by JASON HOPPIN — Santa Cruz Sentinel

KEVIN JOHNSON/SENTINEL

BONNY DOON – As far as goat farmers go, Mali McGee counts herself among the militants.

“We are out of the barn and willing to talk about it,” said McGee, who runs Milk Mama Goat Farm, a small goat and sheep farm in a remote corner of Bonny Doon.

With three goats and two sheep, Milk Mama is a herd share program. Members buy 1/54th of a share, which pencils out to about half a gallon of goat milk a week. Members can also contract with the farm to turn the milk into cheese, yogurt or other diary products.

While shares in fruit and vegetable farms have been a popular part of the local food movement, a new trend is buying shares of animals. But this new trend disturbs authorities, so much so that prosecutors have sent cease-and-desist letters to small herd share cooperatives across the state – including Evergreen Acres in Santa Clara County – and even staged an armed raid on a Ventura operation.

In this climate, local herd share operators, many of whom prefer anonymity, are coming out of the shadows next week. They are planning a downtown Santa Cruz “milk-in” to raise awareness about what they say is a misuse of taxpayer funds and government resources.

“We have seen what has happened in other parts of the country, and we’re trying to prevent it,” McGee said. “We want to highlight the inappropriate use of funds and the mistreatment of people.”

There are about 20 herd shares operating throughout Santa Cruz County, and in the eyes of some, outside the law. Locally sourced foods may be all the rage, but the movement appears to be hitting a wall when it comes to dairy. And that wall is the long, muscular arm of the law.

Following a multiagency raid last month, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged three raw milk producers and sellers – owners of Healthy Families Farms and the operator of the Ventura raw foods store Rawesome – with conspiracy and numerous other counts.

The complaint alleges that, after signing customers up for memberships, they sold unlicensed milk at farmers markets in Southern California. No fewer than nine federal, state and local agencies participated in the investigation.

Local prosecutors, who work in conjunction with the Department of Food and Agriculture, have sent cease-and-desist letters to herd shares in several counties. Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said the state has a duty to protect the food supply and wants to work with small herd shares to comply with state law.

“If that’s not possible for whatever reason, then because this is a food safety issue, fundamentally, we have to look at the enforcement side of our responsibilities and take action accordingly,” Lyle said.

Lyle said the state has always been vigilant about going after unlicensed dairy operations. But enforcement appears to be increasing, probably due to the increasing popularity of herd shares.

McGee agrees that licensing is a good thing – for large dairy producers. Those operations, vastly more complex in their production of milk, should be regulated, she said. But not in the same way that small operators are.

“Yes, that should be regulated. But as an adult, I don’t want to drink that milk,” McGee said, saying smaller operations are cleaner operations. “Were not saying no one needs to be regulated and regulations are stupid. What we’re saying is one size does not fit all.”

While no official crackdown has come in Santa Cruz County, the issue does seem to be developing. The county Board of Supervisors is expected to vote Sept. 13 on a resolution supporting herd shares.

Bob Kennedy, the county’s top environmental health official, said people who produce milk for their own consumption are under no threat of running afoul of the law, something the Department of Food and Agriculture agrees with.

“Where it steps into the California food code is when you share it, either for free or for money, with other people,” Kennedy said. “We’re not absolutely against everything, but we do not want people getting sick.”

Where herd share operators and their defenders diverge from official policy is on what constitutes commerce. McGee said partial ownership of the herd makes members more than just customers. As partial owners, they should be allowed to drink their own milk.

“There’s no selling of milk or animal byproduct, there’s only selling of shares of the animal,” McGee said. “We collectively buy the animal and we only need a portion of one animal.”

Recently, the Fall Church, Va.-based Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund picked up the cause, suing the state on behalf of Mike and Jane Hulme, owners of San Jose’s Evergreen Acres. They are asking a judge to clarify the law surrounding herd shares.

“You’d rather not have to go to the courts, but they were basically being threatened by the prosecutors,” said Peter Kennedy, president of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, which has taken up the Hulme’s cause.

Kennedy and McGee both say the one of the problems is the California dairy licensing scheme, which can costly and difficult to navigate. Kennedy said consumers and farms should have the right to do business with each other without the government interfering.

“They should have the right to do business with each other without the government interfering,” Kennedy said.

If that sounds like a mix of the progressive local food movement and libertarian politics, that’s because it is. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul routinely mentions raw milk on the campaign trail.

Lyle disagrees. He said the state is trying to prevent food-born illness, and once milk leaves the farm, it’s under the purview of the state.

“When product leaves property, then it’s considered a commercial venture, even if it’s a food sharing venture,” Lyle said.

But Lyle said the state has heard the complaints about the difficulty in getting a state dairy license.

“That’s a point that we’ve heard several times recently, and we’re interested in working with the dairy community and the small producers to see if there are possible ways to address that,” Lyle said. “We understand the local food movement is flourishing not just here but around the country, and we very much want to be a facilitator of that.”

But McGee said she’s not necessarily interested in getting a license.

“If I wanted to be a graded dairy, I would have been a graded dairy. But I don’t,” she said. “I want to grow food in my community and share it in my community.”

IF YOU GO

SANTA CRUZ ‘MILK-IN’

WHAT: Protest of crackdown on dairy ‘herd shares’

WHEN: 3 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Downtown Santa Cruz, near the Farmer’s Market

Read the full article here: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_18821463