Re:Fwd: ACTION ALERT: CHANGES TO PENNSYLVANIA RAW MILK REGULATIONS

[Guest guest]

Thanks, . Here's the fax I'll be sending (but I understand comments are not accepted after 10 a.m. today):October 5, 2010VIA FACSIMILE: Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission 333 Market St, 14th Floorburg, Pennsylvania 17101To whom it concerns:I am against the proposed regulation #2777 Department of Agriculture 2-160: Milk Sanitation and respectfully request that you reject this regulation.As a raw milk consumer, I am not so much interested in how a farmer provides me with raw milk but in the safety of the raw milk. Whether the farmer uses one room or two to milk and bottle, or whether he or she touches the bottle caps or uses a machine is irrelevant. What is relevant is how safe the milk is.I'm in favor of mandatory testing of herds and milk products for contamination and bacterial counts, for notifying the public of the results, and suspending sales when contamination occurs. I believe raw milk producers are also in favor of these requirements. Nothing will put you out of business quicker than making your customers sick--unless it's the government overstepping its bounds.I am against excessive regulations that are designed to control the farmer's production methods. They discourage new people from entering into a field with low profit margin and high startup and administration costs. These regulations add costs to the production (new bottling rooms and equipment) and eventually to the price I pay for raw milk, a commodity that is already many times more expensive than pasteurized milk. And they may put some farmers out of business. Profit and market success provide incentive enough for the farmer to produce a clean and healthy product. Products that do not meet the standards will not be purchased by a knowledgable and informed public. And raw milk consumers are typically very informed consumers. Additionally, remuneration is typically made to rectify harm done to another, but fines proposed in regulations like this one do not find their way into the hands of consumers harmed by the product. Fines and criminal prosecution merely add to the coffers of the State and legal system. They also act as financial incentive for corrupt State agencies to manufacture violations to generate revenue. This regulation would fine farmers not only for selling contaminated milk but simply for not complying with these regulations. License revocation is sufficient to protect the public from noncompliers. Regulations should not be written to enforce compliance with regulations! You may insist that your child have a clean bedroom, but if you want to raise a responsible adult, you let her decide how to clean it, providing assistance when requested. Dairy farmers are in the business of producing and selling raw milk. Let the farmers produce clean, sanitary milk by whatever means they desire. Pennsylvania can establish a unique template for other States by enabling local, small farms to prosper and discouraging government overregulation. Restrict the State to ensuring the quality of the milk--not the method of production. Sincerely yours,Joanne