Give Iowans opportunity to choose raw milk

In many countries, as well as many American states, people enjoy fresh dairy products from well-treated, grass-fed animals. Such products include raw butter, considered a delicacy in France, and raw milk, which is available on tap in supermarkets in Italy, and more.

Iowa, however, is only one of a handful of states to strictly forbid all sales of raw milk. Meanwhile, supermarket shelves are stocked with deep-fried potato chips, doughnuts laden with trans fatty acids and other unhealthy products that have been linked in countless studies to heart disease, cancer and other ailments.

Why, then, are we still forbidden from buying grass-fed, pesticide-free, rBGH-free unprocessed milk from small family farms? It does not take much research to realize that raw milk is not dangerous. Any food prepared in unsanitary conditions is potentially hazardous, and fears about raw milk have nothing to do with raw milk itself.

In the same vein, iceberg lettuce and ground beef are not hazardous in and of themselves, yet it is legal to irradiate them in order to kill pathogens. Covering up the symptoms without treating the cause is a lot more hazardous to our health than eating our produce and dairy in their unprocessed states.

All I ask is for Iowa to allow people the freedom to choose whether they want to consume raw milk or not. Please consider signing the petition to allow raw milk to be sold in Iowa: www.

petitiononline.com/

iowamilk/petition.html

Joanna Steven

Ames