The raw milk option

By Lynn Eschbach

Many consumers are looking for alternative dairy products. One such product is raw milk. The benefits of raw milk include Vitamins A, B-complex, C and iodine that naturally occur in milk. Beneficial enzymes, amino acids and minerals are also found in raw milk. This valuable content, along with beneficial bacteria, is destroyed or diminished when the milk is pasteurized and homogenized.

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) was instrumental in the Colorado Legislature’s decision to give Colorado consumers the option to have access to raw milk by passing Senate Bill 5 last year. Referred to as “the raw milk bill,” the measure allows consumers to buy cow or goat “shares” from producers and to pay boarding fees in exchange for raw milk.

Most people who can’t drink pasteurized milk, can drink raw milk without any problems because it contains the necessary enzymes that help assimilate the nutrients in milk. There are no additives in raw milk.

Proponents of raw milk say pasteurizing has continued on such a large scale not because milk contains harmful bacteria or is dangerous to drink raw, rather pasteurizing milk keeps it from souring for longer, benefiting grocery retailers and wholesalers because less milk is wasted through spoilage.

Listed below are RMFU members offering raw milk shares to Colorado consumers. We are not currently aware of any raw milk dairy members in Wyoming or New Mexico.

Boone: Larga Vista Ranch
719-947-0982

Brighton: Johnson Acres
303-574-1274

Byers: Ebert Family Farm
303-822-5544

Elizabeth: Lil’ Promised Land (goat)
303-574-1274

Ellicott: Isle Farms
719-683-8140

Ft. Collins: Taft Hill Dairy
970-224-2591

Johnstown: Natural Choice Dairy (goat)
970-587-8677

La Junta: Laffing Horse Farm (goat)
719-254-3837

Loveland: Guidestone CSA
970-461-0271

Montrose: Kinikin Corner Dairy
970-240-4564

Windsor: Windsor Dairy
970-674-0571