Dear Friends,
Raw milk has grown in popularity in New Zealand recent years as more people (particularly those in cities) have become aware that raw milk (from healthy cows living on organic farms) provides health benefits that pasteurised milk does not. Unfortunately, raw milk is not available for sale in supermarkets or health food stores and as a result, people in cities have been forming raw milk clubs and buying milk from farmers and sharing it with friends and family. Such raw milk clubs make raw milk accessible to city dwellers who would not otherwise have access to raw milk because they live too far from a farm that supplies it.
Unfortunately MAF is proposing a new regulatory system for the supply of raw milk that would make raw milk clubs illegal. MAF is also recommending restricting the amount of raw milk that any farmer can sell per day to a level that would make it uneconomic for most farmers to supply raw milk to customers – even assuming that every household who wanted raw milk had a family member who had enough time and money to drive out to a farm on a regular basis to collect the milk.
MAF has released a discussion document and are calling for public submissions. The cut off date for submissions is December 5, 2011.
Please visit www.milk.org.nz where you will find a link to the discussion document and a guide to making a submission.
The only hope to keep raw milk as an option for the vast majority of New Zealanders who live in urban areas is for a massive public response to the call for submissions, so please act now.
Thank you.
Best wishes,
Katherine Smith