Raw Milk

jesse - I’d love to hear any thoughts you have about the miracle health benefits of raw (unpasturized) milk. apparently it can cure eczema, asthma, and even hep c. I can’t get it in NJ (until I cultivate some black market raw milk farmers) so might be planning a raw milk pit stop on my next trip to albany and/or pgh.

(http://www.realmilk.com/where.html)

Kari–

All of my propoganda on raw milk comes from the same source as yours does, the folks at the Weston A. Price Foundation, who sponsor the Real Milk campaign. I gathered up some of their literature and attended a lecture they organized about the benefits of raw milk at the Pittsburgh “Farm to Table” conference on Saturday.

The organization is dedicated to propogating the beliefs of Weston A. Price, who, in the 1930s, “traveled to isolated parts of the globe to study the health of populations untouched by western civilization” and decided, based on his observations, that these civilizations enjoyed better health (namely dental) than most westerners and that their diet was the reason behind this situation.

As their literature explains, “When Dr. Price analyzed the foods used by isolated peoples he found that, in comparison to the American diet of his day, they provided at least four times the water-soluble vitamins, calcium, and other minerals, and at least TEN times the fat-soluble vitamins from… the very cholesterol-rich foods now shunned by the American public as unhealthful.”[1] So far, so good: nutrient-rich diet (combined with exercise resulting from the living conditions in these isolated villages) yields healthful peoples.

But there’s just one catch—the materials provided by the Weston A. Price Foundation don’t make any mention of exercise or the benefits that it plays in attaining good health. Someone living a sedentary lifestyle (such as encouraged in an economy where most high-paying jobs and many low-paying ones involve sitting in a chair for most of the day) and eating a diet that has 30 to 80% of its calories coming from “healthy fats, mostly of animal origin”[1] would attain pseudo-derigible status quite quickly. Not only that, but their side-by-side photos pf persons who have followed traditional diets and persons who haven’t remind me of the evidence provided by persons associated with the eugenics movement of the 1940s.

That having been said, many of their recommendations make sense: pay attention to the source of your foods. There’s a difference in quality between foods raised in a responsible manner and foods that have been monocropped or raised in a factory setting. It makes sense to include some fats of animal origin in your diet because they contain nutrients (such as Vitamins B-12 and D) that are lacking in vegetable-based fats.

But you had asked specifically about raw milk, and I’m pleased to report that raw milk is tastes good. I have no basis on which to judge their claims about the health conditions that can be alleviated by drinking raw milk: they may or may not be true; but I do know that the pasteurization process is (as they point out in their Real Milk literature) designed to kill everything that may be alive or active in a food, including beneficial bacteria and enzymes. I also know, based on my conversations with farmers, that cattle fed a grass-only diet will have extremely low bacterial counts in their milk (~6,000) and while cattle fed a portion of their diet as grain during the winter may have bacterial counts of 35,000, that’s still less than half of what is permitted under the raw milk permitting process. I also know that cows in the conventional system are often fed rBGH, a synthetic hormone that boosts milk production significantly, but has the pesky side effect of causing udder infections.

The farmers who spoke at the presentation I saw mentioned several times that raw milk is an acquired taste and that persons who are accustomed to drinking pasteurized milk often find it to be disagreeable. I did not find that to be true. The milk was full-bodied and rich (due to its high fat content, ~4%) with a mouth-feel that is lacking in pasteurized products. It tasted more like milk than milk normally does, if that makes sense to you. I enjoyed it; I bought a gallon, and I plan on buying more raw milk later this summer when I plan a drive in the country and surreptitously coincide my planned route to coincide with the location of a dairy farm that is licensed to dispense raw milk without informing my wife of this plan. While she will drink it and does not find it to be disagreeable in taste, she objects to the high fat content. Though, because it is non-homogenized, we have the option of skimming off the cream and using it for a different purpose.

Because raw milk contains everything that is naturally in milk, there are certain precautions that you should take in procuring it and storing it, should you wish to drink it. Get your milk only from a reputable dairy farmer that has their cows out at pasture except for the coldest parts of the year; at which times they should feed their cows mostly hay and silage, supplemented perhaps with a bit of grain. The farmer should have their herd tested regularly for TB and brucellosis. The milking facility should be clean and sanitary, and the milk shoud be tested regularly to ensure that the bacterial counts are low and that the milk is free of pathogens. Persons with weakened immune systems should not drink raw milk. Raw milk should be stored below 40 F, and can be frozen should you wish to save a portion of it for later use. More specific guidelines are provided at www.realmilk.com.

