The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid
- Overwhelming evidence for the health benefits of raw milk
- The disturbing reluctance of medical professionals to consider the well-established benefits of raw milk or to challenge anti-raw milk dogma
- The self interest of the dairy industry, which has succeeded in taking from most people their freedom to choose raw milk
- All statements are supported by references
How did pasteurization become the norm for the last 100 years?
- Cities, distillery cows, and the advent of pasteurized milk.
- Grass-fed versus grain- fed cows
- The main culprit: E. coli O157:H7 evolved in grain-fed cattle.
Health of raw vs. pasteurized
- http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079516.htm
- http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/
- Research of Dr. Francis Pottenger: demonstrating superior nutritional value of unheated milk
Free choice and liberty
- Milk debate comes down to “protection” of the public versus free choice of a grown up.
- An infringement of our basic constitutional rights?
- Raw milk raids… unnecessary force?
Opposing side:
- Bill Marler and the superbug argument.
- http://www.marlerblog.com/
Are raw milk figures being distorted by public bias and faulty science?
- http://www.realmilk.com/washington-lessons-learned.html
- http://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/as-a-mars-pa-man-is-on-life-support-sally-fallon-spins-her-tales-update
Keeping A Family Cow by Joann S. Grohman
Hi Darcy,
Thank you for the perfect timing of your podcast. Our local paper had a story this morning of a cease and desist order to our local cowshare program (you can see the article and my comments toward it on our website). You have done so much research that I will be adding a link to your podcast/website for further information for my readers (I hope you don’t mind).
Though I don’t have a cow or goat yet, it is something we have been considering. Perhaps our local health authority instead of preventing the consumption of raw milk, has just pushed us into it instead ;)
Keep up the good work!!!!
By the way are you Canadian? You sound like it on the podcasts.
All the best from northern British Columbia
Great to hear it is of use. Also check out this site for a great resource:
Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund. This is a great resource to keep up with the legal battles over raw milk, in both the USA and Canada.
And yes, I’m a dual citizen–Canada and USA. I’ll bet it’s beautiful up in northern BC. Glad to be able to talk to like minded folks on both sides of the border. Hopefully both governments will eventually listen to reason on this…
Thanks for listening.
Hi Darcy
I’ve been meaning to drop by and tell you that I’m enjoying the podcast (when I get time to listen to them).
I think you helped illustrate here how every time the dairy industry (not to mention government) tries to fix one problem they create another. I remember from my time on the farm that the only corn we ever fed the cattle was silage, in other words–the green parts!
Take care
Jason
Thanks Jason. I’m also picking up your podcasts when I can. Just listened to “Choosing Seeds” today and found it very helpful. My gardening needs all the help possible.
Darcy,
great talking to you and AWESOME podcast! I picked up 1 pound of raw milk cheddar today from the local farmer. I am excited to try it.
-Nick
Many thanks Nick. Enjoy that cheese.
It’s my opinion, that for people who do not live on farms or keep ruminants, and are not constantly exposed to the various pathogens found in the barn, milk house and in the soil – raw milk can be risky.
The fact that I can drink raw milk from my own animals or from my neighbors, doesn’t mean that drinking the milk from somebody’s cow 100 miles away is safe for me or my family.
Also, I disagree about feeding grain to dairy animals.
It’s good for them.
Corn is nothing more than a giant seed head.
In fact in the days before confinement dairies, it was good agricultural practice to allow cattle, pigs or sheep to “corn off” a field that had been harvested, and clean up the left over corn, beans, wheat or whatever.
We still follow that practice on this farm.
Perhaps I should clarify: I was referring to the commercial dairy practice of feeding only grain to cattle. Yes, we also feed a scoop of grain to our animals–sometimes they get it daily and sometimes they go without it for weeks. We also give them the left over corn stalks and unharvested corn from the neighbor’s field. But this is an augment to their main diet of forage. All grain with no foraging will lead to health issues in the long run.
As far as your first point, I think that there is something to it: I’ve never heard of a person who grew up drinking raw milk getting sick from it. But I think that there might be another reason. We both agree that the culprit is a weakened immune system. Your explanation is lack of exposure to common raw milk pathogens. I think that’s part of the reason, but I also think it’s mostly due to a deficient diet. After all, we just started drinking raw milk a couple of years ago, from Organic Pastures dairy, before recently starting to milk our own cow. No one in my family grew up on a farm–we’re only recent converts. If I followed your advice, our family would never have started to drink raw milk to begin with.
I would argue that most of the individuals who truly get sick from raw milk (ignoring the many cases based on circumstantial or nonexistent evidence) are immune compromised to begin with, and are susceptible to many things in the environment already, as evidenced by symptoms like allergies. But it’s also a catch 22 that eating and drinking sterile foods is the only option for them, because this is the very thing that weakens the immune system. So, yes, it’s very important to get it from a clean source. But I think that non-farmers, city and rural folk alike, should have this opportunity.
Again, I think we’re more agreeing than disagreeing: those who wish to drink raw milk should probably do so as a larger part of a gradual switch over to a whole-food, nutrient-dense diet. And yes, absolutely the milk should be purchased from a clean supplier, preferably one that you can visit. A neighbor is ideal.
Darcy,
finally got around to finishing this podcast. I’m behind a bit. I shop at that McGinnis Sisters you mentioned, as it is only a stones throw from my house. Technically that grocery store is in Seven Fields PA another fact the journalist got wrong, Mars in further down the road… ha ha! I was shocked to learn that they sell raw milk as I have never seen it there, I’m sure I would have noticed.
Anyway just goes to show you how small the world can feel sometimes. Thanks for the podcast!
-Nick
I realized after i posted my last comment that the article was about the person being from mars and not the store… anyway I went to the local Giant Eagle and they had raw milk cheese for sale.
Seems like this is becoming a popular thing around here
Loving the podcast.. Keep them coming!!!
I found a local source for raw milk.. I bought a half gallon just to try it out.. It taste great (I don’t know what I was expecting).
Question: How much milk (oz) do you usually drink a day? For just the health reasons is a glass a day good amount?
Thanks
Thanks!
I’m not a naturopath, but I would recommend starting out with a small amount at first, if new to it. It’s hard for me to suggest an amount–it’s like asking how much salad you should eat, or how much chicken… Let your body and gut be your guide. We’ve been drinking it for a few years, and consume a lot of milk. But we also use it for cultured dairy products. In a typical day I often have a 10 oz glass in the morning and another at dinner in the evening. Throughout the day I use liberal amounts of butter in my food, and eat plenty of raw cheese. As a family of three, we go through a half gallon a day easily. We never worry about drinking too much.
As always, be in tune with how you are feeling after ingesting things and adjust accordingly.
Good luck, and enjoy that milk!
I just found your website and got very interested when I saw you had a podcast about raw milk. I’ll be listening while on the plane to Hawaii!
Anyway, I saw that recently Whole Foods decided to stop carrying raw milk. I wonder if they bowed to the dairy lobby as our local little natural food store still carries raw milk. I often have raw milk products whether cow, goat, or sheep. In fact, I prefer it, especially raw milk cheese, especially after eating delicious raw milk cheeses in Italy and France. We are always saddened when forced to buy the pasteurized milk cheese as opposed to raw. To me, the raw milk cheese has a more alive flavor.