Derek and Ruth Owen have always had a milking cow at their farm in Hopkinton, where they've lived together for more than 40 years. The couple each grew up drinking unpasteurized raw milk, and they still keep an ice-cold metal pitcher of it in the refrigerator - the same white pitcher Ruth drank milk from as a child.

The Owens, along with a couple dozen other small farms in New Hampshire, also sell raw milk. And like other raw milk producers in the state, they can barely keep up with the demand for the unpasteurized product. They receive weekly phone calls from people looking for milk straight from the cow and often have to turn customers away, some who are willing to drive from as far away as Boston.

"There are more people who want our milk than we are able to supply," Ruth Owen said.

The problem for the Owens is not a lack of unpasteurized milk but regulations that keep them from selling too much of it. Many state and federal health organizations have deemed raw milk unsafe for more than a century, and its sale is prohibited in New Hampshire unless a consumer buys it directly from the farmer.

Raw milk advocates said they would like more support from the state, including looser regulations and recognition of the health benefits of drinking raw milk. But some of them admitted that, for now, New Hampshire's regulations give them a lot more leeway to handle their growing customer base than other states that are cracking down on raw milk distribution.

"They're trying very hard to outlaw sales of raw milk in all states," Derek Owen said of federal health regulators. "And the basic objection is, you might get sick."

Good or bad?

Since its inception in the late 19th century, pasteurization has been touted as one of the most important advancements in food sanitation in the United States. The process heats milk to high temperatures that kill harmful pathogens, including e. coli, salmonella and listeria, that can cause illness and even death, according to a warning about raw milk from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control. Both groups oppose raw milk sales, along with the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

"To put it basically, it kills the microorganisms that can cause illness," said Joyce Welch, the administrator for the state's food protection bureau. "It's been going on now for over a hundred years, and there's a reason why it was started and there's a reason why it continues - to keep people from becoming ill."

But raw milk advocates say the heating process also kills dozens of important bacteria and enzymes essential for digestion and protection against various ailments, including tooth decay, flu, diphtheria, pneumonia and tuberculosis - claims that most health organizations label as myths.

"The benefits far outweigh the risks. However, I caution my patients to be aware of them," said Pamela Herring, a naturopathic doctor in Concord.

Herring, who runs the Naturopathic Clinic, is part of a growing local group that meets regularly to discuss the benefits of natural foods and promotes a "back to basics" food philosophy. They are one of several New Hampshire chapters of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a national group that has launched the Campaign for Real Milk promoting raw milk availability.

According to the campaign, 28 of 50 states allow raw milk sales, most with some conditions. Five more states allow raw milk sold only for animal consumption, although Owen said some farmers use the exception to skirt the law. And in several more states, farms have cow-sharing programs that let people buy part of a cow and, technically, get the milk for free, avoiding that law that prohibits raw milk sales.

In New Hampshire, milk must be pasteurized to be sold in stores and restaurants, but consumers can purchase raw milk - often at a much higher price - direct from farmers who produce it. Small farms without a license from the state's food protection program may sell up to 20 quarts, or 5 gallons, of raw milk a day. Seven farms are licensed to sell unlimited raw milk direct to consumers, but are subject to inspections and milk testing several times a year.

Steve Allman, who runs Hidden Wonders Farm in Canterbury, is an unlicensed producer and sells raw milk on a schedule that allows him to stretch the daily limits of the raw milk statute. His customers pick up their milk from his farm on scheduled days, and Allman saves a couple day's worth of milk to bring to the Canterbury Farmers Market, where new customers continue to approach him.

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