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The government would never allow mass production of raw milk to be re-introduced into groceries because it is the government's job to protect its citizens. Raw milk can be dangerous, period. I know many farmers personally and absolutely none of them would drink raw milk regularly today; the point being, raw milk is not widely accepted as being safe by the farming community - and that should say something. Caveat Emptor is the guiding philosophy driving the legality of buying raw milk directly from a farmer. If you buy it, bring it home to your family, and your entire family comes down with a roaring case of Salmonellosis, Listeriosis, E. coli infections, Campylobacteriosis or Yersiniosis then it's your own damn fault.
According to a University of Washington piece, in 1938, 25% of all food-borne illnesses were caused by unpasteurized milk. Today it is only 1%. Every year since 2005 there has been at least 10 _outbreaks_ caused by raw milk or raw milk cheese products.
The difference in taste between raw and your typical store-bought pasteurized milk can easily be explained. First, pasteurized raw milk has about 40 I.U. of Vitamin D per 100 grams added to it. Raw milk has no Vitamin D. If you don't think Vitamin D has a flavor, then get yourself a 40 I.U. tablet of D and chew it. Vitamin D affects the taste of milk. Bummer? Yes. Necessary for the health of the general sun-fearing public? Absolutely. Furthermore, there is about 2 grams of Vitamin C in a serving of raw milk for every 100 grams. Only 1 gram of Vitamin C is found in pasteurized milk. Vitamin C also has a flavor. Summary? Pasteurized milk is influenced by added Vitamin D and reduced Vitamin C.
Let's be practical. Even in the best managed dairy barn there WILL be tainted milk from time to time. It's just impossible to avoid. Farming is not an exact science because people are involved. Yes, there are perhaps some modest health benefits lost with pasteurized milk, although there is no empirical evidence supporting these claims, despite volumes of academic research. And anyway, raw milk is pretty damn high in fat, something that the average American needs like they need another hole in the head (you know who you are). If you're going to drink milk it would certainly make more sense to stick with lowfat (1%) or skim (0%) milk.
The amount of propaganda online about the pros and cons of raw milk is staggering. Google it and you'll find countless pages of claims as to the health benefits of raw milk. I was almost once convinced myself. But after a while the texts stopped passing the smell test for me. So I did this sort of search on google;
site:.edu "raw milk"
You'll then get information on raw milk from academic web sites ONLY. It's amazing, the contrast in content and consensus. Heck, do the same search with just "raw milk" and from the unfiltered results you just might gather that every time you drank a glass of pasteurized milk, a kitten died
This is all of course just my opinion. I'm not arguing against allowing folks to buy raw milk from farmers. I'm all for it. I just get a little defensive when established science gets tossed out the window in favor of the latest health fad "du jour".
Here are some recent news reports for your perusal:
The government would never allow mass production of raw milk to be re-introduced into groceries because it is the government's job to protect its citizens. Raw milk can be dangerous, period. I know many farmers personally and absolutely none of them would drink raw milk regularly today; the point being, raw milk is not widely accepted as being safe by the farming community - and that should say something. Caveat Emptor is the guiding philosophy driving the legality of buying raw milk directly from a farmer. If you buy it, bring it home to your family, and your entire family comes down with a roaring case of Salmonellosis, Listeriosis, E. coli infections, Campylobacteriosis or Yersiniosis then it's your own damn fault.
According to a University of Washington piece, in 1938, 25% of all food-borne illnesses were caused by unpasteurized milk. Today it is only 1%. Every year since 2005 there has been at least 10 _outbreaks_ caused by raw milk or raw milk cheese products.
The difference in taste between raw and your typical store-bought pasteurized milk can easily be explained. First, pasteurized raw milk has about 40 I.U. of Vitamin D per 100 grams added to it. Raw milk has no Vitamin D. If you don't think Vitamin D has a flavor, then get yourself a 40 I.U. tablet of D and chew it. Vitamin D affects the taste of milk. Bummer? Yes. Necessary for the health of the general sun-fearing public? Absolutely. Furthermore, there is about 2 grams of Vitamin C in a serving of raw milk for every 100 grams. Only 1 gram of Vitamin C is found in pasteurized milk. Vitamin C also has a flavor. Summary? Pasteurized milk is influenced by added Vitamin D and reduced Vitamin C.
Let's be practical. Even in the best managed dairy barn there WILL be tainted milk from time to time. It's just impossible to avoid. Farming is not an exact science because people are involved. Yes, there are perhaps some modest health benefits lost with pasteurized milk, although there is no empirical evidence supporting these claims, despite volumes of academic research. And anyway, raw milk is pretty damn high in fat, something that the average American needs like they need another hole in the head (you know who you are). If you're going to drink milk it would certainly make more sense to stick with lowfat (1%) or skim (0%) milk.
The amount of propaganda online about the pros and cons of raw milk is staggering. Google it and you'll find countless pages of claims as to the health benefits of raw milk. I was almost once convinced myself. But after a while the texts stopped passing the smell test for me. So I did this sort of search on google;
site:.edu "raw milk"
You'll then get information on raw milk from academic web sites ONLY. It's amazing, the contrast in content and consensus. Heck, do the same search with just "raw milk" and from the unfiltered results you just might gather that every time you drank a glass of pasteurized milk, a kitten died
This is all of course just my opinion. I'm not arguing against allowing folks to buy raw milk from farmers. I'm all for it. I just get a little defensive when established science gets tossed out the window in favor of the latest health fad "du jour".
Here are some recent news reports for your perusal:
Gotta be safer than eating spinach, hamburger, tomatoes and lots of other veggies sold in the store. Studies didn't help with those problems as we heard about them on the national news and on the front pages of every newspaper.
