When most people think about the rise of pasteurized milk in America, they tend to think of people getting sick and dying from raw milk in such numbers that a rapid transition to the “safety” of processed milk occurred out of the sheer necessity of preserving the public health.
This is simply not so.
As you can see in the picture above of an old time ice cream wagon taken by my friend Cynthia at the Florida State Fair last week, there was a time in American history when raw milk and pasteurized milk coexisted in peace.
If people wanted raw milk, they could easily obtain it. If they preferred pasteurized, that was available too.
This period was from about 1890 – 1940, a full fifty years of a raw milk/pasteurized milk truce!
There was no rapid and desperate movement to pasteurize except in the major cities where filthy, confinement dairies with sick cows fed distillery waste were producing a tainted, bluish milk that was making children very ill.
Pasteurization as a whole in America was a very slow process that gradually gained momentum beginning in about 1910. Led by businessman Nathan Strauss who, along with his powerful ally Abraham Jacobi MD, President of the American Medical Association, convinced states and municipalities across America and even Europe to adopt regulations requiring pasteurization of all milk that wasn’t “certified” raw milk to preserve the health of those living in the crowded cities where quality raw milk was not easily obtained.
As described by Dr. Ron Schmid, author of The Untold Story of Milk:
For Straus and those officials who backed him, pasteurization was a matter of economics and practicality. Most recognized that certified raw milk was safe and healthy, but it was expensive to produce and sold for two to four times the cost of ordinary milk. As a practical matter, the enforcement of strict rules of hygiene on the 40,000 independent dairy farms that supplied milk to New York City was impossible. Pasteurization was seen as a quick, technological fix that would make New York’s [dirty confinement] milk safe to drink.
By 1940, the uneasy truce that had existed between certified raw milk and pasteurized milk had ended. All out war on raw milk had been declared.
The powerful voices that had begun to call for compulsory pasteurization of all milk in 1912 had finally succeeded in their mission. Access to even certified raw milk began to disappear and by the 1950’s, most people could no longer obtain it not because certified raw milk wasn’t safe, but because it was the path of least resistance for government regulators and the most profitable step for an emerging and powerful corporate Dairy Industry.
With the Dairy Industry celebrating 100 years of pasteurization this year, it is important to note that raw milk consumption in America is once again on a rapid upswing after decades of repression with over 3% of the population in 2007 regularly consuming it. The health benefits of raw milk from cows grazing on green grass has caught on with people from all income levels and walks of life with a glass of raw milk a powerful symbol representing the fundamental right to choose the nutrient dense, unprocessed, local foods of one’s choice.
Stay tuned. The “raw” ice cream man may yet again be seen in neighborhoods across North America!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: The Untold Story of Milk, Dr. Ron Schmid
I used to drink raw milk all the time when I lived in PA. Now I’m in GA and the idiots say it’s not safe to drink and it’s outlawed. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB ! My son was born with the strongest little body and pretty round head anyone ever saw so he obviously benefited from my drinking raw milk.
The lawmakers are living in the “dark ages” when milk DID carry germs but this is NOW… WAKE UP PEOPLE … it’s healthier for you.
Becca
I’m in GA as well. You can still get raw milk – it just has to be labeled ‘for pets’. Silly, I know…
Milk is denatured by homogenization. Homogenized cow’s milk transforms healthy butterfat into microscopic spheres of fat containing oxidase (XO) which is one of the most poweful digestive enzymes there is. The spheres are small enough to pass intact right through the stomach and intestine walls without first being digested. Thus this extremely powerful protein knife, XO, floats throughout the body in the blood and lymph systems. When XO breaks free of its fat envelope, it attacks whatever vessel it is in. This creates a wound. The wound triggers the arrival of patching plaster to seal off that wound. The patching plaster is cholesterol. Hardening the arteries, heart disease, chest pain, heart attack is the result. Excerpt from the Journal Atherosclerosis / Healing With Whole Foods Third Edition Paul Pritchford pg 19. This makes me think twice about consuming Ultra Pasturized Dairy. No Thanks !!!
i am very fortunate to be living in the country, were Raw milk is still available. I do not take that for granted, as I know someday I may not be able to obtain the best milk nature has to offer, if the Gov . has anything to say about it. sooo very sad! Until then I will make my trips to the dairy, feeling very Blessed, and Thankful. Supporting my local Dairy as much as possible! Idrive 30Mi. one way, and would go even farther!)
Very True! Read more in Dr. Ron Schmid’s book : The Untold Story of Milk. He describes it all in history. History is a great teacher if we just ‘listen’ (or read it).
My friend bought a cow for milk, and cannot sell it to me for fear of breaking the law. So he has to give it to me for my dog. ( my dog gets none) lame way to regulate your country. Raw milk is way better for you. We need bugs in our body’s to be healthy. Gives our system something to do, if not your body will fight its self to death for some thing to do. Think about it.
love those last few sentences 🙂
Haha I agree that was very well put! May have to use that one day!
It’s such a strange battle – who cares what kind of milk someone else drinks anyway? I’ll never understand it.
And Australia too 🙁
many things exist peacefully until the government or FDA gets involved…its a shame
Yep and raw milk also STILL co-exists peacefully in MANY other countries in the world, where the maximum profit of Big Industry is NOT paramount and is controlling & monopolizing (and trying to completely strangle) the competition!
In countries like Italy and others, farm-fresh raw milk is even SAFELY sold in VENDING MACHINES!
LOVE this post! Totally sharing!!!! 🙂
While I grew up in Germany over 50 years ago we always got our raw milk [straight from the cow into the milk can provided by my mom] from our neighbours. Best milk EVER!!! my grandma made butter or as a rare summer treat REAL Vanilla Ice Creme from the creme. Nothing better in the whole wide world!!! Then the ‘government’ got involved, trying to ‘protect us’ = no more raw milk sale allowed and we had to switch to ultra pasturized [tetra packs], shelf stable milk. Was not the same anymore!! Same thing happened to our WATER. We had a clear mountain spring with the best water behind the house, coming down the hill, municpality put water pipes in and we HAD TO BUY THEIR WATER, ours was only allowed to water the gardens. Oh well, there ‘went the WELL’. WHO wants to trade in fresh, icey cold water, straight from the hill with chlorinated tap water you have to PAY for??? CRAZY & STUPID!!!