Resurgence of Raw Milk

Raw Milk: Why It Became Taboo — and Why Families Are Reconsidering It

For most of human history, milk came from a cow, was consumed fresh, and was part of everyday life. So how did raw milk become controversial, and why are more families now seeking it out again?

The story is less about milk itself, and more about how our food system changed.

Why Raw Milk Became Taboo in the First Place

In the early 1900s, milk was often produced in crowded urban dairies, transported long distances without refrigeration, and handled with little oversight. Unsanitary conditions led to real public health problems, especially in cities.

Pasteurization emerged as a solution to those conditions. It made sense at the time: heat-treat the milk to reduce risk in a system that had become large, distant, and disconnected from the consumer. Over time, pasteurization became the default, and eventually the law, for most retail milk sales.

Raw milk didn’t disappear because it suddenly became inherently dangerous. It disappeared because the context around milk production changed. As dairies scaled up and centralized, regulators designed rules for the largest, most industrialized operations — and those rules became the standard for everyone.

Safety, Trust, and Why Raw Milk Is Gaining Interest Again

Today, the conversation around food looks very different than it did a century ago.

More families want to know:

• Where their food comes from
• How it’s produced
• Who is responsible for it

At the same time, small farms are producing milk in clean, controlled environments, with healthy animals, careful handling, and direct relationships with the people who consume it.

For many families, raw milk isn’t about nostalgia or rebellion — it’s about trust and transparency. When you know the farm, the animals, and the people involved, the decision feels fundamentally different than buying an anonymous product off a shelf.

This shift in thinking helps explain why raw milk is gaining popularity nationwide. People are re-engaging with their food sources and making informed, intentional choices rather than defaulting to one-size-fits-all systems.

Why You Can’t Just Buy Raw Milk in Ohio

Despite renewed interest, Ohio law does not allow raw milk to be sold as a normal retail product. You can’t simply walk up to a farm and buy it by the gallon, even if you know the farmer and trust their practices.

What Ohio law does allow is for people to consume milk from animals they own.

That distinction matters.

The Herd Share: Simple Once You Understand It

A herd share may sound complicated at first, but in practice it’s straightforward.

Instead of purchasing milk, you purchase a small ownership interest in a herd. As an owner, you’re entitled to receive a portion of the milk produced by the animals you own. Because most people don’t want to house, feed, and milk a cow themselves, the farm provides boarding and care services on the owners’ behalf.

In Ohio, this private ownership arrangement is the legal pathway that allows families to access raw milk.

Once enrolled, the process is routine:

• You own a share of the herd
• The animals are cared for and milked
• Your milk is returned to you according to your share

What initially feels unfamiliar quickly becomes simple — especially compared to the level of transparency and connection it provides.

A Return to Relationship-Based Food

At its core, the renewed interest in raw milk reflects something larger. People are questioning whether convenience should always come at the expense of connection, and whether centralized systems are the only way to feed families well.

A herd share isn’t about rejecting modern life. It’s about choosing a relationship-based model — one built on trust, accountability, and shared responsibility.

For many families, that tradeoff feels not only worthwhile, but long overdue.