Raw milk is not for everyone but looking at it from your perspective I think there would be alot of things we shouldn't eat, but we do.
The main reason the Vermont dairy farmers went to the legislature was to increase the amount of raw milk they could sell because there was more demand than they were allowed to sell.
I don't see where you feel like science was thrown out the window. Your underestimating the knowledge of milk science that folks who buy it have. At least here in Vermont.
Your point that it will never be a big mainstream thing is a good one. The dairy farmers aren't interested in that, they are the true experts when it comes to everything, including the science, about dairying IMHO. They just want to sell some more raw milk to help pay the bills so they can continue to farm.
I have never heard of anyone getting sick in Vermont from drinking raw milk. I'll check with the Vermont Dept of Ag and see if there has been any problems. You have peeked my interest.
I know several dairy farming families in Vermont (some with 700+ head) and none of them would drink raw milk regularly. Of course this is anecdotal evidence, but the idea that dairy farmers in general consider raw milk safe is patently false. It is a controversial issue. Being a former Vermonter, I get the "At least here in Vermont" sentiment, but I don't agree with it. I lived for 7 years on a 1,000 acre Vermont family farm that boarded 500+ dairy heifers. My father in-law is a former VT commissioner of agriculture. That certainly doesn't make me an expert (I'm not!) but I'm not just a carpet bagger from Virginia trying to rain on everyone's parade.
If 300 out of 360,000,000 people get sick from spinach, our news media creates a fire storm of fear. I think that's unreasonable. It is also not true that vegetable and fruit produce is less safe than raw milk. Let's look at some figures.
According to the CDC, it is estimated that there are 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths related to foodborne diseases each year. If everyone were to drink raw milk and consume raw milk products, products that in 1938 were responsible for 25% of all foodborne illnesses, then one hypothesis is that there would be an additional 110,000 hospitalizations and 1,600 deaths annually. One might argue that dairy farms are cleaner now then they were back in 1938. Not much evidence of that, but in any event the reality is that Americans drank MUCH less milk back then. Before refrigeration, milk went bad in a matter of hours. Your jug of milk delivered in the A.M. would have had to have been used right away for baking or breakfast.
Raw milk isn't necessarily higher in fat that regular store bought milk. Holsteins, the black and white cows that produce the most milk and therefore are the choice cow for many commercial dairies run just slightly over 3% butterfat. Jersey cows will be higher with closer to 5% butterfat but they also produce the least of the commercial dairy breeds so many farmers will pass them over unless they are selling to a cheese or ice cream maker. (Jersey milk also tends to be yellow tinged due to the higher BF).
I also know a handful of dairy farmers personally and not one of them goes out and buys a gallon of milk from the store or bothers to pasteurize it at home.
I drink raw milk every day from our own herd of animals and have never been sick from it. Our dogs also get it and the only thing that has made them sick was the melamine that tainted their commercially prepared dog food.
I do not know the source but someone has been posting raw milk for sale on the Vermont Craigslist. They have been posting under the farm and garden section.
And last, I had asked but the OP did not respond... you don't need raw milk if all you want is milk thats cream rises to the top. You can get non-homogenized milk at Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier so I am assuming other coops will have it as well.
I would be curious to know what family farm in Vermont has 700+ cows. That sounds like a commercial operation.
As I mentioned in another thread even in the 70's the milk came out of the barn cold, people were aware of refrigeration and how milk needed to be refrigerated.
We had electricity back then too.
In Bridport (and Cornwall, and Whiting, and Shoreham, and woo boy that's alot of land!) you've got the Quesnels, no? Easily in the 700 range on just Lorenzo Jr's place and last I heard he bought another farm on Rt 30 in Whiting. Then over in Weybridge you've got Monument Farms, aren't they up to about 500 milking cows? Then you've got the Hinsdales up in Charlotte? Isn't there one outside of Vergennes that's close to 1,000? Some are getting out of the business though, particularly those close to Middlebury. I think the Nopp Bros have their 1,000+ acre spread for sale, and there are a few 300+ acre dairies on the block.
Vermont defines a Large Farm as close to 700 head and I think there are about 25 such farms currently. I think Addison County has a good handful of LFOs. All dairy farms are commercial operations irregardless of the size of your herd. And if you want to keep family farming alive a family farm almost always has to grow. For example, one farmer may have 4 children, 2 of which may want to stay and farm. Well, now you've got to grow in order to afford two more salaries, build new homesteads, on top of providing some sort of retirement, etc. According to the VT milk commission, over 4% of Vermont dairies are between 500 and 999 cows. But those large farms produce over 50% of Vermont's milk! I think alot of smaller operations produce milk for other specialty products, perhaps because you really can't make any kind of living on 100 cows producing milk for liquid consumption. That's something like $30K a year in net profit to pay yourself and also make capital improvements! A new barn for 100 head might cost $100,000. Yeah, not gonna happen. Alot of those small milk dairies are just one bad year away from folding up.
I hope everyone knows I was just chiming in about the raw milk because I have safety concerns. I don't want people to think I've got an axe to grind with people who drink raw milk!
Gotcha but personally the defination of a family farm for me is one family, one farm. I know the numbers are going down but there still seems to be enough to get fresh eggs, milk and then there's all the fresh veggies from the farm at all the many farmer's markets around the state.
Making money as a dairy farm is hard even with the current good prices/lb they currently get for milk, so I understand family farms have to grow to survive. Having a farmer buy another farm instead of some huge corp is a positive thing.
Farming is a business. Farmers buying more farms is expanding business. What is the size threshold wherein family farms become evil corporations? I don't get it small is poor, not just for the farmer but for everyone.
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