So there I was, out in the middle of nowhere, driving home after picking up eggs from my local farmer the other day, when what should pull out in front of me but the huge milk tanker truck pictured to the right.
The interesting thing is that most folks wouldn’t think twice about the big fat lie plastered on the back of that milk tanker.
Is it possible for farm fresh milk to come out of a tanker truck? I don’t think so!
My dear uncle would turn over in his grave if he saw the message on that truck. You see, my Uncle Harry was a small dairy farmer from Frewsburg, New York just a few miles down the road from Chautauqua where my family spent the summer each year while I was growing up.
My first experience with fresh, raw milk was at my uncle’s farm where I would drive out as a teenager to visit on weekends. I would ride his palomino horse for hours all over the beautiful, rolling pastures and then come in for lunch or dinner.
There was always a big stainless steel pitcher of cold, raw milk on the dining room table during meals and my aunt and uncle would try and coax me to drink some. I was tentative about it as I’d been warned that “raw milk was dangerous” and not to drink any.
But, seeing his peaceful, healthy cows grazing in the pasture, I found that somehow hard to believe.
I never did try my uncle’s raw milk, but I truly wish I had. I’m sure it was delicious.
Now a veteran of raw milk drinking from numerous farms for over 10 years, I feel like I am somehow honoring my uncle’s legacy by supporting the small dairy farms in my community and spending my dairy dollars locally.
Sadly, like thousands of small dairy farms across America, my uncle’s farm is no more. It pains me to know that I can never take my children there to see it like it used to be.
But, I can help educate people about the wonders of raw milk from cows grazing on green grass and how this food is so very safe to consume – light years safer than factory treated, tanker truck milk headed to grocery store shelves around the country! Grassfed raw milk is life giving, nutrient dense, and exactly what children need to grow up sturdy and strong.
This seems a timely topic to write about given that my local farmer’s rye grass is coming in strong in the pastures right now and the raw butter is turning deep yellow as the cows transition off of the hay winter ration. My family’s favorite raw butter of the year!
One thing is for sure – there’s no way my kids will ever be drinking any phony fresh milk from a tanker truck in all its pasteurized, homogenized, antibiotic, steroid, and hormone laced, GMO glory.
No, my kids will be drinking clean, raw milk from a small farm such as what my aunt and uncle proudly owned.
And, it will be fresh from the cow, not phony “fresh” from a truck!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
i just purchased my first gallon of raw milk…they are delivering it thursday!
We’ve been drinking raw milk for a couple years and like it. However, the farmer that we now get it from (as of last year-because of location) apparently uses GMO grain to supplement the cows diets.
Is this common? How do I find out for sure if what other farms feed their cows? I don’t want GMO obviously. I would prefer any grain supplements to be free of soy and corn, too (especially soy).
Michelle–have you checked http://www.realmilk.com? They have listings of local and national sources of raw dairy and lots of other healthy products! That’s where I found my sources.
We drink raw milk and will never stop doing so. A year or so ago, my daughter and I were out and we wanted to stop and get something to drink. She ended up asking for milk and I told her I hated to buy her that stuff but I’d do so anyway. After one sip she told me it was awful and she couldn’t drink it. I gladly dropped it in the trash. Yuck. She said the taste was terrible…..and that was the “fresh” stuff.
I grew up in New Orleans and spent a few summers in Chautauqua too. Such a beautiful place and so peaceful. When we were there, I was allowed to go freely wherever I pleased. I still have the fondest memories of the place. My mother and I have discussed going back for a reunion with others who were there at the time. Thank you for such a lovely memory.
It’s hard to convince people of its safety when they’re sending me links like this: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46256448
🙁
Timely post having just returned from a week in Costa Rica where I was stuck giving my 19 month old nasty boxed, un-refrigerated “milk”. Had we been there longer I’m sure I could have found a source of the good stuff, but for now, the regular (we do buy organic) grocery store stuff sure is tasting good!
I don’t know how to get it out here. I would love to try raw milk.
ps…not sure i really want to know how old it is by the time the consumer gets it.
fresh is right out of one of my goats, or from the neighbors cow down the road, still warm when I put it in the fridge! 🙂
Also the milk man used to collect the vegetable wastes[ banana skin,skins of vegetables leaves,etc] from each house and used to feed the cows.Nothing went waste there.We hardly had any plastic or any thing to recycle.At the most it was news papers.We take bath from the water that is boiled in traditional huge heavy copper metal vessel.My skin and hair never felt better!I could go on!