NEWS/CITYDESK corruption and political favors all the way up to the Governor’s Office that thwarted her efforts to do her job. As Russell reports: “Lowe contends that she Pam Lowe wants was fired because her job back she insisted on cutting back a $50-million contract with a politically well-connected contractor to manage a string of bond-funded highway projects, with Otter’s then-chief of staff, Jeff Malmen, and Transportation Board Chairman Darrell Manning directly pressuring her to keep the big contract intact. Malmen hasn’t responded to requests for comment; Manning has disputed Lowe’s charges.” Some of Boise’s homeless population did get some reprieve this month as the Boise Rescue Mission dedicated a new, 58-bed women’s and children’s shelter to accommodate the overflow they have seen all year at the City Light Home for Women and Children across the street. The new shelter, called City Light Guest House, 1417 W. Jefferson, is in what was once a parking area for the apartments above. The Mission fully renovated the space with mostly donated labor and materials. “Women with children have been the fastest growing population of homeless people over the past decade. With the economic situation as it is, we have seen that number rise even faster. For the past several months, we have had up to 46 women and kids sleeping on the floor at City Light. In order to be sure we can meet this growing need, and to better accommodate the women and kids we’re ser ving, we are pleased to accomplish this project,” said Mission director Bill Roscoe. The Mission also installed 82 new beds at its men’s shelter on 13th Street. All the new beds are a step toward filling the shortage of beds for homeless people in Boise, but the Mission is clearly not on board with those homeless folks who sued the BPD for harassment. Roscoe effusively introduced Boise Police Chief Masterson at the ribbon cutting for the new shelter, calling BPD the “finest and most compassionate” police force. Masterson avoided the topic of the lawsuit altogether, talking about volunteering at the Mission and officers handing out meal tickets. Speaking of meal tickets, the Idaho Statesman commissioned a Mason Dixon poll on the city’s plan to install a downtown streetcar loop and found that 63 percent of Boise residents oppose the plan, with a 4 percent margin of error. Respondents also disagreed with Mayor Dave Bieter that a streetcar line will help with traffic congestion, spur development, improve the economy or catalyze further transportation options. Incidentally, it was the second poll the paper commissioned, after BW raised questions about the methodology of the first poll, which found that 50.3 percent of Boise residents opposed the streetcar.
NEWS
RAW DEAL Idaho moves to combat illegal sales of “real” milk MIKA BELLE In Idaho, there are two licensed raw-milk producers. And then there is the black market for raw milk. Although the substance is legal, costly restrictions have caused it to go underground. “We know that there’s a number of backyard sells going on throughout this state,” said Marv Patten, chief of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture’s dairy bureau. He offered no estimate of the number of such sales, but said there are enough for the department to take note. He hopes a new proposal under legislative review next year makes raw milk more safely available. “It’s legal in Idaho, but only under certain statutes,” said Raine Irving Saunders, a Boise food activist and publisher of the Agriculture Society blog. The feds have left such decisions up to each state. In Idaho, two specific permits are involved for farmers to sell milk: a Grade A production license, and a Grade A processing license. Small farms argue the price of the required processing equipment is cost prohibitive, leaving them out in the cold. Patten hopes the new legislation will help those farms with fewer than three milking cows sell raw milk legally if they agree to publicized inspections, which will in turn offer more people safe alternatives to traditional, processed milk. Milk is supposed to do a body good, but is all milk created equal? Proponents of raw milk (what they call “real” milk) promote its alleged health benefits, stemming from the fact that it is free from pasteurization, a traditional means of processing that kills unwanted bacteria, including E. coli, that can lead to severe illnesses. However, some food activists say pasteurization kills many healthy milk ingredients that can improve human immune systems. They also say modern farm hygiene techniques can be perfectly adequate to ensure safe raw milk. “I’m always working to educate people about the benefits of consuming it,” Sanders said. “We get ours from Saint John’s Organic Farm in Emmett.” Saint John’s has about 100 milking cows, steers and calves roaming 160 acres on a farm that has been in the family for about 70 years, according to owner Peter Dill. He said
his raw milk is high in vitamin E, omega 3 and other important vitamins and enzymes that are depleted when farmers feed grain and pasteurize milk. “People have drunk raw milk for centuries,” Dill said. “The consumers need to be
PEOPLE HAVE DR UNK R AW MILK FOR C ENTUR IES ,” DILL S AID. “THE C ONS UMER S NEED TO B E AB LE TO MAK E THEIR OWN DEC IS ION.”
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able to make their own decision.” His farm is one of two that earned the permits to sell raw milk at the retail level in Idaho this past year. The farm is clearly providing consumers more decision-making power, but its milk is still only offered to members of its “raw milk co-op,” which requires dues to enjoy the milk mustache. Boise Weekly contacted Boise Co-op to ask the regional purveyor of organics if it was interested in providing raw milk. “We would love to be able to sell it,” said manager Ken Kavanagh. “As long as it’s inspected by the state.” Dill said that the permits Saint John’s has require the state agriculture department to perform routine, quarterly inspections of his milk for pathogens, and farm equipment for proper operation. Regardless, other hidden costs must be addressed. “I think the Boise Co-op would like to have our milk, but it is just not financially feasible at this time—maybe in the future,” Dill said. He explained the high cost was due to a combination of things, including packaging. Dill is optimistic but realistic about the future of raw milk: “I think raw-milk consumers are intelligent and zealous, but they are probably few.”
—Nathaniel Hoffman
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| NOVEMBER 25 – DECEMBER 1, 2009 | BOISEweekly
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