Comments on: Raw Milk: Discussing it’s Merits and Safety

By: Mandi

Mandi — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:12:36 +0000

I know that this is an older forum- I’m not sure how often it is still checked. Regardless, I wanted to add something about this. I would steer clear of any dairy that produces milk for commercial purposes, ie: milk that will eventually be pasteurized. Usually, larger dairies put all of the milk into large vats and mix all the milk together before dispensing it. There is a nearby dairy that I have bought raw milk from, deviating from my normal dairy farmer, simply because their product was cheaper. However, their milk made me sick. Now I just stick to my regular supplier. She has a very small operation and our milk comes from the same cow every week. She does not mix her milk, it goes directly into the gallon jug for my family. This keeps her quality control at the highest standard.
I think the bottom line is KNOW YOUR FARMER. Even better, get to know your cow! Go out there, see what is going on. Invite your farmer over for supper. Keep tabs on the quality, keep your farmer informed if anything is wrong.

By: KimiHarris

KimiHarris — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:46:42 +0000

Stephanie,

Thanks for sharing about your personal experience with raw milk. I am glad that your son is okay. It is frustrating to sort through everything. I think what I want is an 100 percent guarantee choice, and it just doesn’t happen in this world! I personally haven’t heard or read much about campylobacter, but with your experience, I can see why you would be cautious. Do you know how common it is to be caused by an infection of the teets? I’ve always felt like it was important to get raw milk from really sterile farmers and a lot of small time farmers don’t have the money to invest into the equipment to make that possible.

We have a little trouble with even raw dairy, so we try to do a lot of bone broths to make up for the lack of calcium and minerals from raw milk.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:24:41 +0000

I am so confused by the raw milk discussions. I got very excited about raw milk 2 years ago and made formula from it for my boy who was not gaining weight well and I was not making enough milk for. Our source was a local dairy who produced for commercial purchase. The cows pastured on large amounts of grass but were fed grain during some of the winter months. My 1 year old developed a severe campylobacter infection during this time and our whole family went through a series of GI illnesses (some could have been related to the milk and others were definitely not). Thankfully my 1 year old was not hospitalized as this is often the result of campylobacter infection. Campylobacter is a common pathogen in raw milk and I am pretty convinced his infection did come from the milk. I am so frustrated because I really do believe there are superior nutritional qualities to raw milk, not to mention the month before he got sick my 1 year old gained 1 1/2 pounds on the raw milk formula. But I am too concerned about the risk of infection to try raw milk again, as I feel like I got burned. I think maybe if I found a dairy that had a more sanitary milk collection area and did more testing for pathogens I might be willing to. But campylobacter isn’t necessarily from unsanitary conditions as it can be an infection in the teets of the cow and you could do everything in practically sterile manner and still get contaminated milk. So, I am not against it or for it, just want real answers regarding the foods and substances I put into the mouths of my beloved family. I would really love feedback from others who may have had similar circumstances.

By: tracie

tracie — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:46:54 +0000

Great article. We live in the Dairy State and, ironically, it’s illegal to buy/sell raw. We’ve been getting it under the radar but sadly both farms we purchase from have been ‘busted’ with the threat of shut down and full farm loss if they continue to sell to willing customers.

We are now doing organic pasteurized and already my immune system is down. I haven’t had the flu or a cold all winter…. until now. We stopped getting raw just under two weeks ago. The benefits of raw are amazing and the oppression from big agribusiness towards small, family run farms is a huge hurdle to get past. Support your local farm and vote for more farm bills to pass to keep raw safe and legal.

By: Marla

Marla — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:57:10 +0000

The WAPF and the realmilk website do not give the entire picture about the safety of raw milk. Here’s a few links for a different version of the safety story.

http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/07/20/raw-milk-2/

http://www.marlerblog.com/2009/10/articles/legal-cases/raw-milk-outbreaks-do-happen-despite-what-the-weston-a-price-foundation-and-the-complete-patient-aka-david-gumpert-say/#more

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:04:17 +0000

I’ve recently read that many people have difficulty even digesting grass fed raw milk when it comes from modern cows. You might be of a mind to find a source from a heritage breed, brown swiss, jersey, etc.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:51:37 +0000

Thanks for the post. It’s a good link to be able to forward to wary friends & relations. I discovered Nina Planck’s “Real Foods” and Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions” a few weeks ago and have been in the process of finding my local CSAs and completely reordering my kitchen. Going back to the most basic traditional foods including grassfed meat, poultry, raw whole dairy and sprouted grains makes so much sense to me. I have been on and off Weight Watchers for years (always gaining back lost weight) and it’s such a relief to be off low-fat and eating real, delicious foods again! I am lucky to live in CA and get my raw dairy from Organic Pastures. I *love* it and will never go back. It tastes so great and is so satisfying that one fruit/raw milk smoothie fills me up for hours. I am anticipating seeing great health benefits the longer I am on it.

By: Grain Girl

Grain Girl — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:28:41 +0000

I discovered your website yesterday and have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. You have excellent information and I love the look of the website. You’ve done a great job spelling out the raw milk issue. We are raw milk drinkers here — my family of 5 goes through 4 gallons a week — however it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption in our state. But it is NOT illegal to sell raw milk for your pets to drink, and it is NOT illegal to eat pet food. That is one way that many farmers get around the law here. Thought I would share that in case some of your readers wanted to look into it. The milk sold as pet food is supposed to be labeled as such. Everyone knows that people are drinking the raw milk. As you pointed out in your article, the legal restrictions in our country surrounding raw milk (and other natural foods) are really not about the welfare of the people. It is a very political move that is making certain groups of people very wealthy. The real results of these laws are not just harming the land and animals (through confinement operations) but they are keeping people from staying well. Anyway, cow shares are another great option and we are rejoicing in our state because just last week our legislature passed a law specifically legalizing them. It was already a constitional right, but now it is stated specifically without any loopholes. Farmers will be able to start up cow shares with much more confidence, without fear of harassment from police, and will no longer have to sell pet food.

Again, I’m loving your blog. Keep up the good work!

By: Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:20:57 +0000

I somehow missed this post when you did it, though someone told me you did it. Thanks for such a comprehensive post! This is a great resource for me to pass on to people who just need to get some of the facts about raw milk and it’s safety.

By: April

April — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:23:38 +0000

Hi! I’ve been doing alot of research on raw milk lately. Thanks for the helpful info! As to the safety – I read that the CDC reported an average of 5.2 outbreaks of illness from raw milk per year. 5 whole cases in one year! And this is what they’re basing their “Raw Milk is sooooo Bad For You” campaign on. Why isn’t there a war on peanuts right now?