Raw milk

[mommy2two babes]

Does anyone know a good source of raw milk in S. Ontario?

I am not sure how to even go about asking. I have never even seen eggs at our local farmers market which is another thing that I am interested in.

If anyone could point me in the right direction or has any hints or tips I would really appreciate it.

[katiesk]

just ask! i would ask the vendors at the farmers market about both eggs and raw milk.

our local natural food store is starting a raw milk co-op, so if you have any natural food stores or health food store, etc i would ask there as well.

good luck!

[mommy2two babes]

I am not sure how well it would go just asking.
I am pretty sure that it is illegal to sell raw milk here.
Thanks for the suggestions.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

http://www.realmilk.com/where-other.html#can

HTH!

[mamatowill]

It is illegal to sell raw milk in Ontario and I know that they are clamping down on eggs (if it is even still allowed). I think that the only way it is happening legally right now is when a farmer sells a "share" in the cow to people. Thus the "owner" is allowed to have that percentage of milk. I doubt this is advertised though.

[tankgirl73]

Good luck. I lived in S. Ont. until last year and I never did find raw milk anywhere, and neither did any of my crunchy friends. It is indeed illegal in Ontario, and some farmers who tried the co-op approach (as in, you own a share of a cow, so you can get the milk however you want) got in trouble, as I recall.

The best I was ever able to find was some raw milk cheese, imported from Quebec. Yummy yummy!

[tankgirl73]

mamatowill -- do you seriously mean they're not allowing farm-fresh eggs?

That's ridiculous.

At our farmer's market here in Fredericton, NB, there are at least four different vendors selling eggs. Two are free-range and organic. They always sell out very early in the morning. Getting eggs straight from the farmer is really, really popular here!

[mommy2two babes]

Originally Posted by tankgirl73

Good luck. I lived in S. Ont. until last year and I never did find raw milk anywhere, and neither did any of my crunchy friends. It is indeed illegal in Ontario, and some farmers who tried the co-op approach (as in, you own a share of a cow, so you can get the milk however you want) got in trouble, as I recall.

The best I was ever able to find was some raw milk cheese, imported from Quebec. Yummy yummy!

I was afraid this was the case.
Both DS and I have a bad sensitivity to dairy and I thought perhaps we would do better with raw milk.
I guess I wont get the chance to find out

[ZoeyZoo]

I don't know it this will help but you could check you local WAPF chapter. They usually know of raw milk sources.

There is a farm in CA called Organic Pastures that will ship milk as pet food but I don't know if that will pass customs. That is how they get it across state lines in the US in states where it is illegal to sell it for human consumption.

Also have you tried checking with your local zoo? They usually have to buy raw milk for nursing and baby animals. They cannot use pasturized milk because the animals won't thrive.

[mamatowill]

I seem to remember some farmers in the area (Ottawa) getting in trouble for selling eggs at the farmer's market cause they aren't inspected and such.

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by ZoeyZoo

There is a farm in CA called Organic Pastures that will ship milk as pet food but I don't know if that will pass customs. That is how they get it across state lines in the US in states where it is illegal to sell it for human consumption.

They were indicted for shipping raw milk across state lines. It was officially et food, but they were too open about the human consumption aspect. In the court settlement, OP agreed to stop interstate shipment. It currently has a petition on file with the FDA that would allow it to ship milk into states where it is legal for retail sale (like neighboring Nevada).

[spughy]

I don't know how far south in Ontario you are, but if you can find a source across the border from you, it IS legal to bring raw milk back into the country with you, weirdly enough. Before I found a source here I used to take the ferry to Port Angeles and bring back a couple gallons at a time and freeze it. You are allowed $20 worth of dairy products per person for a <24 hour visit - and kids count as people, so take as many children as you can and find a farm south of the border!

ETA: on the eggs - here there was a kerfuffle a while back over selling *ungraded* eggs in stores and in some markets as well - it's not about inspection (how would you inspect an egg?) but sizing consistency "for consumer protection" . Our health board wised up, admitted that it had nothing to do with health, and stopped that nonsense, and now we can buy ungraded farm eggs all over the place, which is lovely - but you should be able to buy directly from farms, even if you can't buy from markets.

[mommy2two babes]

I am not close enough to the border for that to work unfortunately.
I am in the GTA.

[Althetrainer]

Raw milk

We live in Calgary, Alberta and we have the same problem here... no way we can ever find raw milk. On top of that, I believe milk in Canada is pasteurized and homogenized, including goat milk. Someone told me that I could find 3.5% full fat (homo) milk that was not homogenized but so far I haven't found that anywhere in our city.

[tankgirl73]

I did find non-homogenized milk in our health food store in Ontario. So yes, that is out there. Maybe there are regulations in Alberta against it? I dunno, and I don't see why. To the best of my understanding, homogenization is all about "presentation" and the fact that most people prefer it rather than anything health-and-safety related.

We did try the non-homogenized milk and found it icky. Probably just takes getting used to... but we weren't up to getting used to it lol...

[BedHead]

I finally gave up on getting a source through our WAPF - some of the members there get raw milk but they won't tell me where because the farmers could get in a WHOLE lot of trouble. It's harder to find raw milk in Canada than it is to find marijuana!! And the penalties are stiffer.

[Brigio]

Originally Posted by Althetrainer

We live in Calgary, Alberta and we have the same problem here... no way we can ever find raw milk. On top of that, I believe milk in Canada is pasteurized and homogenized, including goat milk. Someone told me that I could find 3.5% full fat (homo) milk that was not homogenized but so far I haven't found that anywhere in our city.

You can find non homogenized cows milk at the farmers market @ the sunworks farm stand. The brand is Vital Greens- they also make cream cheese, sour cream, butter milk- I believe the cows are grass fed. You can also get the milk at Planet Organic and non homogenized goats milk at Planet!

[mommy2two babes]

Originally Posted by BedHead

It's harder to find raw milk in Canada than it is to find marijuana!! And the penalties are stiffer.

This is very very sad.:

[BedHead]

Originally Posted by mommy2two babes

This is very very sad.:

Isn't it? The Canadian Dairy Commission has brainwashed practically all Canadians into believing that raw milk is second only to arsenic wrt how horrible it is to ingest It's really weird too, because most of the people I know who are over about 55 have drunk raw milk, yet none of them would do it now. I can't even mention it around my mom or she has fits (she's like that about pretty much everything tf) She likes to tell me how my dad almost died from 'undulant fever' whatever that is.

Anyway, if anyone in Edmonton can tell me where to get raw milk I'm all ears!!!

[BaBaBa]

Originally Posted by mommy2two babes

I am not close enough to the border for that to work unfortunately.
I am in the GTA.

I believe Michael Schmidt is still making weekly deliveries to Toronto in defiance of his court order. Now, I'm not sure if he's taking new clients...
I don't know if you've been following his case but a ruling is expected this summer.