Administration have it out baaaad for producers and distributors of raw milk, from Amish farmers to hippies. Evergreen Acres Goat Farm in San Jose received a “cease and desist” letter from the Santa Clara County District Attorney earlier this year. Some distributors, like the Rawesome Food Co-op in Venice Beach, have been shut down in large-scale government raids.
Pete Kennedy of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund fully supports the Milk-In. “It’s a safe and nutritious product,” says Kennedy of raw milk. While the FDA cites health concerns and possible bacteria, such as listeria and salmonella, Kennedy suspects, like McGee, that the crackdown is due to pressure from big dairy producers who don’t want competition.
At the Santa Cruz Milk-In, attendees and confused passersby will be encouraged to sign letters to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff and District Attorney saying they wouldn’t want raids of any Santa Cruz raw milk farms.
“The milk that comes from the store is from a cow that I don’t know,” says McGee. As to the exact location of the milk-in, planners haven’t made it that far yet. Dustin Jensen, another Milk Farm Mama co-owner, hopes they find a nice lawn or parking lot near the market on Wednesday. “We probably just go there and find a good spot,” he says. “It’s just going to be a low-production kind of thing, just a few goats and maybe some sheep.”
