Our lawmakers in Augusta are taking up the white stuff. No, not the pesky flakes falling outside this morning. Milk. Maine Milk, to be precise.

Marge Kilkelly, the director of the North East States Association of Agricultural Stewardship and owner of Dragonfly Cove Goat Farm in Dresden (see the February 2008 article in Down East), demonstrated the prevalence of imported milk in fast food restaurants and other stores across the state.

According to yesterday's article in the Bangor Daily News, her demonstration "prompted committee Chairman Sen. John Nutting, himself a dairy farmer, to check out the label on the chocolate milk he had just purchased in the State House cafeteria, `It's ultra-pasteurized milk from California,' he read."

Ok, I understand that Wendy's might stock out of state milk, but the State House? Kilkelly is supporting LD 2262, which would require milk produced in Maine to carry a "Maine Fresh" label.

Representatives from Hood and Oakhurst testified against the bill, noting that they are often forced to import milk from other states to fill their quota. They argued that the current Maine Quality Seal "should be enough to give consumers confidence. The seal means that 80 percent of the milk in the container is produced in Maine and produced without artificial growth hormones."

Personally any percent of milk produced with artificial growth hormones is too much, regardless of where the cows come from. That said, the debate in Augusta does beg the question of whether, for example, the man-made border between New Hampshire and Maine is relevant in terms of getting as much good, local food to the mouths of Mainers as possible.

More Info: See the article in this week's Maine Switch about raw milk producers in Maine and where to find it.

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