Tuesday 11 June 2013

milk

You may have wondered about my reference to washing milk jugs yesterday...

Now it's legal, so I can freely say that we drink raw milk.

We know a guy who has some milk cows (Holsteins, unfortunately) and every week we go to his farm and buy $20 worth of whole, fresh, raw, milk. We have bought several gallon and half gallon glass jars to store the milk in, as plastic is so bad for us.

Ideally, we would get milk from a pastured Jersey or Guernsey, but so far I haven't located any of that.

Why?

I've heard that cows are supposed to live outside and eat grass (sounds strange, doesn't it?).  I've also been told that dirty food should be cleaned, not cooked, and that it's best to not contaminate the food in the first place. Also, given the history of scandal and dirty money and conflicted interests, I decided I'd rather trust God (or even "nature", if you will) than the FDA and USDA.

Anyway, we like it, we like the farmer/friend, and we really like the free cup of cream that comes with each gallon of milk. :-)

Thanks to the Arkansas legislature that decided this session that we can buy, sell, and consume this ancient and natural product if we so choose. America, the home of the free (unless you want to choose what to eat!). ;-) (that little winky face is so everybody knows I'm just joking and there is nothing unpatriotic in this post. I do love America and I pray for our president and legislatures and judges quite regularly.)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always thought the raw milk controversy was just silly. I'm sure the vast majority of my generation, and certainly the generation prior, never consumed any milk other than raw milk. So I'm glad it's legal to drink it again. At least in Arkansas. :) mums

Wil said...

I hadn't realized it was illegal until I saw a news item about some neo-hippie liberal hemp-smokers in California who were trying to legalize raw milk. It's amazing the kind of people you have stuff in common with. ;-)

Yes, I'm sure almost everyone I know in the family tree branches just older than me was raised on raw milk. Personally, I can't stomach it (and can barely drink store-bought for that matter), but it seems silly not to have the choice.

Not A Farm Girl said...

One more reason for us to move to Missouri. (I just checked, and sure enough, a farmer can legally sell raw milk to an individual, from his farm- not through a distributor) Although, we'll most likely drink goats milk.
-Lorella