I work in the financial industry for a living and one of the things that we always watch for is for magazines and newspapers to put Stock market information on their covers. This is a sign that there is irrational exuberance in the markets, and we are probably going to go down soon.Time Magazine recently had an article about raw milk and I wonder what it means for raw milk consumers. Does it indicate that raw milk is now too popular and the government is going to crack down even more? Who knows. While I don't expect that most of us can learn anything from Time Magazine, it is still an interesting read if you are passionate about your right to drink raw milk, or if you are passionate that we need the FDA to limit raw milk consumption to protect us. Here are two quotes from the article.
Which side of the fence do you sit on. Should we be able to drink raw milk, or is it good that the FDA is there to watch over and protect us?
Michael
14 comments:
I support raw milk! No only is it healthy and delicious, I think the government is once again over-governing. Raw milk should be legal everywhere. The most that should happen is that a warning label should be applied to the container, making people aware of the potential dangers. Here's an article you might find interesting, I just read it a few days ago: http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/05/11/the-fda-vs-the-constitution/
It's absurd to say that raw milk is inherently dangerous. Mammals have been drinking raw milk since the beginning of time. What is dangerous is the fact that since the government has been involved in protecting us from these dangers and provided more and more processing, the numbers of sick people from the so-called healthy milk has gone up.
Also, here's an interesting observation. If it's so bad for us that we have to have all this processing which by the way removes all the natural enzymes, then why are there more and more companies producing those same enzymes as a supplement? ANSWER:Because our bodies need all those things from real milk that processing removes.
Most of my growing up years until I sped off to college, I drank milk straight from the cow. We skimmed cream off the top to put on our oatmeal in the morning. We churned butter from the extra cream. Never once in all those years did any family member encounter sickness due to the milk we were drinking. So from experience I would have to say that raw milk if handled properly will not make you sick. It's another case of big business influencing government to act on their behalf.
Have a great raw milk day.
My personal opinion is that there needs to be checks and balances and our food needs to be safe. BUT, that does not mean that the FDA needs to become a power hungry machine telling us what we can and can not consume.
While I disagree with outlawing the consumption of raw milk and outlawing the selling of it, I do agree with some type of set standard. Simular to the one that regulates organic products so that the consumer knows that what they are getting has come from inspected facilities, healthy animals, healthy surroundings and keeping the raw milk safe as in not spoiling or being contaminated.
IMO raw milk is not dangerous. What is dangerous is the unhealthy conditions cows (and other dairy animals) are living in. Raw milk from a healthy animal is perfectly safe. Once again the FDA is focusing on the wrong issue at hand.
As a food science major, I understand the worry, but really, if we were to outlaw everything potentially harmful, we wouldn't have fast food, alcohol, tobacco, sugar...
My feeling is educate on the why or why not, and let people decide for themselves. Raw milk kept people alive for many centuries before pasteurization.
As a farm Management specialist for the University of Maryland, I love going to work with dairy farmers Myron and Janet Martin whose milking parlor is pictured above. I sit down in their office and Janet brings me large mug and a half gallon pitcher of cold raw milk. It is wonderful.
Unfortunely, the Maryland Health Department threatened to revolk the Martin's dairy license if they continued to "give away raw milk for donations". I understand the logic of pasturized milk advocates. But I still believe it is a case of overregulation.
By the way. The FDA issues the pasturization protocol guidelines. The actual regulations are established by state health departments and they are different state by state. Licenced farms in Pennsylvanis can sell raw milk. Farms in Maryland can not.
Being a cheese maker it's a real pain, but on the up side it forces me to get know local "dairies" very well.
Raw milk kept people alive for thousands of years. People have been drinking raw milk for thousands of years. Yeah, and raw milk also killed people for thousands of years. The life expectancy now is a lot longer than even one hundred years ago and raw milk used to be one of the major causes of child death.
Cows poop near their udders and it only takes one mistake from the farmer for bacteria to get in the milk and grow. That's why barely anyone drinks raw milk, but more people get sick from it.
Anonymous
I don't know that it is a logical leap to say people used to drink a lot of raw milk, and people used to live shorter life spans, therefore raw milk was the reason that they lived shorter life spans. I think there might be other factors you haven't thought about that caused shorter life spans. Thousands of them.
Even if raw milk is dangerous ( which I don't believe) is it OK for the FDA to tell us not to drink it? I think consumers should have a choice. Why does the government let people have the freedom to use tobacco products which kill them, yet at the same time they want to protect us from the dangers of raw milk. I think this hypocrisy shows that their decisions are financial and not for our good.
I would love to be able to drink raw milk but here in California it is illegal to sell raw milk - most of the selling is done under the table per se. We only have an acre which isn't enough to support a milking cow and calf so for now, the closest we'll get to raw milk is goat's milk, but I've been told it just doesn't taste the same. I think the government needs to back out of this issue and leave it in the hands of the consumer. Raw milk is safe if you take the precautions to make sure the collection is sterile.
Blessings,
Michelle
I am a raw milk girl, we have been drinking it for a year now and I will never go back!
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