This reverse for raw milk followed another last month, when the board of Organic Valley, a national co-operative of organic farmers, voted against letting its members sell raw milk on the side.

In January, she resurfaced as a new director of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), joining a board that has become one of the most questioned in the history of Silicon Valley.

The board's decision stunned Silicon Valley and H-P investors. Analysts and corporate-governance experts now are debating whether the board acted decisively, or too rashly, in removing Mr. Hurd.