Farmer Nolt fined for selling raw milk without permit

[Guest guest]

Drinking raw milk can be dangerous. Raw milk -- which has not been pasteurized, or heated to kill bacteria -- can contain e-coli, listeria and salmonella, said Holli Senior of the state Department of Health.

Supporters of Cumberland County farmer Mark Nolt gather outside the office of District Judge Day in South Middleton Twp. during Nolt's summary trial. Nolt's business was closed by the state after he renounced his permit to sell raw, non-pasteurized milk direct to consumers. Judith Mudrak of Southampton, New Jersey, left, and Kathy Reynolds of Bethesda, land, show their support for Nolt.

"When raw milk and raw milk products become contaminated, people who consume them often get sick," Senior said. It can even cause death.

But there are some who see the right to sell raw milk as a farm freedom issue, and a case involving a Cumberland County farmer fined Monday for selling unpasteurized milk became ground zero for the issue.

In a hearing that attracted more than 60 supporters, Mark Nolt was fined $4,040 by District Judge K. Day for selling raw milk without a state permit from his West Pennsboro Twp. farm.

Nolt, who some supporters called "the Parks of raw milk" and who acted as his own attorney, didn't want to talk after the hearing. He vowed, however, to appeal the fine to county court.

"This issue has very little to do with raw milk and health, and everything to do with freedom," said Jonas Stoltzfus, a beef farmer who lives near Blaine, County, and who acted as Nolt's spokesman.

"It's the consumer's choice," said Stoltzfus, who is also president of the Pennsylvania Independent Consumers and Farmers Association. "They are going directly to the farmer to purchase raw milk,"

Stoltzfus likened Nolt purposely breaking the law to Parks' refusal to sit in the back of a bus, a key moment in the civil rights movement.

"We're breaking the law to change it," he said. "Time will tell if we are successful."

For experts, however, the issue is completely about health.

Farms that receive permits to sell raw milk are inspected to ensure against contamination, officials said.

Drinking contaminated raw milk can lead to diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, headaches, vomiting or exhaustion, Senior said. Symptoms can last for several hours or up to a week, Senior said.

"Most healthy people will recover, but the symptoms can be dangerous to people with weak immune systems, such as the elderly or children under the age of 5," she said.

Consuming raw milk also is dangerous for people with cancer, HIV or AIDS, organ transplant recipients, pregnant women or women considering becoming pregnant, Senior said.

Nolt had a permit to sell raw milk for more than seven years but refused to renew it in August 2006.

Stoltzfus said Nolt didn't renew his permit because he knew he was selling raw milk products, like raw buttermilk, that aren't allowed with a permit.

Three Department of Agriculture employees testified during the hearing that they bought raw milk and raw milk products from Nolt's stand at the Carlisle Farmers Market on three occasions in 2007.

Judith Mudrak drove several hours from her home in Southampton, N.J., to join pro-Nolt supporters, who held a rally outside the district judge's courtroom.

Mudrak, a native of Switzerland, said she teaches the chronically and terminally ill how to reverse their disease by using raw milk and other natural products.

"We are desperate in New Jersey for raw milk," Mudrak said. "Mr. Nolt is one of my raw milk farmers."

by JERRY L. GLEASON Of The Patriot-News

DAN GLEITER, The Patriot-NewsJudith Mudrak of New Jersey, left, and Kathy Reynolds of land gather in support of farmer Mark Nolt outside District Judge Day's office.