Raids are increasing on farms and private food-supply clubs (pump, business, system)
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The real story is there is no real regulatory body for raw milk which, when done correctly and with grass fed cows, can be as safe as pasteurized. When pasteurization was initiated there was no means of testing the milk for harmful pathogens. What invariably happens is we allow other things to slip while we become dependent on some rescue technology. This is where irradiation is headed. I would not recommend anyone drink raw milk from over bred, grain fed dairy cows. Pasteurization is now built into the pipe line. So we essentially favor the factory farm.
Now there are pros and cons but I suspect raw milk is just as inherently safe as long as some measure is taken to insure the milk is safe; pasteurization is just one of those means. Even pasteurized foods can become contaminated. I suspect raw milk will be more expensive given the simplicity of heat treatment.
However on a personal note, it is annoying to me since hard cheeses insure against any issue with raw milk. Now I suppose one could buy a tomato plant and eat it to get solanine poisoning or, better yet, buy digitalis for a salad.
I certainly do appreciate heat treatment in its place. Perhaps other people need big brother; but being a big boy myself, I manage reasonable risk everyday.
So can a batch raw milk either be verified to be safe at a price point? It seems yes , if we applied the same standard to any other food including spinach. It seems that infected people anyway. Cooked spinach would be safer.
------over bred grain fed dairy cows-----
??????????????
At least I got my laugh for today reading that.
I couldn't figure out what that means.
Perhaps you could tell me what page of a book of anti dairy farming you read that on.
Perhaps you could tell me what page of a book of anti dairy farming you read that on.
Cornell University did a study on the affects of grain feeding cattle and the increased risk of pathenogenic strains of e.coli. The whole study is boring, but here is their news release: Cattle feeding change could cut E. coli risk
I am not anti-beef or anti-dairy by any means... what I am "anti" about is industrial practices that feed animals inappropriate diets, in unhygienic conditions, with the addition of prophylactic antibiotics and growth hormones in order to increase production and raise their profit margin... because these practices increase the health risk to the animals and anyone eating their products, especially in a widely distributed system like the US food system.
While the intent behind the current regulations is honorable, they are ineffective. If they were effective, we would not have disease recalls that continue to spread across species. How could a beef contamination get spread to tomatoes and spinach if effective safety measures were in place and properly enforced?
No food is entirely safe. Not from the supermarket or our own backyards. While governmental regulations could help maintain a safer distributed food supply, the onus should be on the consumer to know where their food comes from, how it was grown, and how to handle/store/prepare it to ensure their own safety. To this end, I fully agree with and endorse appropriate labeling and non-propagandized education.
Propaganda: "Drinking raw milk will make you sick and kill you. Milk is teeming with bacteria and the only way to make it safe to pasteurize and irradiate it."
Why is this propaganda?
1) It speaks in absolutes
2) It invokes irrational fear not reasonable concern
3) It is only partially accurate
a) raw milk is teeming with bacteria, but not all of them are dangerous, most are benign, and some are even beneficial
b) only raw milk from sick animals or handled/stored inappropriately pose a risk
c) pasteurization and irradiation are not the *only* ways to make milk safe... maintaining healthy animals, proper sanitation and hygiene, and proper handling/storage/preparation can also make milk safe
A non-propagandized label would read something like this:
"This product contains raw milk [fact]. Consuming raw milk products may [not an absolute] increase your risk of foodbourne illness and death [fact]. Safe handling reduces this risk [not an absolute, fact], follow the safe-handling instructions for this product [puts the onus on the consumer]."
No doubt it would be safer to cook spinach. I was on a spinach chain gang once; but after I cleaned up highway 54 in orange, I made sure I got my raw spinach license.
