In defence of whole, raw milk - a real food.

[Tibblington]

I am old enough to remember when milk was almost universally acknowledged as an essential food especially for growing children. At that time childhood obesity was extremely rare. One pint a day for each child was recommended and considered so important that schools issued free milk to all school children in special third of a pint bottles. When taken raw, milk from grass fed cows is the best source of calcium for bones and teeth and moreover, the natural fluorine in milk offers much more protection for the teeth than fluorine in water where it cannot be absorbed by the body. Pasteurizing milk spoils it completely as it kills off the beneficial bacteria as well as many of the vitamins and disorganizes the mineral values so that there is little actual food value left. 20% of the iodine is destroyed and the major part of the calcium contained in raw milk is made insoluble by pasteurisation. In fact, pasteurized milk is just a product made from milk. . . it is no longer milk; it is designed for shelf life.

The modern dairy factory processes milk to such an extent that it is barely recognisable as the healthy food it once was when it left the cow. Saturated fats as in milk are essential for babies and young people for proper development of the brain.

[Backtobasics95]

I agree

[Zest]

Hi Tibblington ,

I enjoy drinking milk, but I don't know where people can access 'raw' milk? I live in Guernsey, and I've seen Hidden talking about having 'raw Guernsey milk' - but the milk in our shops here is all pasteurised... So not sure where to find that 'raw' milk...

I thought the reason people have 'pasteurised' milk was for safety reasons? Surely they might become ill if they drank 'raw' milk?

Just wanted to ask what you think about that, as I'd like to learn more about it.

Zest

[Tibblington in reply to Zest]

Hello Zest. I'm glad to hear of your liking for milk.

Simply go to your local dairy farmer and make an arrangement with him on the amount you will require, agree a price and when you'd like to collect it. In Europe it is legal to buy your raw milk from the producer/farmer. Raw milk keeps well for eight days in a fridge at 3°C.

To make it easy for your supplier I suggest that you give him 1 litre glass bottles which you have steralised in your diswasher as we do. A double lot means that you can leave him clean ones each time you collect your supply.

Raw milk is NOT dangerous, people are more likely to become ill drinking the supermarket rubbish which has probably been homogenised too. Animal hygene is maintained at such a high level now that there are no risks in fact the bacteria in raw milk protects it; it is killed by pasteurising. We have been drinking raw milk for 30 years! You can look on the Internet to see any dairy farmers supplying raw milk; Guernsey of all places produces high quality milk; you'll notice the difference in the flavour especially fresh and cold.

You can bet your life that the farmer's wife doesn't go to the supermarket for her milk!

My picture is of a Tarataise cow originally from the French Alps that produces milk of a similar quality to the Guernsey cow. Our farmer is organic and doesn't agree with de-horning of his cattle.

I hope that I have helped. Tibbly

[Zest in reply to Tibblington]

Hi Tibbly,

Many thanks for your detailed reply - it's very helpful. I'd certainly like to taste some raw milk to see what it's like, so I will try to see if I can do that sometime.

The photo of those Tarataise cows is lovely - they look like beautiful animals.

Zest

[Zest]

Thank you very much, Hidden , I will look forward to looking at those links tomorrow.

[grace111]

my boy friend says this about the milk too and the cheese. we sometimes go to the farmers market where we can get the cheese and butter from Grass fed cows. He says that the milk is no longer milk and he has stopped taking it. iv heard of people being able to get milk from a farm.

[Tibblington]

Good morning Grace111, You have the right sort of boy friend as he obviously knows what's good for you. The fact that cows are grass fed is important. I've seen the hay that our chap's cows eat in the winter and it smells so sweet.

Yes, it's perfectly legal to collect your milk from the farm. You can make an arrangement about collection times and take your own bottles. We use glass bottles as they can go through the dish-washer. Our farmer is usually in our Saturday market but if he is not going to be there he warns me and then I go to the farm.