When I sent the link to you I never dreamed such a thoughtful post would come out of it. All I could sputter in my email to you was "eewwwww! Gross! Yuck!"

I like the comparison to leeches and chamber pots. Gosh you're smart AND funny!!

 

You make very good points Alex. Sure, it was done for hundreds of years, but it was NOT safe.
I'm sure these are the same people that won't eat any cooked food (macrobiotic) or those vegans who will only eat food that fell off the plant naturally (meaning it's rotten).
I won't stop people from doing what they want, but I won't partake either.

*cough* Darwin's law *cough*

 

I think you made a great point about how we pasteurize milk for a reason. People probably think they're all "big and bad" for drinking milk in its natural state now just like in the olden days, but they are not considering the consequences or rationale for pasteurizing in the first place. I just don't get why people are so paranoid about everything. It's kind of driving me nuts lately. With the bottles, etc... I have enough to worry about without all of this, you know?

 

Very interesting information. A friend of mine from Eastern Europe swears by unpasteurized honey as balm against illness and, for some reason, allergies.

 

Great post!
I am a dairy farmer's little girl and I am a big believer in using all available technology that benefits better health.

Yep- here in Ohio there is big hulabuloo about raw milk. People all pitch in and buy like 1/13th of a cow and then go over and dip into the unpastuerized bulk tank for their family.
YIKES!!!
Take a vitamin or something!

 

A few months ago, a Raw Milk company out here in CA had to pull everything down because of salmonella. Thats one thing, but what scared me from it was the farmer's attitude toward it. He was more concerned about losing all that money than the fact that his milk might make people sick. Sure, it was just one batch or whatever, but it scared me enough to not do raw milk. However, we do organic milk because of the lack of rBGH.

 

Just wanted to let you know that I made a response to this entry on my blog.

 

Hi Alex! I've actually had raw milk (this weekend, in fact) and it tastes good---not as heavy as whole milk, but still creamy. There is a raw milk dairy in MA---the woman who runs it used to be a dairy inspector and had some interesting things to say about her time visiting regular dairies and what is 'allowed' in milk b/c pasturizatin will kill off the bacteria. She has to be so very clean and held to high standards to insure the safety of her milk. I know it isn't for everyone, but I like that people can choose for themselves.

 

I'm glad you point out how this is a personal choice. After researching the history of milk and pasteurization (brought about by problems with swill dairies), I feel confident about the safety of the raw milk I obtain from healthy cows on pasture eating a natural diet. Unfortunately, the government has decided that I'm not intelligent enough to decide for myself what I should put in my body.

For your readers that believe the history of milk started just prior to the time of compulsory pasteurization, I recommend the book The Untold Story of Milk. Real milk is safe; factory milk is not.

 

Interesting topic, for sure - and great writing on your blog. I am a professional writer and i found your posts to be easily readable and thoughtful.

On to my comment, My wife, one child and I are lactose intolerant. Despite that, we all need milk because, after all, it does a body good, right? (Great ad campaign, by the way) So, we found alternatives to milk and were expecting soy, almond, lactaid, etc. What we found was Goat Milk products. It is still milk but the proteins in it are as close to mother's milk as anything on the market. And we found that it didnt make any of us sick. There are tons of products on the market with the Goat Milk tag. And suprisingly, it does not have that goat cheese tangy taste. And on top of all that, we found a goat milk ice cream that we love. It is healthy, tasty and unique. www.laloos.com

I know milk is an essential ingredient to a healthy, balanced diet. But let's not sleep on goat milk.