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Eating In, a series examining food and food culture in New Hampshire, ran May 17-21, 2010.

Standing By Raw Milk : An Edible Minute

Got Milk? Maybe you do. But how about this: Got raw milk?

While the USDA opposes the sale of raw milk – they’d prefer you drink pasteurized - raw milk - straight from the cow, filtered and chilled - is making a comeback. It’s now sold in 28 states. Don’t bother looking for it at the store though.

People need to come here and they need to bring their own containers. They come here so they can see my animals, they can see our operation. They can decide for themselves whether the animals look healthy, whether everything’s clean.

That’s Clare Eckert. She and her husband Chris Woods run a small dairy farm in Plymouth. They milk their cows twice a day, the old fashioned way, by hand. Enough to satisfy the dairy needs of about 6 local families.

Some of them are convinced there are health benefits. Some of them grew up with it and it’s what they like.

Right now, farmers legally can sell just 5 gallons of raw milk a day. But a new bill would allow them to sell up to 20 gallons a day. That could mean a lot more people lining up at Eckert’s barn.

Sean Hurley lives in Thornton with his wife Lois and his son Sam. An award-winning playwright and radio journalist, his fictional “Atoms, Motion & the Void” podcast has aired nationally on NPR and Sirius & XM Satellite radio. When he isn't writing stories or performing on stage, he likes to run in the White Mountains. He can be reached at shurley@nhpr.org.
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