Raw Milk...yeah its the bomb.

When an innocent consumer walks into a grocery store and buys pasteurized and homogenized milk, little do they know that they are in fact buying a harmful and toxic liquid. The common belief among milk-drinkers appears to be that milk creates healthy, amazing, and vital individuals having strong teeth and bones. They are drawn to its “wholesome creaminess” because they do not know better. They are tricked by the mainstream society into thinking the drink they call milk is a normal and amazing dietary component. They think that milk “does a body good” and they are encouraged to make sure they “got milk”. There happens to be a lot of information that is unknown to most people buying and drinking milk from a regular grocery store. The tragedy is how little, if anything, is known about raw milk.

Raw milk is uncooked, unhomogenized, and practically straight from the cow. The milk is so healthy and pure. I feel like it was designed for us to drink. The best raw milk comes from colored dairy cows. Common breeds of dairy cows that produce this milk are the Jersey, Guernsey, and Brown Swiss cows. The quality, taste and texture of the milk depends largely on what the cow eats. Cows that are allowed to graze and eat grass freely, which is what they should be allowed to do are said to have the purest, richest, and healthiest milk of all. For example, they have higher omega-3 acidss in their milk. Quality of milk also depends a lot on how the cow is treated and how often it is milked. A natural cow who is not supplemented with hormones will produce about 3-5 gallons of milk per day. This is an appropriate and adequate amount of milk per day. Animals that are given hormones to give more milk produce at least 7-10 gallons of milk per day. The animals are crowded into barns, stressed, and are forced to give more milk. They must wait to be milked and they become engorged and infections occur. They don’t live as long as their natural counterparts. This treatment is just cruel. This does not happen with cows naturally raised and milked appropriately.

People have been drinking raw milk for thousands of years. Sadly, the percentage of raw milk produced in the United States is less than one percent and is only consumed by a fair few compared to times before pasteurization where it was 100% raw.

There happens to be a lot of misnomers about raw milk which is why people don’t realize how miraculous it is. A lot of people think that raw milk is unclean and filled with e-coli and bacteria. Also, it has been said that raw milk could carry tuberculosis and other fatal diseases. Some people believe that it spoils very quickly and becomes sour or rotten. Other people think it filled with harmful fats and cholesterol making it a very fatty and unhealthy drink.

The truth is raw milk has built- in antibodies that keep the milk fresh and clean, and that kill unwanted bacteria that do make us sick. Raw milk does have bacteria. It is filled with good bacteria. The milk is filled with probiotics that are vital to our bodies’ digestive function. Also, when the good bacteria are killed in pasteurization, they become puss which is then left in the milk and drunk by millions of people every day. In the rumor that raw milk carries tuberculosis, tuberculosis and other diseases are not made in milk. They can only be found in milk where the infection came in close contact with someone infected. This could be said about any raw meat, vegetables and eggs. Raw milk can’t really go bad if kept clean. If one left raw milk on the counter for three days you could safely drink it because it ages into curds and whey. After saying that, if you left pasteurized milk out for the same amount of time, it would be rancid and rotten and full of pus. All of the antibodies and probiotics were cooked out, leaving nothing protecting the milk from growing rotten. In contradiction to the milk being fatty rumor, raw milk has fat but the fat is very different. The fat globules in milk change when it is cooked making them smaller and stickier thus sticking to arteries and making milk seem fatty. Whereas raw milk’s fat is easily digested by the human body instead of being stored and built up. Another horrifying truth about pasteurized milk is the fact that after cooking all vitamins and minerals out of raw milk such as vitamins D, A, B, B-12, C, and many more they put fake chemicals in the milk to allow the seller to be able to advertise that there is in fact vitamin D in the milk even though it’s been proven that there is not very much vitamin D found in any milk. Actually, raw milk has a great abundance of vitamin C which is almost not evident after pasteurization.

Aside from the unhealthiness of the milk found in stores there other pluses to drinking raw milk such as its astonishing health benefits. Raw milk lowers cholesterol and decreases blood pressure. Raw milk is also know to help people with diabetes, because the protein in the milk helps to burn sugar. This, in turn, helps a diabetic control their sugar levels in a more natural way. Raw milk is said to be an immunity booster as well, just because of the abundance of vitamin C. As a Raw milk drinker for the last five years, I can honestly say I get sick less because of it. A huge health benefit of raw milk is how it helps people who have allergies. The milk helps with allergies because when grazing, the cows intake a lot of particles, such as ragweed and pollen, and create an immunity for the drinker of their milk. Raw milk, because of natural acids found in the beverage, is also proven to help fight and prevent cancer and disease. In some cases, the drinking of raw milk has helped to ease side effects of chemo therapy.

Having and drinking raw milk supports local farmers and businesses. I personally believe in this, because I have talked to farmers and their customers who appreciate that they can be provided with a product of their choosing. There is also the opportunity to use the cream for creamer, butter, cheese and making homemade yogurt, all of which with my family has experimented.

So, then, why are most people so misinformed you might ask. There are a couple reasons why people don’t know about raw milk. The first reason is perhaps because in many states in the United States it is illegal to sell or distribute raw milk. This leads me to the second and quite ridiculous reason, “The Man”. The bigger dairy producers and large businesses do not like raw milk producer because they see them as a threat. The large dairy cooperatives hire milk lobbyists to sway and manipulate legislators who have control in legalizing or not legalizing raw milk. The dairy companies basically pay political figures to wipe out the small raw milk farmers because they feel afraid. What if these farmers affect the prices that have been set? What if they change things for us that might cost us more? The milk lobby actually contributes money to the political campaign for political figures to get elected. In return, they expect support from those candidates for their agendas to go forward. This means agendas like price fixing, and stamping out any threats to the big milk producers well-being, including raw milk providers. All I can say is whatever happy to the free market system? Well, when it comes to milk, the free market system is practically non-existent.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has gone so far as to pose as a regular customer in order to poke around and try to find any reason to close local raw milk dairies. I am astonished to think that people’s rights can be violated so much by big government. I think it’s ridiculous that someone can come to your business and poke through your stuff and try to put you out of business.

How is it that tobacco and alcohol, things that actually harm you body, can be sold legally, but milk cannot be sold legally everywhere in this country. According to the FDA, it is illegal to transport milk across state lines. It is almost treated like an illegal drug, like cocaine or marijuana. Every week, Amish farmers sneak their illegal substance across the Pennsylvania border to grateful customers in Maryland who have to say that they are in possession of raw milk for the benefit of their pets only. Otherwise, they can be arrested. It is illegal for them to even possess it if they are going to drink it themselves. Honestly, I think that seems unfair to both the farmer and the consumer.

I feel like I am really lucky to live in Pennsylvania where it is still legal to buy and consume raw milk. I think the public should take advantage of this privilege. It is a privileged much overlooked. I feel that raw milk does a lot more than I could ever say in this paper. Next to human breast milk, it is the most nutrient-rich and complete food available. If anyone were to ask me why I drink raw milk, I would honestly tell them it is healthier, more natural and it tastes good. I value raw milk and I consider it a gift.