You Can Feel Good About Hood: Or Can You?

From an early age, people are instilled with the idea that milk does a body good; however, what has come to be known as "milk" today is actually an industrial byproduct called swill.

For centuries people drank "raw" milk (milk that has not undergone pasteurization) and experienced beneficial results. The indigenous African tribe, the Masai, for example, consume about a quart of raw milk each day and have an incredible low incidence of tooth decay due to living bacteria that thrive by not pasteurizing the milk. Raw milk aids in digestion and implements a healthy functioning immune system. Currently, the FDA issues public health warnings against drinking raw milk and is pushing legislation to make it illegal. So why the raw milk scare?

During the industrial revolution, large amounts of grain were processed resulting in a slop byproduct that was too costly to dispense of. The slop was then force fed to large scale dairy cows at an enormous economic profit. Cow's digestive systems are built on the basis of an all grass diet; thus when fed slop, the cows lost their hair, nails, teeth and their milk lacked prior nutrients such as calcium and appeared blue. To counter act the discoloration, chalk was added in order to look "milkier." Inasmuch, this cheaper method of making milk rose the infant mortality rate by 50% in the mid 1900's due to diarrhea and tuberculosis directly correlating back to the malnourished cow's "milk." The FDA turned to pasteurization, proven to kill bovine TB, as a scape goat letting swill prevail.

Pasteurization does kill the bacteria; however, the dead pathogens remain in the milk and eventually decay. A somatic cell count measures the white blood and mammary tissue cells that determine a cow's health. A healthy cow will produce about 50,000 to 100,000 somatic cells per ml. Cell counts above 300,000 signify an infection of the udder, linked to the pathogen Listeria. Cell counts of over 750,000 per ml. are allowed by the FDA and are then pasturized. "In the past 20 years, the FDA has recorded well over 200,000 cases of salmonella, hundreads of E. Coli infections, and most recently, Listeria, traced to pasteurized milk."

Buisnesses such as Kraft and JELL-O are strong lobbyists in Washington and can not affored to convert large scale dairy farms into sustainable raw milk farms. Human health should not suffer at the hands of economic profit. Raw milk contains high levels of beneficial bacteria and enzymes, omega 3s and 6s, and conjugated linoleic acid with antioxident properties. It also regulates cholesterol, increases calcium and protein absorbtion and helps heal arthritus and allergies including lactose intolerance.

As consumers, it is our duty to demand raw milk on the shelves in every grocery store. Although a bit more costly (raw milk goes for $5 a gallon and "swill milk" costs about $1.60) you definately get what you pay for.

More information and a complete list of raw milk producers in the state are available at: www.nofamass.org/programs/organicdairy/rawmilk.php.

Edible: Pioneer Valley, Fall 2008. Premier Issue. "The Real Dirt: Putting Big Dairy Out to Pasture." By: Max Breiteneicher.

Rachael Carlevale (1) Group A