Okay, I promised I’d give some more details, so here goes…

     First of all, if you are a man, an infant, or a post-menopausal woman, I don’t recommend consuming very many dairy products.  What?  (GIGANTIC GASP)  The idea that milk contains the vitamin D and calcium most people need in their diets is just, well, wrong.  You get most of your vitamin D from the sun, and most of your calcium from green, leafy vegetables. 

     Now that you are recovering from that shock, let me tell you why I suggest consuming dairy products for children and women of child bearing age.  There is NO easier way to get the necessary protein and fats required for growth and development than from raw, organic dairy products!  Healthy fats and proteins are ESSENTIAL for these groups!

     Dairy products (from cows) are a highly allergic food, so I don’t recommend exposing infants to these until necessary.  Infants should be breastfed if possible for at least the first year of their lives, and I’d go as far as to recommend closer to 2 years.  There are all kinds of resources for moms who are struggling to breastfeed including herbs that stimulate production, milk sharing organizations, and if necessary, goat milk based organic formulas.  Mothers who are expecting or nursing should consume lots of lacto-fermented raw, organic, full-fat dairy, as should children until they reach puberty.

     We happen to milk a few cows.  I realize everyone doesn’t have that resource, so here’s what we do and some suggestions if you can’t do what we do:

     We actually don’t drink that much raw milk.  Oh, we pour it on cereal and maybe have a glass with cookies now and then, but for the most part, we start by skimming the cream off the top to save for other uses like butter, ice cream, and making decadent sauces for potatoes and pasta.    We could just stir the cream in and drink it (It’s delicious, by the way), but then I couldn’t make butter, so…  Anyway, homogenized milk that you buy in the store doesn’t have cream to skim off–it’s mixed in so thoroughly that you (or your body) can’t separate the cream and your cells become “confused”.  Next, I make kefir.  Kefir is one of the oldest methods of lacto-fermenting dairy.  It’s also the easiest.  You just add your kefir grains to your milk and set it on the counter for 12-32 hours until it begins to thicken then refrigerate.  Kefir is like a runny yogurt.  It is teeming with healthy bacteria that help regulate digestion (think Activia TM) and strengthen the immune system.  Kefir also helps fight yeast.  We make delicious kefir smoothies a couple of times per week for quick breakfasts.  We also eat yogurt, cheese, and I cook with dairy products.  Cooking kills most of the beneficial bacteria (and the bad), but cooking with dairy still adds good fat and protein.  There is no way to be 100% sure that your dairy products are free from harmful bacteria, so twice a year I “clean” my kefir grains and yogurt starters by adding them to pasteurized milk.  I then discard the product, and add my starters to my raw, organic dairy again.  I try not to consume pasteurized dairy unless I can’t help it.  Please note that there is no way to be 100% sure that pasteurized dairy from the store is free from harmful bacteria either!  Okay, this sounds easy enough for me, but you are wondering what to do if you don’t have a doe-eyed Jersey out back with a bag full of creamy milk….

     First off, if you can find someone who milks a cow and has extra milk, go visit their farm.  Watch them milk, see what they feed their cow, ask what shots they give their dairy animal, and find out if they consume their own products.  If you are satisfied, find out the raw milk laws in your state.  You can find these by going to http://www.realmilk.com/milk-laws-1.html.  In North Dakota, for example, farmers are allowed to sell raw dairy products as pet food.  Now, if that farmer consumes his “pet food”, that tells me it’s some quality stuff!  Since the FDA is bent on prosecuting these hard working, honest individuals, most farmers will be hesitant to sell you raw dairy, but some may offer to give it to you.  FYI, even if they say they don’t want payment, please “gift” them $5-$6 per gallon (that’s the sale price for organic milk in the store) as they have worked hard to obtain a clean, healthy product.  It is also helpful if you bring containers to take your milk home with you.  You can reuse plastic milk jugs, but it is much easier to keep glass jugs clean.  Most health food store (including our office) can sell you gallon glass jugs for less than $10.  You can also obtain starter cultures for kefir, yogurt, cheese, etc. at health food stores.

