Posted November 22, 2013
An Oregon dairy owner recently filed a lawsuit in
federal court against the state Department of Agriculture, challenging its ban
on advertising the sale of raw milk, according to a Capital Press article
available here.
Christine Anderson, owner of Cast Iron Farms, filed a
lawsuit on November 19 in U.S. District Court in Portland, seeking to
invalidate the advertising ban, arguing that the law violates her free speech
rights and is unconstitutionally vague.
Oregon law, ORS § 621.116, does not allow
retail raw milk sales, but provides an exception, ORS § 621.012, for “farmers with
a limited number of animals to sell unpasteurized milk directly to consumers
on-site,” according an article by the Oregonian available here. In addition, the law bans any advertising
including website postings, fliers, and emails.
“Raw milk is legal to sell but you can’t talk about
it,” Anderson said. “I work really hard,
and I do a good job as a producer. I
want to be able to talk about it. I would
like to go about my small business without a lot of fear that what I’m doing
can be construed as breaking the law.”
Bruce Pokarney, Oregon Department of Agriculture
spokesman, said that agriculture officials did not enact the law but are
responsible for enforcing it. Pokarney
also said that raw milk was not a department priority, “We haven’t gone out an
looked for anybody who’s advertising raw milk…But if we become aware of
it…we’ll respond to somebody’s complaint.”
For more information on raw milk and local food
systems, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