No doubt it would be safer to cook spinach. I was on a spinach chain gang once; but after I cleaned up highway 54 in orange, I made sure I got my raw spinach license.
haha - whatever happened to the conventional wisdom of "wash your produce before you eat it"? Especially spinach, lord, you could chip a tooth on the sand alone
Even though the "raw spinach license" was tongue-in-cheek... it could happen. Farmer's Markets have a hard enough time staying afloat, can you imagine what would happen if every producer was required to meticulously wash and test every leaf and root just so the consumer wouldn't have to take any reasonable precautions themselves? Oy Vay?! I believe in supporting local farmer, and I still wash everything before I eat it (even from my own garden!). It's amazing what a little soap (plain soap - not detergent or chlorine or ammonia) and water can do for you!
I couldn't figure out what that means.
Perhaps you could tell me what page of a book of anti dairy farming you read that on.
Looks like you are used to a certain smell. Its probably accompanied by a euphoria that accompanies people prone to make utterly useless posts.
Cows are ruminates not meant to eat grain . You knew that didn''t you? Its why we juice them up on antibiotics because grain changes the PH in their digestive track, constantly sicking them and making lots of E-coli. But you knew that didn't you?
SARA is a disorder of ruminal fermentation that is characterized by extended periods of depressed ruminal pH below 5.5-5.6. Ruminal fluid pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of ruminal contents. A lower pH means higher acidity. For optimum ruminal fermentation and fibre digestion, ruminal pH should lie between 6.0 and 6.4, although, even in healthy cows, ruminal pH will fluctuate below this level for short periods during the day. This drop in ruminal pH is a result of the breakdown of dietary carbohydrates (e.g. starch), particularly from cereal grains such as corn and barley.
When we breed animals for a factory, we push the limits. But you knew that didn't you? Dairy cattle are bred for milk production without considering anything else.
If she has not walked as much as usual she may have an udder infection or be suffering from lameness - a condition to which cows bred for intensive dairy production are prone - and the computer will then filter her out for possible antibiotic treatment.
So it looks likes over breeding and diet is pretty well covered doesn't it?
How could a dairy farmer stay in business shooting his cows with antibiotics
Every time a processor picks up milk from a dairy farm, a sample is taken and checked for antibiotics. There is zero tolerance for any antibiotics detected in milk.
Any cow treated with antibiotic, the dairy farmer must with hold that milk from that cow for a minimum of 8 milkings.
How could you stay in business when you can't sell milk from treated cows?
I doubt any of you posting have a clue. Believe every myth they hear.
Got any more myths you want me to bust?
--corn--
Corn has been fed to dairy cows long before I was born( 1945)
OK - corn (and many other grains) are actually evolved species of grass. Feeding ruminants reasonable amounts of these specialized grasses will not cause the detriments that we see when they are fed only these specialized grasses. Feeding an animal corn or barley as a supplement to their pasture grass or hay is probably not going to cause a Ph imbalance; hoever, feeding them only grains (or even primarily grains) can and does... this has been researched and reported by many independent studies, and even some from pro-industrial groups (i.e. Cornell University, which is heavily funded by the Beef and Dairy Council). Some ruminants do well eating a portion of legumous pasture or hay (alfalfa, for instance) and it is recommended for situations where high protein is necessary (pregnant/lactating females, for instance); but this does NOT mean that it is healthy or appropriate for them to be feed soy meal (which is not the leafy part that is normally eaten on pasture) and only soy meal. Feeding 100% legumous pasture/hay (the leafy part) isn't even recommended in any livestock management source I've been able to find.
Again, we have the half-truth propaganda machine working on both sides of this argument. Both sides are not telling you the entire truth and are fearing mongering with their absolutisms.
The plain, simple fact is that ruminants are biologically designed to primarily eat plain stemmed grasses, legume forages, and forbs... which includes the occasional ingestion of the seed-headed grasses we call grains.
In appropriate percentages and frequencies, grains are not dangerous feedstock and ensure the animals get proper levels of protein... but twiddling the recipe so that we get higher production at the expense of the animals' health is not appropriate.
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