https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=498103576907552
Take a minute and watch the above video.
In several states around the country, raw milk is illegal for sale and big agricultural is working very hard to spread that into other states.
Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund Raw Milk Map
From what I can gather about the above video, this farmer is being forced to dump out the entire "batch" of milk on his farm because he delivered part of that batch of raw milk to a purchasing consumer. I have several problems with this:
- Who is to say that a knowing and willing consumer cannot purchase whatever food they would like to feed their family? People are still allowed to drink diet soda and smoke for crying out loud.
- The milk was still on his farm. It could have been used to feed his own family or even just give it to the hogs as slop! This country makes such a big deal about there not being enough food and how such a large portion of our agricultural production goes right back to feed our livestock due to our over-indulgence in meat.
- There was never a lab test that popped positive for campylobactor or listeria or any disease causing bacteria.
- Had he given the milk away, this wouldn't be an issue. It only matters when money is involved.
Dirty milk could pose a health risk and I do not dispute that. Dirty beef could as well but it is shoved down our throats like there is no tomorrow. But why is milk given this holy grail target status by the FDA? What does homogenization do? What does pasteurization do? Wait, who's in the Superbowl this year? I wonder when the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition comes out? Is Taylor Swift on her 20th or 21st boyfriend? ... And suddenly our food isn't as important... Hence why it is so hard to get legislation passed to gain back our food freedom. I believe deep down congress will do as elected and be the voice of the people. It is great that thousands of people are concerned about their food but we really aren't going to get a government ear until millions are concerned. Now that I have your attention, let's go back to how we adulterate raw milk into a "safe" product.
Homogenization: forcing milk through a very very fine metal screen in order to break up the fat molecules. This helps the casein in milk bind with the much smaller fat cells and the casein helps keep the fat cells from floating to the top. In essence, the main reason for homogenization is to lengthen shelf life so that milk doesn't have to be rushed across the country overnight just so it won't spoil after a week or two of distributin among local stores. Homogenizing milk also enables farmers to blend milk from several cows into one large vat or tank which helps to standardize the color, taste and texture. The American consumer now prefers bland and consistent over flavorful and varied.
Pasteurization: The heating up of milk to at least 1to varying degrees for various lengths of time; the lower the temperature the longer the time. This is done to potentially kill dangerous bacteria (most milk doesn't contain these dangers) in milk that could cause infections, sickness or even death. Doing so also kills enzymes in milk that would otherwise speed up the decomposition process resulting in rancid, rotten milk.
They both have very negative effects.
Homogenization: A lot of milk's proteins, amino acids, minerals and vitamins are attached to or contained in the fat cells. Homogenization destroys some of these minerals and vitamins. Our bodies recognize the natural form of milk and these larger fat cells. Broken down, these mini fat cells can then go directly into our blood stream through our stomach. They are turned into something our bodies don't recognize so the fats are either held in the stomach or just flushed out as garbage.
Pasteurization: While milk has less than a 1% chance to contain harmful bacteria, it has a 100% chance to contain beneficial bacteria and enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Lactase, the enzyme that helps digest the lactose in milk, is destroyed in pasteurization. Is it a wonder more and more people are becoming lactose-intolerant? We aren't giving ourselves a fighting chance to digest it if we don't have the enzyme that was supposed to accompany lactose... Vitamins and minerals are also destroyed or depleted during the process.
And both lead to longer shelf life which means more and more time for unstable vitamins to break down...
Before this article gets any longer, I want to end it with my proposal.
Not everyone wants raw milk. That's fine. At least give people that do, the chance and freedom to do so. How can we make this legal you ask? I propose we have consumers who wish to purchase raw milk sign a hold harmless agreement/waiver effective for such a duration of time. This paper would be filed with the farmer and consumer. If the consumer ends up sick (because that is what the fear mongering around raw milk is all about), that farmer has the incentive to make absolutely sure that person understood the risks and signed that legal document holding the farmer harmless. It would also hold the consumer harmless if the FDA demands they seize your milk without a warrant like some almighty force without consequences. Now, could this open the door for lower standard farmers to not worry so much about cleanliness since they would be held harmless? Possibly but not likely.
These deals would be done on a very personal level. The consumer has the chance to see the cows and production facilities. If the farmer refuses, I wouldn't sign the agreement as a consumer. It is in the small scale farmer's best interest to make sure his milk is the safest and best in town. His business lives and dies by word of mouth marketing. If Suzy Q gets very sick and goes around saying it was because of farmer Johnson's milk, his business takes a huge hit. If she has a legitimate claim, it should. Those checks and balances have been removed from our farmer consumer relationship in the ever growing industrial-agricultural "dependent" society.
Let your voices be heard and they will hear you.
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