To summarize.
During the 2012 elections there were many calls to make raw milk legal for sale in many states, it suddenly became an issue worth fighting over and caught some attention on a national level. As I recall, it was one of the few times Jon Huntsman was even mentioned as he was almost intentionally forgotten as a significant presidential candidate, despite decent early poll results. But that's all irrelevant, what is important is that the bills calling for this unbanning of raw milk have all but disappeared due to neglect. Like many “issues of the hour” topics will come up and be dropped as soon as there's no campaign anymore. However, since this is a food safety issue, it is worth bringing up once more.
Raw milk is not easily available for several reasons, the first being that it really is a public health hazard. It's a fantastic incubator for disease due to it having water, high nutrition, and is kept at (relatively) warmer temperatures (You don't freeze milk). This means any trace of bacteria will have a very easy time reproducing and infecting the milk given some time. However, the risk is considerably lower if sold and consumed locally within a good time-frame from cows that are regulated for their health. Homogenization and Pasteurization go a long way into improving and lowering the risk for these possible diseases however at a relatively low cost, so the demand for raw milk is relatively low to begin with and is seen more as a rights issue.
Personally I believe raw milk is somewhat over-regulated in many states. A good solution is to allow local farmers to sell it themselves so long as the bottles are carefully labeled so that buyers understand the risk. However, whether or not someone drinks raw milk is almost entirely up to their taste. It's far from a necessity, and the risk vs the reward doesn't warrant its widespread availability (if it were widely available the risk could be higher). But that's simply personal opinion, it's not the most complex of issues, but it does hold importance on its own as well as the principle of it.
-Contributed by Lukas Louwagie
-Contributed by Lukas Louwagie
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