Raw Milk Vending Machines in Germany

Anita Rausch and Doug Mitchell, WAPF chapter leaders (for nearly eight years!) in Germany, write to report that raw milk vending machines are appearing all over Germany.

The “MuhKuhMat” machine in the pictures below is located at Markushof farm, in a small village called Masibach (“Corn Creek”) south of historic Heidelberg. They discovered it earlier this year while helping a young American mother of three—soon to be four—locate real raw milk in her local area.

Markushof adopted organic farming practices several years ago. For many years the grandfather quite happily sold fresh milk to villagers and local raw milk enthusiasts. When he passed away, the family didn’t have time to deal with a steady stream of customer interruptions, so they decided to invest in a twenty-four-hour vending machine, making real
farm-fresh raw milk available around the clock.

The machine will accept coins from a single cent (!) all the way up to a two-Euro coin, as well as bills, dispensing precisely metered amounts, all for only one Euro per liter. The family told me that a few children in the village even come by with their cup and a ten-cent coin and drink the milk right on the spot.

Markushof does have a German-only website with pictures of the farm and MuhKuhMat, or “MooCowMachine” in English (www.markushof-naturkost.de/). They also have an on-site shop open weekends, where they offer value-added products like their own grass-fed meats and organic produce, as well as other tasty local naturalia like whole & milled grains, artisanal cheeses and wines.

Audrey, the young American mother, is considering joining the WAPF, and Anita is hoping she will send a picture for the Healthy Baby Gallery. Her youngest was with Anita and Doug that day in Maisbach, but he was still a little too small to hold up a milk bottle for the pictures.