I have been interested in trying raw milk for a while now. Even more so after a documentary I watched about it. I wish that it could have been an easy thing to try. Just head to the store buy a gallon and drink. Unfortunately oppressive laws here in the U.S make that very hard in most areas and impossible in others. The freshest best for you milk is very illegal and selling it could land you in prison with felony charges. Fortunately for me though my state is not completely stupid and makes it legal to buy in the form of a CSA from the farmer. So although I can’t walk into the nearest grocery store and grab some I have options. Some farmer markets in my state also sale them for pet consumption. Today I’ll tell you how I found some and what my thoughts are about it.
Kind Of A CSA
I looked all over the internet and found several local CSA’s but didn’t find an option that really suited me. I wanted to try some before jumping into a CSA and making that commitment. Frustrated I asked on a local Facebook group I’m on asking i anyone knew where to get some. A friend came through with some great options. It was an interesting concept of a sort of buyers club CSA. Sort of. The market, virtual, opens on Sunday, you go to the online store and log in pick the items you want and place your order. The order is available for pick up later that week either from the farm or a pick up location. This was exactly what I was looking for. I can order in any quantity I want or not at all. With other CSA options you get what you get and have to make due.
Milk
I’ve not been a milk fan for more than ten years. I am lactose intolerant and milk does not sit well with me. Being another reason I chose to be paleo. On top of that I never really enjoyed the taste of milk. To me it always tasted off. Kinda funky to me. I got none of that when I drank a glass of raw milk. It was missing that funky milk flavor I hate. I noticed the color was not as bright white. Which I like, pasteurized milk looks sterile and dead. After drinking that glass of milk I felt none of the normal discomfort from milk. Raw milk not being heated and killing everything in it still has the parts you help you digest it. So It taste better, is healthier and does not give me gas, but this stuff is illegal.
I enjoyed some in my morning coffee and it was pretty good. I use so little milk though I’m not sure how often I will be buying this. I think it’s worth checking out and if you do use milk I would suggest switching to raw. I just don’t use it for anything but coffee. I think next time I might get some raw cream. I did enjoy drinking a glass and actually liking it for once. Check out your local resources and see if you have any options for raw milk.
Have you tried raw milk? Do you believe the false info on it? Let me know in the comments!Also please enter our Reader appreciation contest and help spread the word about our blog.
For the Best Water Filters on the market go no further than LPC Survival at Directive21.com
Looking for the best prices and best customer service in buying Silver and Gold online? Look no further than JM Bullion for all your precious metal needs!
You have raw cream. In the picture of the milk jug the top part that is darker in color is cream. Raw cow milk will seperate if left standing.
I grew up drinking raw milk. Agree it tastes much better than the ‘safe’ milk.
I don’t believe it is unsafe. Handle with common sense and you’ll be fine.
“Handle with common sense”
This is why the government doesn’t allow you to go out and easily buy raw milk. They protect the stupid people from hurting themselves (like how you can only buy 20% DEET in Canada because stupid people will spray their babies). Raw milk is safe, but dumb people could potentially hurt themselves. I have mixed feelings about raw milk. If I really hated the idea of processed milk, I would probably just give up drinking milk anyways. You don’t need milk after you are weened off of it. You could always get your calcium somewhere else.
Come to think of it, a breakfast of cereal is probably the worst way to start your day, other than skipping breakfast.
I just don’t do milk at all. I got this to test but only the once. I wrote about why even bother storing milk. I don’t use it ever. I can’t even remember the last time I used regular milk. So yeah just not drinking or using it is best. If you do though I believe raw is the way to go from a local farmer with healthy cow.
Can you provide a link to the buyers club CSA you found?
Sure Gregory. Here it is http://stonesriver.locallygrown.net/
Milk is cow body fluids and inherently “dirty”. It has over the centuries killed millions and millions of people. Pastuerization kills the germs and makes raw milk safe. In most states and in the U.S. YOU can indeed “drink” raw milk but you cannot sell it or otherwise introduce it into the countries food supply. Consequently we have very few deaths from raw milk in the U.S. Where people get into trouble is in trying to circumvent the laws. Indeed if you knowingly circumvent the laws and put innocent people at risk you could go to jail. DUH! What would you expect. Most of what you hear about raw milk is pure hype and old wives tales. It isn’t better for you then safe milk and it doesn’t improve your health. It is simply dirty cow body fluids, nothing more, nothing less.
I think your feelings on it are irrational. Your mother fed you on dirty human fluids. People have drank these so called dirty cow fluids and are fine. People in other counties still live on it just fine. It may not be a miracle liquid but from healthy cows it’s fine and better than store bought.
Far from irrational. Millions and millions have died from consuming raw milk. Most of those deaths occurred before pasteurization. It is the relative safety of food today that deludes you inot thinking there is no problem with raw milk. But all this misses the point. That is it is illegal to sell it (in most states) and illegal to introduce it into the food chain. So you can buy a cow and drink raw milk all you want to but the law will not allow you to sell it or to try to evade the law by claiming you aren’t selling it to consumers of your raw milk. So I say go for it. Just don’t break the law and I see no problem.
