Bill-HB95 - adding “Ice cream and frozen yogurt” to NH raw milk law

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Scroll to the bottom for the link and optional email text to send to the NH Senate Commerce Committee.

Some of you may know that we have been waiting for a bill that will add ice cream to the list of products allowed for sale under the Raw Milk Law in NH so we can bring back our delicious raw goat milk ice cream. Well, here's the scoop!!

After a lot of work with legislators, the NH Farm Bureau, DHHS (Dept. of Health & Human Services) and several others, our bill passed the Committee and the House last year and then moved on to the Senate. Then Covid happened and shut down the Senate. Our bill went into an omnibus bill and did not pass. (This was a good thing as many of the bills in that bundle would not have been good for NH).

So we started at square one again this year. HB95 again passed the Committee and the House without issue. We testified along with many others in favor of this bill today. DHHS decided to oppose the bill (that they helped to write last year!) this time citing a recent disease outbreak from raw milk from a NH dairy back in February.

Let's be clear about what we're trying to pass....

Raw milk is already legal in NH and there is an exemption for small producers like us. The exemption allows certain products to be made from raw milk so long as we meet the restrictions and requirements in the current law. Those products include: cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, and cheese aged at least 60 days.

We have simply amended the exemption to include the words "ice cream and frozen yogurt". We've even added a size limitation and expiration date requirement to appease the DHHS requests.

So we need to understand that one of the risks we take as a state that allows raw milk sales is that there will occasionally be outbreaks. Adding the words "ice cream and frozen yogurt" will not change that in any way! We can not eliminate risk completely! There's risk in everything we do. But the bottom line is that consumers should have the right to choose to take that risk and consume what they want! And farmers should have the right to produce a product that could increase revenue and help sustain their farm.

Furthermore, the DHHS themselves have stated numerous times--in their testimony last year and again today, in the newspaper articles that covered this story last year and in their interview with WMUR last year that RAW MILK ICE CREAM DOES NOT POSE ANY ADDITIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH RISK THAN ANY OF THE OTHER PRODUCTS ALLOWED.

So, here's what happened today...

DHHS opposed the bill and requested that the senate delay passing it while they investigate the February outbreak further.

And although the various representatives, Little Red Hen Farm & Homestead and others that testified today made a very good case for passing it, the senate voted 3 to 2 to retain it. That means they get to think on it over the summer and decide if they want to make any further changes to the language and then make a final decision in the fall.

That's another ice cream season lost for us and other small farms waiting for this!! Which for our tiny farm, could be devastating.

I've been informed by one of the supporting state reps that the bill is not dead! And there is still a chance their decision to retain it could get overturned on the senate floor. BUT WE WILL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR IT!

Here's what we need from you PLEASE!!!

Send an email to the Senate Commerce Committee ASAP urging them to "overturn the retain on this bill-HB95 and pass it with OTP (ought to pass) in the senate as soon as possible.

Please feel free to include who you are--farmer, consumer, etc--and how this bill affects you and why you think it's important to pass it.

Please, please, please take 5 minutes to do this!! We have a chance here, but it will be by strength in numbers. They need to know that this is important to their constituents.

This is not a silly bill about ice cream, folks. This is about consumer's choice and farmer's rights. This is a big way you can show support for your small family farmers. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and send an email. I know many of you are invested in this and we thank you for your continued support.

Here is a link to send the email. When you open the link, there is an option to "email entire committee". Choose that and your email will go to all 5 senators that voted. See below for optional copy-and-paste email text.

Thank you so much for supporting S.A.S.Ē. Goats Farm and all small dairy farms in NH!!!

Dear Senate Commerce Committee,

I am a strong supporter of NH family farms and the consumer’s right to choose their food and where it comes from. I am writing regarding bill-HB95 and the opportunities it will allow small NH dairies, as well as the local food economy in NH.

By retaining this bill until the end of the summer, NH’s small dairies that are using their creativity and ingenuity to keep their farms afloat will lose an entire valuable season to bring customers new delicious raw milk products. Product lines that could mean the difference between surviving or dissolving their business.

I am asking you to support small family dairy farms in NH and their customers by overturning the retain on bill-HB95 and to pass it with OTP in the senate as soon as possible.

Sincerely,