Source: “The Weston A. Price Foundation for Wise Traditions” information brochure obtained at the “Farm to Table” conference; the same information is available at www.westonaprice.org

7 Responses to “Raw Milk”

  1. Jim Says:

    Before you get enamored with the concept of raw milk, remember that there really is a reason for pasteurization:
    http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9306

  2. jwsharrard Says:

    Which is really good evidence why, if you’re going to drink raw milk, you should be certain of the source. Pennsylvania has a certification process to approve farms to dispense raw milk to human customers. Other farms offer a “cow share” whereby customers can buy a share of a cow and a corresponding percentage of its milk production. Still others aren’t allowed to sell raw milk for human consumption but are allowed to sell it for pets, but humans drink it anyway, viewing the “for pets only” status as a loophole allowing them to procure this product. This is a decision that is probably misguided, unless you are certain that the farm meets rigid sanitation targets and has their herd regularly tested for illness and their milk tested for pathogens.

    The farmers at the “Farm To Table” conference listed the requirements that they must meet to remain permitted in the state of Pennsylvania, and they were extensive. Unfortunately, the PA Dept. of Agriculture website is not organized in such a way as to make the requirements easily discernible. I have a call in to the head of the milk sanitation department for a list of the requirements and I will post the information as soon as I get it.

  3. Xerxes1729 Says:

    I’m skeptical of the claims that raw milk can cure anything. There’s absolutely no reason to expect milk with live bacteria and intact enzymes to have any effect on a virus attacking your liver like hepatitis C. Bacteria don’t stop viruses, and enzymes and other proteins are broken down into their constituent amino acids before being absorbed into the bloodstream. People drank raw milk for thousands of years and still died from diseases all the time. In fact, if you have a serious illness, you ought to avoid raw milk, as suggested in the original post.

    The reason that pastuerization is important for modern dairying is that the process pools milk from thousands of cows together for packaging. This means that pathogens from one dirty udder will now be mixed together with the milk from thousands of clean ones.

    Drink raw milk because you like the taste, not because it will cure what ails ya.

  4. Jeremy Says:

    Interesting stuff, but in my personal calculus, better taste and mouthfeel aren’t nearly enough to make up for the risk of contracting undulant fever.

  5. kari Says:

    oh, thanks! I have heard about some bootleggers that will bring raw milk into NYC, but I don’t know if I’d be able to find any bootleggers in NJ. it sounds like I’ll just have to find a farm to see if I like it out-of-state, and then figure out how long it’ll keep and make more regular trips.

    the “knowing-your-source” issue is one of the things that I find most attractive about raw milk. I know how and where my veggies are grown, and I get as much responsibly produced dairy as I can, but I want to do more locally.

    I am a big fan of milky milk and fatty mouth feel but like your very smart (and pretty!) wife I’m also concerned about the milk fat. I love the idea of skimming my own cream though! and then I could make my own butter! just like when I was a kid!

    and I feel like I should state for the record that I suffer from neither excema, nor asthma, NOR hep c. just saying.

  6. Darcy Says:

    Thanks for your post. Do you mind mentioning at which farm you’ll be getting your milk? I’m hoping to get some myself and I saw on the real milk website that they have a few options in the Pittsburgh area. I’d like to visit the farm you have in mind since they are licensed. Thank you!

  7. Troy Says:

    I am a proponent of Raw Milk, but not if it is conventionally raised. If I am going to drink raw milk, it must be from grass or forage fed cows only, NO GRAIN. Grain in not a natural for cows to digest allowing for potential problems such as this . . .

    FYI: In the news: Raw milk contaminated at Butler dairy
    Saturday, April 14, 2007

    A Butler County diary farm’s raw milk has been contaminated with bacteria and customers who have bought any of the raw product should discard it immediately, the Pennsylvania Agriculture secretary warned yesterday.

    Raw milk bought from Fisher’s Dairy in Butler County has been infected with Listeria monocytogenes, the state’s Department of Agriculture reported. People who bought raw milk from the dairy after April 9 should dispose of it.

    Listeria was found in a April 9 sample of raw milk from the farm. The bacteria can cause fever, muscle aches and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea.

    Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized

    The Department of Agriculture suspended sales of raw milk at the dairy. Multiple samples from the farm have to come back negative before raw milk can be purchased from Fisher’s.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07104/777929-54.stm

    . . . I also prefer it if the cow is being raised organically. I also enjoy eating raw milk cheese.

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