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Over the past several weeks we have started to weed out processed food and our the majority of our food from local farmers. It has been great seeing our food bill go down while our health goes up. The food quality from our local farmers and farmers market is so much better and we get a lot more for our money compared to what we were getting at our local grocery stores.
We are starting to make things from scratch that my son misses such as pop tarts to show him that he can still have foods he loves, in moderation, and in a much more healthier way. He LOVES going to the farmer's and learning about their lives and is really into eating more healthier too.
Anyway, I found a few places that are licensed to sell raw milk. I wanted to try to make my own butter- husband said it can't be beat when it is made from milk right from the cow. Since we will be looking into buying cream at the dairy, was going to try some raw milk.
I know there is controversy about raw milk- which I don't understand. It is in its most natural form when straight from the cow and way back when, milk wasn't always pasteurized like it is today. What I am wondering though, since my young son has only had pasteurized milk (me as well, but not worried about me), will making a 100% switch over cause any stomach issues? Should we do it half and half for awhile at first? Does it really need to be cultured with a tablespoon of store bought buttermilk first and fermented before allowing him to drink it like I have heard some people say elsewhere?
Thank you for any tips if you have made the switch for you and your family
My tip is that it is too big of a risk for baby humans. Raw cow milk is fine for baby cows.
I worked with a pediatrician and know the risk that parents take when giving raw cow's milk to their kids.
Parents have the right to feed their kids raw milk, the same as they have the right to refuse to vaccinations.
There are 2 additional bacterial pathogens that are killed via pasteurization, and both are seldom discussed by the raw milk crowd.
1) Listeria monocytogenes - leading cause of death among foodborne pathogens. Causes meningitis in newborns (acquired transvaginally). It is the third-most-common cause of meningitis in newborns. Pregnant mothers are often advised not to eat soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert, feta, and queso blanco fresco, which may be contaminated with and permit growth of L. monocytogenes. Also causes miscarriage (spontaneous abortions).
2) Coxiella burnetii - is the main target of milk pasteurization and is extremely virulent. Inhalation of one organism will yield disease in 50% of the population. When the United States ended its biological warfare program in 1969, Coxiella burnetii was one of seven agents it had standardized as biological weapons.
Did you read the article you linked to? The farmer wasn't practicing and adhering to sanitary conditions and handling of the milk. Umm, don't you think that is the reason people got sick? Sorry, that doesn't convince me. I don't believe everything put out by the FDA, who has no issue with high fructose corn syrup being in all of our foods (a major reason why we started eating from farms in the first place) and I am going to college to become a Registered Dietitian where so many people in the field claim the FDA as gods...not me
Unless you are actively involved in the production/collection of the milk, i.e. it's YOUR small-scale dairy operation, you don't have any way of knowing that the conditions are consistently sanitary.
The problem with raw milk is the shelf life is not as long as pasturized milk. I wouldn't take a chance drinking raw milk but to each his own. My husband said he would try it.If you go through milk quickly in your household then the self life of raw milk won't matter. I also don't trust if the raw milk came from a sanitary place or not. I agree with Rainroosty, my milk stays safe and sound in my fridge and I am also happy with it.
Unless you own and milk the cow yourself, you have no way of knowing whether or not the milk you're getting on the farm, is going to make your child sick. That's WHY those kids got sick. Their parents got the milk from what they believed were safe places. They turned out to not be safe, afterall. Just because a dairy says "we're safe, we guarantee it or your money back!" doesn't mean it's safe. Personally I wouldn't risk my -own- life, let alone a child's life, on something that is -known- to have such serious risks involved. If I wanted raw milk badly enough, I'd buy a cow and milk it.
Since I'm not a big milk drinker anyway, the reward isn't worth the risk at all, to me. I prefer cheese, and cheese is already processed (with bacteria or rennet) so the risk of contamination is miniscule.
You don't know the people who are currently processing your milk now. Trust me- I worked in quality control. I would rather go to my local farmer who owns a very small farm and is licensed
I grew up on raw milk, fresh from the cow to the barn cooler, to the pitcher of it on the table.The best stuff on earth!
Nothing like homemade ice cream or hot chocolate with "the skin on the top."
When I got married and moved to "suburbia", I had to buy store bought, and it took quite awhile to get used to it. (Just like store bought eggs.) I was a healthy kid and am a healthy adult.
But let me note: We fed the cows nothing but made from the earth back then. (mid 50's-mid 70's).
With all this hormone and other stuff, who knows.
If you know the source and it's all natural, go for it. Otherwise I'd be suspect, because even our corn now is tampered with with hormones and our grains are hybridized and patented and such. I wonder if anything is truly natural anymore.
While i don't drink it much now our family did for years and never had any problems. While there is truth it the bacteria could be deadly to youth at that time. One also have to remember that increased nutrition/hygiene/and access to antibiotics does negate a lot of those issues too. Plus the process kills off beneficial bacteria and vitamins.
You don't know the people who are currently processing your milk now. Trust me- I worked in quality control. I would rather go to my local farmer who owns a very small farm and is licensed
Actually, I do. I used to be their marketing secretary. They're a family-owned business, and have been for over 100 years. And I trust them to properly homogenize and pasteurize my milk, because even -they- agree that not doing so is too much of a risk for giving to humans, who are not really built to drink cow's milk in the first place.
My son drank nothing but raw milk, from age 2 to 8, and flourished fine. We lived near a dairy farm, and could just go into the milkhouse and draw our own milk right from the tanks, still warm from the cow. Never boiled it, drank it straight. Got all of our corn, eggs, apples and cracked wheat from the same farm.
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