There is no way millions died from unpasteurized milk. I want citations. I admit people did die. From bad milk not unpasteurized milk. They quality of the milk being sold was horrible and should not have been sold. Pasteurized milk killed the organisms in the milk from sick cows and bad practices. Well treated cows and safe packaging produces safe milk. As for legality I’m not selling anything. I think the idea of not letting people consume what they want is criminal. Instead of banning good milk They should should have a regulatory group inspect and ensure that it is safe.
I grew up in the country and everyone had cows and drank raw milk daily. Keep your cows healthy and keep everything clean. You wash the teats with clean warm water, wash your hands and milk the cow. Milk was brought right to the kitchen where it was chilled. I never knew of anyone in my entire community to get sick from milk. I hated all milk, but still think we should be allowed to eat and drink whatever we want. It isn’t like alcohol, drink it, get in a car and go kill a carload of people. Never heard of a milk drunk.
I think people probably started with these dumb laws, when there was not a good way to get the milk into towns without a way to keep it chilled. If you lived in the country you got fresh milk everyday. Heaven only knows how old the “safe” milk is that we buy at our local grocery store.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/raw-milk-myths-busted/
Raw milk is nothing more or less then a cow’s body fluids. Raw milk has been known to spread: typhoid, diphtheria, brucellosis, campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Yersinia spp., strep throat, scarlet fever, staphylococcus, rabies, Bacillus cereus, Coxiella burnetii, Mycobacterium avium and tuberculosis. Studies of milk from cows has shown that 30% to 60% of the samples have one or more of these pathogenic bacteria.
In 1985, an outbreak of listeria was linked to soft cheese made from raw milk produced in Los Angeles Of the 142 cases reported, 93 were in pregnant women or their children. There were 48 deaths, including 20 fetuses.
Since 1973, 394 cases of salmonella have been reported in Los Angeles County. Of these, 101 (25.6%) were consumers of raw milk. Molecular fingerprinting identified the strain of bacteria in ill persons as the same as that found in raw milk samples.
Hmmm…
While it is true that it is a cow’s bodily fluid, that in and of itself doesn’t make it dangerous. (Doesn’t make it good either, just saying.) Most of the critters you describe are not naturally present in the milk itself, but rather, the milk acts as a fertile breeding ground for these things after it has been removed from the cow and set out.
So, in a normal situation, the milk would be body temperature and harvested for use that day or not too much longer after that because refrigeration is an anomaly: a tiny blip on a very long timeline. It’s safe to say that if milk were so very dangerous, Man would have stopped using it a long, long time ago. People don’t generally keep eating things that kill them.
You know what’s killed even more millions of people? Water. Plain old water.
Ever heard of Montezuma’s Revenge? Why is it that Mexicans can drink Mexican water just fine but it makes everyone else sick? Is it the water or the person drinking it?
It’s both. Mexicans are tolerant of the microbes in their water, and their water has microbes that make other people sick.
It’s the same with milk. First, we are no longer exposed to things we used to be very tolerant of, making us much more sensitive to them when we are exposed. That doesn’t make the milk any less dangerous to the person who might get sick from drinking it, but it isn’t anything inherently wrong with the milk either. Second, people who might get raw milk might not understand that it’s not meant to be kept for weeks like safe milk. It’s a whole different compound and needs to be handled correctly.
Does this mean that there needs to be a law?
I have a hard time with this because I don’t believe in laws designed to protect me from myself. But I also want to be assured that if the product I’m buying has the potential to kill me that all caution has been taken with the harvest and handling. I should still be able to trade a farmer money for milk and not have to worry about having committed a federal felony. That’s just wrong.
Alcohol kills thousands of people every year, BAN IT!!
Cars kill thousands of people every year, BAN THEM!!
People kill thousands of people every year, BAN THEM!!
…oh wait…
in reference to gonewiththewind I would have to say(imo)……..WRONG!I have drank R.A.W. Milk for over a year now and have had no problems accociated with R.A.W. milk. it it true some people may get sick but like other medications,etc as well they have to monitor what they take. its not up to them to decide for me what I can and cannot do or have. as for selling the milk in the US that’s wrong as well. here in Commufornia and many other states they have it in local health stores. our Govenor backs it. as a Herdshare owner I buy it directly from the farm.
I feed it to my granddaughter and have no problems. I cook with it, no problems and im still alive as well as she.
some claim who are lactose intollerant that they can now drink milk. i believe it. it helps with artritis and other ailaments…. why? because all the good stuff for you is not killed before consumption.
alot of it depends on how it is sanitary taken, held, stored, distributed,etc and depends largely on if you get sick how you handle it like your meats, dairy,etc at home.
if possible take a tour of the farm you get the R.A.W. Milk from or ask questions at the health food store you buy it from. I did before I committed and saw how they (farm) did things. tell you what, way safer and better then the shit you buy from the store…..
here is the farm I get it from http://duivenvoordenfarms.com/
anyone else wants to learn about real R.A.W. Milk? here is a awesome site to learn more about it.
http://www.realmilk.com/
This might be a little late to add this comment but my whole family grew up on raw milk there were a total of 8 of us in the family and not one of us got sick not even one time.