     If you can’t obtain raw milk, you can purchase the organic, pasteurized, but NON-homogenized variety at some local grocery stores (Bessie’s Best and Horizon Organics are some good options).  You won’t have the beneficial bacteria in this milk, but you can culture it by making kefir, yogurt, etc.

     What if you can’t purchase organic, non-homogenized milk???  Well, eat plenty of complete proteins like beans, meat, etc., and get your healthy fats from avocados, coconut, fish, etc., and forgo the milk.  Yep, that’s right.  I don’t recommend consuming very many dairy products at all if you can’t get the REAL stuff!  Consuming homogenized non-organic dairy products will destroy your cells, mess up your hormones, and clog your arteries.  If you are interested in preserving your access to raw, organic dairy products you can learn more at http://rawmilk.org/.

     For Health,

     Summer Joy

    Well, I’ve held my tongue during the last few weeks with hopes that I could just let the latest FDA blunder pass.  Unfortunately, my poor husband has had to hear my “soapboxing” an unacceptable amount of times however, and so I am going to blog to you my dear readers and save this darling man anymore “sermons” :)! 

     Apparently, the FDA has decided that people should not consume raw milk products because they believe these products are dangerous for our health.  Therefore, this government department is trying to ferret out those individuals who are “illegally” distributing these items.  A few weeks ago, the FDA raided a PRIVATE buying club, and arrested three individuals with the charge of illegally selling raw milk.  Now, let me explain what a private buying club is.  Say you live in Los Angeles where covenants stipulate that you cannot raise a Jersey cow.  However, you’d like milk from a Jersey cow.  So, you approach a farmer and ask to buy 1/4 of his Jersey cow.  In addition, you will pay this farmer a certain amount to feed, care for, and milk your cow.  In exchange, you will get 1/4 of what your cow produces (milk and cream).  Sounds fair and practical, right?  By raiding this club, the FDA is, in a sense, telling you that you no longer have the right to use YOUR product the way YOU want to.  To be honest, I’m not sure what upsets me more, the fact that raw milk has been given a bad rap, that the scientific data has been skewed to reflect the opinion of the FDA, or the fact that this in encroaching on individual rights.  I mean really…what right does our government have to tell me what I can and can’t eat?!

     Consumption of dairy products in general is a controversial issue even among the “alternative” community.  I know several chiropractors and health care professionals that believe that people shouldn’t consume dairy products at all.  They have valid reasons for this: yes, humans are the only mammals that don’t wean their young, yes, dairy products promote the production of mucus, yes, dairy products can contain harmful bacteria.  On the other hand, I know several prominent health care professionals and midwives who promote the consumption of raw, organic dairy products.  They also have valid reasons for this: dairy products contain beneficial bacteria that can boost the immune system and promote healthy digestion, dairy products are a great source of protein and healthy fats, dairy products contain essential amino acids necessary for the production of cellular ATP (energy).

     Personally, I am a proponent of consuming raw, organic milk products.  I happen to have grown up on a dairy farm.  We milked about 60 cows twice a day and consumed milk from those cows.  We were a grade “A” dairy, meaning the FDA believed our milk was clean enough to drink.  We drank this milk in our house every day (and NEVER got sick from it!).  We had friends who ran a different grade of dairy.  Let’s just say their milk was not as clean as ours.  In fact, one day while helping at their dairy, we got a sense of this “grade” of milk.  One of the automatic milk machine lost suction and fell into a pile of cow dung.  At our dairy, this would be cause for “panic” mode.  Switches would be thrown, pipes disconnected, and sanitation would ensue.  Not so at this dairy.  “Don’t worry about it”, our friend casually said.  “We’re allowed so many somatic cells anyway.”  Gross.  (I never drank milk at their house.)  What this basically means is that the FDA allows a certain number of bacteria in the milk.  (They also allow a certain number of rat hairs in peanut butter, grasshoppers in noodles, etc.)  It’s okay with the FDA, because when milk is bottled, it is pasteurized, which is supposed to kill all the bad bacteria.  Interestingly enough, the milk from our dairy actually had LESS bacteria than the milk that was purchased at the store.  (What can I say, I LOVED doing science projects–thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with disgusting petri dishes full of bacteria around the house for MONTHS!)  Additionally, milk purchased at the store is homogenized (the fat molecules are forced through teeny, tiny little holes so that the fat cannot be separated from the whey–this also means your body cannot separate the fat from the protein!) and synthetic (poisonous) vitamins A and D2 (the type that builds up in your liver) are added. 

