On the basis of an interstate commerce violation, an FDA sting operation infiltrated a raw milk club in Maryland being supplied by an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania. While this may look like a story from The Onion, it's not. Agents entered the Maryland homes of several group members and tested twelve samples of the milk to verify that it was not pasteurized, then charged Dan Allgyer with violating a federal prohibition on interstate sales of raw milk by shipping unpasteurized milk to a Maryland buying club's members.
All absurdity aside, the issue at hand is whether the structure of the club protects both members and farmers from prosecution. The club argues that members in Maryland already owned the milk produced on Allgyer's farm, and he was simply delivering it. The federal justices will have to determine where and when the ownership of milk takes place- is it by purchasing a share of the cow, the dairy farm, or the end product?- before they will be able to rule about whether a sale occurred, and then crossed state lines.
People interested in finding a source for raw milk within their states can visit sites like Real Milk.com, which offers an index (see link) to local raw milk producers and encourages consumers to contact their local Weston A. Price Foundation chapter.
Gumpert, David (2011). "FDA agents launch covert ops against D.C.-area raw-milk buying club." Grist.com, Published online 2 May 2011 8:40 AM