Funfact: Germany taxes milk like food with 7% and not like a beverage with 19%.
Your best bet is to find alocal dairy and buy it during milking time that way you get it directly fromthe source. Most dairy farms milk at least twice a day, 7-days a week, morning and evening, soyou should be able to schedule a time to be there. Raw milk will last about7-10 days so figure out your average consumption rate (x-liters per day) andbuy accordingly. I would be very careful of any milk sold at a farmers markets, especially if it's warm since you have no idea of how it was handled, cooled orstored or how long it's been out of the cow.
Regardless of your source,take large mouth containers (stainless steel, number 2 food grade plastic or glass)and have chill packs in your cooler box so you can get the temperature down to40°F (4°C) as quickly as possible since bacteria (good and bad) will double incount every twenty minuets at body temperature (body temperature of the cowthat is). Chill it quickly and keep it chilled and do not break the cold cycle. Just like any food product,cleanliness is key, so keep your containers spotlessly clean and wash yourhands before you handle milk products.
While there are alwaysrisks associated with raw milk due to the lack of pasteurization, more peoplehave become sick from ecoli and salmonella in spinach, lettuce and otherproduce than from raw milk.
Just to set the recordstraight, raw milk is not illegal everywhere in the US, however it iscontrolled state to state and not by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).This means some states like California can sell in stores, others only directly from farmersand in other states not at all unless it's sold as "not for humanconsumption" meaning it's intended for animals and/or pets. While the FDAdoes push how "dangerous" it is, if you read further you'll find outthat most of the contaminated milk product had nothing to do with the milk, butwith poor storage, unsanitary milking practices and mishandling.
Swiss milk farmers areprohibited from using hormones and do not use antibiotics as a prophylactic asis done in the US. But get to know your source, and ask your local diary if youcan watch them milk their cows and see for yourself how clean it is and checkhis handling procedures and milking techniques.
For more information onhandling, storage and the straight story on how safe raw milk really is, Ihighly recommend you read through these three sites and educate yourself about it before you buy;
http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/recipes/safe-handling-of-raw-milk-keep-it-fresh/
I've been buying raw milk here in Switzerland from a local dairy and will never go back to that horrible UHP milk or any store-bought milk.
The milk is ladled from the metal thing into the bottles/containers that people bring. The rest is put in plastic containers that are sealed and put in the fridge.
I am very interested about this farm you comment about in Gruyere. We are soon relocating in Switzerland and would like to have access to raw milk/fresh meat...
Regards
It's in the roundabout next to Parc De Milan, close to the train station.
http://en.yelp.ch/biz/le-topinambour-lausanne
There is a big (read: fat), bearded seller guy, who speaks some English.
He told me once they sell raw milk, but I have to order if I need.
So I've ordered (gave my name and phone number, so that they can call me when I should come to pick up the milk).
They never called me back (and I did not bother to bring up this point next time when I was shopping there), but maybe others will be more lucky...
Domaine de Bois-Bougy is a family owned business, there is a machine where you can get fresh milk from daily. Also a fridge section with yogurt, eggs, and some other products...