www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Raw Milk

Since July I have been getting delivered to me raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk from a dairy in Michigan (I live in Chicago). The reason I mention it here is because I first heard about this on the local Catholic radio station.

I love the milk and I have had no problems at all. I'd like to know if anyone else here is doing this and what is your opinion.

I know you farm folks probably think this is silly but for us city slickers this is something udderly unique.

Please share your thoughts.

God bless
Paul

Dear Paul,

Is it safe? Do the health benefits outweigh the risks? Just wondering.

In Christ,
Alice

I know about this. If the cows are treated safely and are not overcrowded, and live in a clean enviornment it is perfectly safe. From what i understand one must have a license to sell unpasterized milk (at least in the state of Ohio) and that many Dairys that are very old and have a good reputation for clean milk, and good living conditions for their cows have this license and sell milk all over the midwest.

Sam

Alice,

Those are the obvious questions that most people ask and they are good ones. I first heard about the benefits of raw milk and the destructiveness of pasteurization on the local Catholic radio station (they wouldn't lie, would they?).

I then did some research on my own and the information I got was compelling.

(Just between you and me, I don't get any, um shall we say, lactose intolerance problems with this milk but maybe that's for another thread )

Sam,

This is true!

The milk I get originates from an Amish farm in northern Indiana. They have only pastured (meaning grass-fed not grain fed) Guernsey and Jersey cows. The milk is Grade A quality and kept clean from cow to container.

From what I've learned pastuerization is a way for large dairies to "clean-up" potentially harmful milk for human consumption instead of making sure the milk is healthful throughout its processing.

Have you ever wondered why you can't purchase unpasteurized orange juice at the store but you can still buy an unpasteurized orange?

It isn't the milk you have to worry about as it is usually fine straight from the cow. It is in the handling AFTER milking. Thanks for reminding me, I'm going to have to check around the massive Amish community near my house if they sell it.
Unpastuerized Apple cider is the best. You can't get that in a supermarket here anymore. Luckily there are some apple farms
On a side note,
I bought a pepsi and it had a "dirty" taste.
The guy at the convience store said the plant put the pepsi into the plastic bottle while the bottle was still hot from rinsing. Makes some sense!
There are a few plants out there that cows can eat that end up in the milk. If you drink this tainted milk it can make you very sick. If I remember correctly Abraham Lincoln's mother passed this way. Is it rattlesnake root or something. Although I live near a vivarant dairy farm area I don't know too much about cows, other than they are huge and sometimes pretty cool.

Perhaps the pastuerization process destroys vitamins. Just like when you allow fresh vegetables to sit in boiling water too long.. it cooks off much of the vitamins.
Also they say if you are buying milk to purchase the plastic bottles that are solid in color. They say the lights in the dairy case destroy vitamins if the plastic bottle isn't solid in color.

Perhaps the pastuerization process destroys vitamins. Just like when you allow fresh vegetables to sit in boiling water too long.. it cooks off much of the vitamins.
Also they say if you are buying milk to purchase the plastic bottles that are solid in color. They say the lights in the dairy case destroy vitamins if the plastic bottle isn't solid in color.

Pasteurization destroys mainly good bacteria, and does chemically alter the milk. I am actually more worried about the bovine growth hormones and antibiotics in commercial herds than the cleanliness of smaller farms, which are almost always naturally cleaner and more fastidious.

We have goats and have raised our kids on goats milk. We make cheese and yogurt (goat milk is primo for feta and any soft white cheeses). Although it is a bit stronger for some, goat's milk is closer to mother's milk than cow and is naturally homogenized. And for personality, they can't be beat (I bet you can't teach a cow how to shake hands - my son did it with two goats.)
DD

I was watching PBS one day and they mentioned that Bison (Buffalo) milk was very healthy, low in fat and causes to problems to people with lactose intolerance.

I never tried it though, at least not yet..

I'm so glad there are more of you out there testifying to unpasteurized milk!

I would prefer goat milk but it is a bit pricey and the dairy tells me they can't guarantee a steady supply, especially in the winter months.

My son is approaching his first birthday and we plan to start him on the raw cow milk. My wife was raised on it and never had a problem.

I never realized how many products we buy that are pasteurized when it shouldn't be necessary.

We are told to drink orange juice to fight colds because of the vitamin C, but between the pasteurization and the natural oxidation which occurs as the juice is exposed to air there is virtually no vitamin C left. One is left to drink primarily sugar water. I think you can probably get more vitamin C from one orange than from a carton of juice.

YUK! (Sorry, but that's the memory unpasteurized milk brings to mind!)

I grew up in Chicago and when we were kids we were all shipped off to relatives living on Wisconsin farms for the summer. One morning one of my uncles came in in the morning with a bucket of milk he has just gotten from Elsie - it was still warm. I never tasted anything so revolting!!

Oh well, to each his own I suppose.

One other thing - when my aunt Amanda and uncle Casmir visited us from Wisconsin, they always made sure they bought plenty of margarine before they left. Seems like there was some sort of law against selling margarine in the dairy state in those olden days.

This to me is unbelievable! Do not you Amerikantzi eat or drink anything that does not come out of a box or a can? There is nothing better than fresh milk! This was one of the hardest things for me to get acclimated to. American food is just awful! What you call bread, we would use for insulation! I hate to generalize, but you want to know why it is so easy for Europeans to recognize Americans? It is because they are the heavy ones with bad skin!
Na Zdarovye!



Alexandr

i was getting raw milk for a few months from Kevin Hick's farm in north branch, michigan and yes it's the best thing for you. The only reason i stopped is that money got short. For a whole lot of interesting articles on why it's health you guys should check out A Campaign for Real Milk [realmilk.com] and Weston A. Price Foundation [westonaprice.org]

If anyone ever has any questions about what foods are healthy just come to me, it's my field so-to-say.

Jonathan

i know what you mean Alex. We eat just horrible food and i believe most of it is deadly in the longrun and takes years off of our lives.