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body. It helps with digestion, builds stronger immune systems — there are so many
resources you can go to that talk about this,” raw milk drinker Carstensen said.
No studies have demonstrated a significant difference in nutritional value between raw
and pasteurized milk, according to Oregon State University’s extension dairy specialist
Lisbeth Goddick.
A market awaits legalization
It is not clear how long cow sharing will go on before the state weighs in on its legality,
said dairy farmer Puckett.
“There’s definitely a rumor in the air that the cow-share program will be challenged.
But the demand is so big that at some point raw milk is going to have to be acceptable
within state regulations,” she said.
Dairy farmers doing cow-share programs are not trying to be outlaws, said farmer
Praski. “People just want freedom of choice, and nutrition is a choice,” he said.
Sally Fallon, an author and raw milk guru in Washington, D.C., believes that eventually
retail stores will push for the legalization of raw milk once they realize how much the
consumer market is growing. “Cow shares are helping raw milk farms get started, but
eventually retailers will figure out what they’re missing,” she said.
Washington State already allows stores to sell raw milk in some of its counties,
Pressley said. And that state recently passed a law, effective July 1, that allows for the
retail sale of hand-capped milk bottles, which will help smaller farms work toward
getting their licenses, he said.
But Paulson said Oregon is still uncertain about licensing raw milk farms. According to
him, there were four licensed retail raw milk dairies in Oregon that followed state
sanitary and regulatory requirements in the early 1990s.
“In spite of their compliance, two of the four dairies had outbreaks of E. coli, and a few
of the cases resulted in hemolytic uremic syndrome, requiring the victims to go on
dialysis due to kidney failure,” he said.
But allowing for the sale of raw milk to the general public— whether through cow-
share programs or retail stores — is inevitable, according to Mike McAfee, founder of
Organic Pastures Dairy. He’s already found a way to get around Oregon’s law on raw
milk retail sales, and uses his 320 milking cows to stock shelves over the last year at local
Whole Foods Markets and cooperatives with raw milk … for pets. Or at least that’s what
the label says.
“The neat thing about the law is that it can be interpreted in many ways. The state of
Oregon understood that there was a loophole by putting a pet sticker on the product. And
there’s no regulation that you can’t eat pet food, either. I am a revolutionist in this, and I
won’t overlook any loophole that will get the milk out there.”
But many Portlanders still prefer the smaller, more personal dairy experience that cow
sharing provides. “We have to keep in the forefront that personal connection to the land
and the farmers,” raw milk drinker Darling said. “The key is to keep it small, while still
serving the demand.”
For now, cow sharing appears to be working for most people who have an interest in
raw milk.
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