I wrote to my Talbot delegate, Jeannie Haddaway. She emailed me back to say that she introduced a similar bill this year that would allow farms in Maryland to produce cheese from raw milk. Apparently, right now they have to go to Pennsylvania to produce it and then they can bring it back to Maryland to sell it. Because of the health and food safety concerns, they are going to start with a small pilot program on a farm in Talbot County and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) will be involved to conduct testing along the way. Chapel's Country Creamery in Easton will be the cheese producer participating. (This cheese is sold at the Easton Farmer's Market, by the way, among a few other spots in Easton. It is yummy. You can sample at the market)
However, Jeannie said that oversight from the Health Department seems to be the only thing missing from the raw milk bill that is holding the committee back from supporting it. She said they are working on it, but since it's getting close to the end of session, she is worried that the bill will not get passed this year.
