Noble Springs Dairy in Franklin this year became the only operation in Middle Tennessee to sell goat milk for human consumption with the full blessing of the state health and agriculture departments.
Dustin and Justyne Noble bought a vat pasteurization system to heat the milk at a lower temperature than commercial dairies in order to better preserve its flavor and nutrients. Their herd is free-range, and the milk has no antibiotic residues. Even so, some people think their milk isn?t pure enough. They want it raw.
?I absolutely would not use that,? said Shawn Dady of Brentwood.
Dady helps people get milk fresh from cows and goats in a state where its sale is illegal. She?s part of the raw milk movement made up of Americans who believe pasteurization cooks all the beneficial bacteria and enzymes out of milk. They are waging a state-by-state battle against pasteurization laws.
But lax laws could pose a public health hazard. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take firm stances against consuming raw milk.
The Nobles can sell their milk in stores. Dady has to own a cow or a goat ? or at least a share of one ? to get it raw.
Two years ago, former Gov. Phil Bredesen signed into law the ?cow share bill.? Dady set up a ?Tennesseans for Raw Milk? website and gathered more than 2,000 online signatures in support of the legislation. The law created a loophole that allowed raw milk aficionados to get it from farmers like Karen Smith, who has Lady-K Farm in Cedar Hill.
?When you pasteurize milk, you kill any bacteria ? anything bad that?s in it,? Smith said. ?You also kill anything good that?s in it.?
For the past 20 years, Smith and her family have been drinking raw goat milk and never gotten sick, she said.
However, there are risks. Unpasteurized milk can contain bacteria that cause food poisoning, including salmonella and E. coli, as well as diseases such as tuberculosis and undulant fever. From 1998 to 2005, more than 1,600 people in the United States got sick during 85 illness outbreaks involving raw milk, resulting in 187 hospitalizations and two deaths, according to the CDC.
?We have a whole generation of people that doesn?t recall the days when only raw milk was available and what a public risk it was at that time,? said Tom Womack, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
Tennessee has required milk to be pasteurized for more than 40 years. It is one of 20 states that prohibits the sale of raw milk, according to a survey on the subject released this year by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Only 12 states allow retailers to sell raw milk. Thirteen limit sales to farms. Five others have rules that allow the sale at farmers? markets or otherwise limit access.
The typical cost to buy a share in a cow, goat or herd in Tennessee is $25 to $50, Dady said.
?We are not satisfied where things are right now,? she said.
The Nobles are small farmers who are sort of caught in the middle of the debate. Their operation is bigger than that of the typical goatkeeper who offers raw milk, but smaller than a commercial dairy that pasteurizes mass quantities at high temperatures.
The Nobles heat their milk to 145 degrees (the lowest temperature legally allowed) for 30 minutes, while commercial dairies heat milk from 175 degrees to 300 degrees for a shorter time. Higher temperature pasteurization extends the shelf life of the milk.
?That?s really harsh on the flavor and just the overall quality as far as the components of the milk, like all the proteins and enzymes,? Dustin Noble said.
Kathryn Johnson, marketing coordinator for the Turnip Truck, said she was happy to offer shoppers Noble Springs Dairy goat milk, especially because it is pasteurized at a lower temperature.
?I think everybody expects it to be stronger than it is,? she said. ?It is very mild and a tiny bit sweet.?
Goat milk has long been considered a home remedy for maladies ranging from shingles to stomach ulcers.
But the Nobles, who began offering their milk to retailers in March, say the market has not been as strong as they had hoped.
?We do run into a lot of people who want to eat raw foods,? he said. ?Some of them just don?t want to consider our product.?
The Nobles have about 100 goats. Tending to the herd, making cheese, bottling and delivering milk, selling their products at farmers? markets and other chores make for long weeks. The Nobles, who are both in their 20s, got a state license to process and make goat cheese in 2009. Success with their feta, chevre and gouda cheeses led to the decision to begin offering milk.
As Justyne Noble tended to the tiniest of the herd in the kid barn, Dustin Noble squinted toward a pasture where does grazed. Soon it would be milking time.
?We?re still working on trying to pinpoint our market,? he said.
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