Angelenos Want Raw Milk

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Chris Kazaam hasn't eaten cooked food since last Thanksgiving. He hasn't had a glass of pasteurized milk since 2003. And he feels pretty good.

Today, Kazaam is part of a protest asking the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to confirm that private stores can sell raw and unpasteurized food products.

He believes raw food, even dairy and poultry, is healthier before being cooked. "In our case, [raw food] is the non-modernized food untainted by processing, chemical treatment or packaging - cleanliness, they call it. We consume this on a daily basis. We eat raw meat, spoiled meat, and we're as healthy as ever."

The California Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed that it is legal to sell raw milk in the state, but stores doing so must have licenses and sell only to members, not the public.

But protesters want that in writing from the Board of Supervisors. They're worried because health compliance authorities shut down a Venice health food store called Rawesome ("raw" and "awesome") August 3.

The store owner and two employees of Healthy Family Farms, one of its suppliers, were arrested on charges of unlawful production and sale of unpasteurized milk. Prosecutors allege that the companies lacked the permits they needed.

The District Attorney's office declined to comment before testimony begins.

Raw food may indeed be a question of choice, not of safety, said Doctor Gregory Stevens, who teaches health policy at USC's Keck School of Medicine.

"Foods are probably less safe if they're not pasteurized and sold in their natural state - but I think people's willingness to take that risk might vary. So the question is, to what degree do we allow people to take that risk with their own bodies? If you're willing to take the risk, it does seem that there should be ways for people to opt out."

Furthermore, people regularly consume raw foods that threaten their safety, prompting outbreaks of listeria from cantaloupe consumption and E. Coli from beef and lettuce, Stevens said.

Kazaam isn't worried about safety, either. He agrees that food should be a choice: if he defines healthy food differently than the FDA, he should be allowed to consume it freely.

"I'm not telling you not to [consume] whatever legal substances that technically can kill you. Alcohol eats up your liver. Go for it. I'm not going to get in your way. In the meantime, could I have some healthy milk?"

The three people arrested in the Rawesome case start preliminary hearings Thursday.