West Virginia daily

VASHON ISLAND — Kelsey Kozack's kitchen is a dairy wonderland. Fresh cheeses, yogurt and quarts of fresh raw milk abound, all compliments of Iris, a gentle tan cow who grazes on the family's seven-acre property.

At first, Kelsey's parents and sister were the main consumers of her culinary creations from Iris' raw, unpasteurized milk. Then neighbors got samples, and from there, a small but passionate business began.

But the state has taken notice of these small, community-driven models across the state, saying they need to be licensed and regulated with the state Department of Agriculture or else must stop operations. Recently, the agency has been sending cease-and-desist letters to raw microdairies that aren't licensed, sparking a small battle over whether the state has a right to regulate what many consider a private operation.

With only one dairy cow whose milk production is tapering off and a handful of shareholders, the Kozacks don't consider themselves in the retail business like large dairies. They also don't consider themselves rule breakers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says raw milk is dangerous, possibly carrying deadly pathogens such as campolybacter, salmonella and E. coli.

Selling raw milk for human consumption is legal in 28 states, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation, a raw milk advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Five states allow raw milk for animal consumption, a loophole that raw milk fans exploit. In some of the remaining states, including Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin, raw milk is available through cow share programs.

In Washington state, raw milk sales are legal if the farm is licensed through the state, which requires monthly testing of the milk and inspection of the farm and milk bottling room.

Janet Anderberg, public health adviser with the state Department of Health, said an E. coli outbreak last year involving three people in Whatcom County was tied to illegal raw milk. In 2003, three people in Yakima County and eight in Skagit County became ill from tainted milk.

The state agency has sent out four letters to unlicensed raw dairies across the state in the past several months, said Claudia Coles, program manager of the agency's food safety program.

“How worth it is it to have a cow or two if you have to go make a stainless steel kitchen that's only for bottling the milk and nothing else?” asked Linda Kozack, Kelsey's mother.

A statewide campaign in support of the raw dairy shareholder has formed under two organizations, Washington Association of Shareholder Dairy Owners and the Raw Dairy Choice Campaign.

George Calvert, who operates a cow share out of Calvert's Castle dairy in Medical Lake near Spokane, received a letter from the state in August. His attorney responded in September, saying they weren't selling milk and therefore weren't in violation. So far, the state hasn't responded.

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