Dear Delegate

I am writing in regards to House Bill 4273, which would legalize herd shares in West Virginia. I own and operate a commercial dairy farm and have done so all my life. I am whole heartedly in favor of legalizing herd shares and raw milk consumption in West Virginia.

I am someone who cannot drink processed milk. Doing so makes me ill every time. I have no such issues when drinking the raw milk I produce. I am not alone. Pasteurization destroys the good bacteria in milk, making it less digestible, destroying many of it's health benefits, and ironically making it a better host for dangerous pathogens than it was in its natural form. Clean, raw milk is not a hospitable environment to pathogens; pasteurized milk is. That is why pasteurization does not make milk inherently safe: yes, it kills any and all bacteria present in the milk (both good and bad), but it does not in any way prevent that bad bacteria from being reintroduced between pasteurization and bottling. In fact, more disease outbreaks have been linked to pasteurized milk than to raw milk. On a per-serving basis, deli meats are ten times more likely to cause illness than raw milk. Nearly half of all foodborne illnesses are attributable to produce. And yet the government is not banning Subway and produce fills the shelves of every grocery store. In fact, many reported outbreaks attributed to raw milk are unsubstantiated - either raw milk is blamed simply because it was present, not because it was tested and found to contain pathogens, or the number of illnesses is overestimated due to assumed under reporting. Yes, raw milk has been linked to illness but no more so than many other foods we eat every day, foods which are routinely touted as safe and healthy by the same agency decrying raw milk.

The FDA is not the only body that has done research into the health benefits of raw milk. They have conveniently chosen to ignore a multitude of studies that do in fact show raw milk provides nutrition and health benefits that processed milk does not. Recent clinical studies, independent of the bias of the FDA, have found raw milk can help protect against asthma and various allergies - two of the most common health problems in the population today. The research showing the safety and benefits of raw milk is abundant and easy to find.

More than half the states in the nation allow access to raw milk in one way or another: PA, VA, and OH among them. Many West Virginians already consume raw milk by traveling to these neighboring states. Those are dollars lost to the WV economy. Given the choice, these people would much rather support their fellow West Virginians. Legalizing herd shares in WV would allow them to do so, providing an economic boost to the state.

West Virginia is a state populated by hard working people who value their independence. I am proud to count myself among them. We should have the right to research for ourselves, and make our own choice about raw milk. We are an intelligent people and can be trusted to do so. It is not the government's place to usurp that right. Passing HB 4273 and legalizing herd shares in WV would restore to the state a freedom of choice that should never have been taken away to begin with.

I ask that you, as part of the House Health and Human Resources Committee, place HB 4273 on the committee agenda and vote that it be passed on to the entire House to be voted upon there. The House Ag committee has already done so. I strongly feel this is an important issue in the state, and it deserves the chance to be voted upon.

Thank you,

Ernest Fazenbaker
2076 Gladesville Rd.
Independence, WV 26374
304-864-4844