A friend of mine recently mentioned she used to drink raw milk when she was young and lived on her family's farm. She said it is totally different to milk from our shops and it's actually illegal to sell raw milk now. Is that right? I don't know anything about and was wondering, does anyone know much about raw milk (as in unpasturised/homegnised)? Do you drink it? Does it have different health benefits to pasturised milk?
TIA
Raw milk is much better for you. But yes, it's illegal to sell it for human consumption in Australia. my local organic store used to sell raw "bath" milk and many people organise to buy "bath" milk from local farmers. So long as the milk comes from healthy cows it doesn't need to be pasturised. Pasturisation helps us get around the shonky management of milk production on a mass scale.
I've just read a few interesting articles about raw milk and it is being debated whether or not Aus should start selling more raw milk products for human consumption. All sounds very interesting!
I think it's a bit sad that we can't make the decision for ourselves if we want raw or pasturised milk!
Raw milk is legal in the state I live in but there have been raids and all sorts of nonsense of raw milk sales in California, where it's illegal. The issue of choice is the main argument against the illegalisation. It's crazy- like the fat tax in Denmark. Butter is healthy!
Yes, it is unfortunate that our choice in some things has been taken away to due to a perceived need to protect us from anything that could go wrong. gosh - i hope that statement makes sense.
I remember when i was young spending every school hols on my grandparents farm. My pop would milk the cow every day and bring back 2 buckets of milk which would be poured into jugs to get to room temperature and the cream would form on the top and get scooped off to be used for dessert and then the jugs would go in the fridge. no-one was ever sick. if it could be sold without the need for mass transportation i am guessing it would be health ie. i am sure those large milk tankers would harbour bacteria as it would be difficult to empty and clean them out completely. but if consumers could go directly to the farmer, surely that would be safe.
I grew up on a farm with milk cows and I drank raw milk but TBH I wouldn't want to drink mass produced raw milk. Milk is a great medium for germs and it is also possible to catch diseases from cows via milk. TB is one that springs to mind.
my kinesiologist told me that the bottled milk we get now is much worse for us then raw milk. the homogenising and pasterising(sp) actually takes out the calcium so the amount we are now getting from milk is very very minimal.
i grew up on proper cows milk on a farm and it does taste very different.
So where can one get raw milk in Melbourne or Geelong? I've seen raw jersey milk at the South Melbourne Markets, but it was a two litre bottle and I doubt I'd drink it all before it started to sour! Of course if freezing it doesn't damage the nutrients that's an option.
Does anyone know of dairy farmers that are happy to sell raw milk on the farm?
Look up your local chapter (there is a Melbourne one) on the westonaprice dot org website. The chapter leader should be able to help you find the best of whatever may be available (even if that may mean a less harshly pasturised milk).
You can buy unhomogenised milk at quite a few places, usually its organic and the cream sits at the top.
You can make yogurt from "normal" pasturised, homogenised milk as well as from powdered milk. Its extremely easy if you have an easy-yo, is super cheap too.
Unpasturised milk can be extremely dangerous, you would want to be 100% sure of the hygene of the source before you drank it.
I'm not sure that I agree un-pasteurised milk is dangerous, Australia doesn't have the same bovine diseases as the UK. I acknowledge that it can still harbour dangerous levels of bacteria if not handled and processed correctly, but I'm sure anyone consuming raw milk would be very sure of their source.
DH's family have a dairy farm. I had to keep reminding him to remind me not to drink/eat anything made with milk when we went to visit while I was pregnant. Honestly, I wouldn't even drink it now. They use it for everything and say it's completely fine, but you never know, their bodies may just be used to it.
Consuming raw milk is becoming more popular in North America. I've got a source for it here, and have been researching more into it. It is very difficult to find reasonable, objective information. But, it seems that, like most things in life, it's about a risk/benefit ratio. Are there *some* risks to drinking raw milk? Yes. Are there some benefits? Yes. Apparently the rate of asthma, allergies, and eczema are much lower (3% vs 13%) among the raw milk drinking population. Stomach illnesses are also reported to be less. And, from what I've read, the risk of becoming sick from consuming deli meats is about 10 times higher than the risk of becoming sick from raw milk. However, since raw milk has normal bacteria in it, your gut must be prepared. Eating plain, live culture yogurt for about a week before starting raw milk should suffice.
For what it's worth, milk naturally contains the enzymes necessary to process lactose. Pasteurization kills those. People who are lactose intolerant can drink raw milk without trouble.
And finally, if you're interested in benefiting from raw milk, but a little nervous about the potential risks, you can try low-temp pasteurization at home - heat the milk to 140F and keep it there for 30 min. Cool rapidly, and put it in the fridge. You won't gain all of the benefits, but you'll avoid some of the risks too. That's what I've done for my family.
I think finding a raw milk source is generally done quietly, by asking around. Farmers can get in BIG trouble otherwise....
Funny, eh? You can buy raw meat, and raw eggs, but not raw milk.
Raw milk some of the time here. Mainly from a cost perspective and the girls really love it. It is jersery milk, so is extra creamy. Not sure if the girls are better for it and I really wish it was organic. The amount of chemicals etc used in conventional dairy farming is quite scary.
I'm not confident to drink raw milk but I did buy some lovely jersey pasteurised, non-homogenised milk the other day. It's expensive compared to normal "milk" but wow! This is the real stuff I remember from childhood. Real milk in a bottle you need to shake to get the cream to mix. It was delicious.
I've been reading about the risks with raw milk and having milked cows before and seen some of what's involved, I'm not sure I'll take the risk.
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