     The FDA contends that homogenized, pasturized, vitamin enriched milk is healthy for you because it kills the harmful bacteria.  Pasturization does kills some of the harmful bacteria and almost all of the good bacteria.  However, it is just silly to think that we can erradicate all of our exposure to bacteria.  Yes, common food borne bacteria such as lysteria, campylobactor, etc. are down from 100 years ago.  But antibiotic resistant strains like MRSA are getting to be a real problem.  There will ALWAYS be sickness including bacteria in our world.  That is reality.  Personally, I want to deal with bacteria that herbal remedies and antibiotics can take care of.  That means I’ll continue to consume lacto-fermented raw dairy products that come from a source I trust.

     Bottom line?  The FDA shouldn’t have a say in consumption of raw, organic milk!  The choice should be left to each individual!!

     In my next blog, I’ll tell you what I recommend for consumption of dairy, how we do it in our house, and how to purchase raw, organic dairy for your family. 

     For Health,

     Summer Joy

In my line of work, I often need to discuss changing one’s eating habits.  One of the more common hesitations I hear is that eating organic is too expensive.  However, as a rancher’s wife, I know the value of the work we do, and therefore, I have found this argument to be fairly invalid from my point of view.  Yet, this week I was once again faced with the realization that the general population values the quality of their food quite little.  You see, yesterday I helped my children set up a booth at our local farmers’ market.  It was definitely an eye-opening experience! 

My children have spent a significant amount of time planting,  weeding, watering, and harvesting in the garden with their grandpa.  Not to mention the money they have spent for non-GMO seed, marketing materials, and fuel for the trip to town.  I have taught my children that vegetables help build strong cells and fuel the brain.  Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy sugary treats at our house just like the next family, but we reserve them for “once in a while”.  Instead, I freely allow my children to gorge themselves on snow peas, cucumbers, and carrots straight from this garden.  They feel rewarded for their work.  You can imagine their surprise when people walked by their booth, passing up the chance at organic beets, cucumbers, and lettuce, but stopping to purchase pies and hot dogs.  I am glad that people were supportive of the farmers’ market vendors no matter what they sold, yet I realized that the same people that complain about the high price of organic cucumbers have no problem shelling out high prices for homemade cookie confections.  The kids did well.  They paid for their expenses and had a little left over for some books that they’ve been looking at.  They’re happy.  I’m a realist (or I guess a pessimist today) since I realized that after expenses they made about 10 cents per cucumber. 

It really boils down to what you are willing to invest in.  The reason you can buy produce in the grocery store much cheaper than at a farmers’ market is because large farming operations loose money on their crops.  It’s okay though, because the government steps in to “subsidize” these crops.  The operation is happy, the government is happy, the consumer is happy.  The problem is the small, family farm doesn’t qualify for these subsidies.  Farming is becoming more regulated, larger, and producing less variety and less nutritious food.  Our bodies are breaking down with diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancers.  Is the trade-off worth it?  I don’t think so.

I’m going to look at the brighter side.  I feel like my family gets a great deal in our organic food.  My children are fairly healthy and strong.  They have learned how to work hard and as a team.  They feel pride in being able to provide for our family.  We enjoy a family relationship around the supper table with lively conversation.  All in all we are getting a great “value” in our organic food!

I encourage you to invest in eating organic.  Notice how great your body feels when it is not polluted with pesticides and chemicals.  Find a local farmers’ market or better yet, find a small family farm that raises animals and produce with careful attention to healthy practices.  Our new little farmers’ market here in our home town is trying their best and doing a great job to educate the public on locally produced goods.  Now is the time to make the change.  In some countries people have been known to stand in line all day just for a loaf of bread!  Protect the future food supply in our country.  What are you willing to invest in?  Our broken health care system?  The stock market?  Your health?  Your life?  Just a little “food for thought”.

For Health,

Summer Joy