Trevor Rose isn’t one to get on a soapbox to tout raw milk, knowing public opinion varies widely on the subject.
“Do we think raw milk is for everybody and do we expect everybody to drink raw milk? No,” he said. Some of his friends opt for pasteurized milk, he said, “and that’s totally up to them.”
He and his family grew up drinking raw milk, however, and since 2014, they’ve sold it to the public — first out of a small shed on the grounds of their Morgan County dairy farm and since 2023 at a brick-and-mortar location in Morgan, the Milk Barn Creamery. Earlier this year, they opened a second Milk Barn Creamery location in Centerville, and a third outlet opened less than a month ago in Ogden.
Along the way, he’s debated the pros and cons of raw milk with others.
“It was always very diplomatic,” he said. But things took a dramatic turn earlier this week after someone defaced the outside of the Ogden store with apparent anti-raw milk graffiti. The hostility was “a first” for Rose.
“It’s a bummer. Agriculture is hard. It’s a hard business. It requires a lot of sacrifice and a lot of effort. So when stuff like this happens, it hurts even more,” he said. Apart from raw milk, Milk Barn Creamery sells ice cream made with pasteurized milk.
The incident underscores the strong sentiments generated by raw milk, viewed as a health risk by critics and a healthier alternative to pasteurized milk by supporters. The graffiti at the Ogden store included poop emojis and messages reading, “(Expletive) milk sold here!” and “RFK approved,” a reference to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a raw milk advocate.
The turn of events also puts a spotlight on the small raw milk industry in Utah, with 11 licensed producers around the state, including Milk Barn Creamery, according to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
Beyond that, it cast a shadow, at least temporarily, over Rose and the other family members involved in the business, though they are moving forward. The graffiti, painted onto the exterior windows of the business at 1327 Wall Ave., has been removed, and Ogden police are investigating, though Rose says there are few leads.
“We’re saddened that someone’s disagreement with our products led to criminal activity,” reads a post from Monday on the business’s Facebook page. “Our family has been producing high-quality raw milk from our family farm in Morgan, Utah, for nearly 100 years — long before it was a political talking point. We’ve been licensed with the state of Utah since we began selling directly to the public in 2014.”
‘Not for everyone’
Raw milk is milk that has not gone through pasteurization, “a heat treatment process that kills harmful bacteria and viruses,” according to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. “While some consumers value raw milk for perceived health benefits, it is important to understand the associated risks and regulations.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention touts pasteurized milk and warns that raw milk can expose those who drink it to a range of foodborne illnesses, including campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E. coli, listeria, brucella, and salmonella. “While good practices on farms can reduce contamination, they cannot guarantee safety from harmful germs,” according to the agency.
Proponents like the Raw Milk Institute, on the flip side, tout studies correlating raw milk consumption with lower rates of asthma and allergies, lower rates of ear infections, fevers and respiratory infections and more. “Consumers are demanding raw milk as they abandon highly processed, allergenic and lactose intolerance-producing pasteurized dairy products,” reads the organization’s website.
Rose, for his part, steers clear of proselytizing or making claims about the supposed benefits of raw milk, leaving it to consumers to do their own research and make up their own minds. Milk production on the family-owned farm near Morgan dates to the 1920s, and raw milk was served at home as a matter of course.
“My dad was raised on it, his dad was raised on it. It was just kind of what we had around,” Rose said. He personally prefers raw milk, says it’s thicker and sweeter than the pasteurized variety.
At any rate, he’s well aware of the debate surrounding raw milk but emphasizes that the Milk Barn Creamery abides by state regulations governing raw milk and that the business’s facilities face regular inspection. Before any of the business’s raw milk can be marketed, it must be tested to make sure the bacteria and coliform counts don’t exceed a legally established threshold.
“Some people ... really have had experiences where they feel like raw milk has helped with their health and things like that. We don’t go out there and say that or advertise that,” Rose said. “I think a lot of what drives people, what people like about raw milk, though, is they like knowing where their food is coming from. They like knowing where the farm is.”
While raw milk may have its critics, the Milk Barn Creamery has grown, underscored by the new locations in Centerville and Ogden. Sales have gone from around 30 gallons a week when the business started in 2014 to around 1,000 gallons a week. The product sells for $12 a gallon.
The business’s social media post from earlier this week in response to the graffiti, meanwhile, calls for more civil dialogue for those wanting to debate the topic.
“We know it’s not for everyone, and that’s OK — but there are better ways to express disagreement than vandalizing a store. If you have concerns or questions about any of our products, we invite you to reach out and talk with us directly,” the message reads.