My experience with people fighting political battles is that their
inclination to resort to fear tactics increases as their fear about losing
grows.
The fact that the FDA and local health officials are becoming increasingly
shrill, and less respectful of the facts, suggests they are worrying about
losing control of this raw milk situation…and of the nutrition-health
debate in general. They see more people demanding raw milk, despite the
warnings, so they make their warnings more dire. In my distorted view, it
is actually hopeful.
So to those individuals presenting ever more compelling fact-based
arguments in support of raw milk’s overall safety, I suggest not awaiting
any equally logical counter arguments.
***
I am currently traveling in Southern France, in connection with the
opening of a small museum honoring a group of children, including my aunt,
who hid out in the area during the Holocust.
I thought there would be more Internet cafes than I am finding in the
rural areas,, so my postings will be intermittent.
I have been in this area, south of Toulouse, several times before in
recent years in connection with researching the book I co-authored (link
to www.ingejoseph.com), but I am especially struck by how easily I revert
to old eating habits here. The food is just so tasty. Coffee with hot
milk. The crusty breads. Pates. Animal intestines. Fried duck’s feet.
Anyway, had an interesting conversation with the owner of a small herb
shop in Tolouse before heading south. She said that gaining acceptance for
alternative therapies has been slower in France than the U.S., mainly
because France’s government-sponsored health system so effectively covers
people for conventional care. Alternative therapies are rarely covered, so
people have little inclination to experiment. But even in such an
atmosphere, she says, change is coming, as people experience the
frustrations of chronic illness and pharma side effects.
After reading the discussion here concerning the FDA’s (and state departments of agriculture) twisting and distortion of the facts concerning raw milk, I thought that it would be a good thing to create a website devoted to exposing those distortions, and that a wiki site, where everyone (with a few certain exceptions) has contributing and editing rights.
So, in that spirit, I’ve created a wiki , that I’m calling "Wikluminate", for all to contribute articles, comments and alerts to. For the details, please go to my Wikluminate Blog at: http://wikluminate.netcipia.net/xwiki/bin/view/Blog/Hello%21
Even better, they have a very profound respect for food and agriculture which seems to lead to a healthy diet and a longer and healthier life.They consume a lot of seasonal and local foods, and one could say that this is a form of alternative medicine.Hippocrates said "let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food" or words to that extent.
The FDA is telling us that as a population, we need to consume less processed food. They don’t put their money where their mouth is when it comes to milk, but the principle is exactly the same. Pasteurized, homogenized milk is dead and unhealthy.
Enjoy France! I envy you!
David, don’t sweat the fat. It’s good fat. It’s too much white French bread that you have to watch out for! 🙂 Unless you load lots of butter on it. My husband will be so jealous. We cannot get his favorite fermented French saucisson (dry salami) in the US because it is banned from import. Enjoy while you can!
If anyone has a quick answer to this I’d be grateful.
I have a refrigerator with many gallons of milk that people still need to pick up from yesterday’s drop off. A storm passed through and there was no power from 2:30 PM until 9 PM. The refrig was opened a number of times, with people picking up milk.
It was in the 80s outside and only slightly cooler during the afternoon and early evening. About 4-5 families still have milk in the refrig, and I have cream. The milk was still very cold around 4 PM.
Is the milk safe? What are some of the parameters of time and temp? I feel fine about making it into butter and yogurt, is it OK to drink?
Thanks in advance – feel free to e-mail me directly if you have an answer. ldfeldt(at)holisticwisdom.org
Was interested in David’s comment about budding interest in alternative medicine. A French friend was recently talking hopefully about this development.
For looks at French health care system, see http://candida-international.blogspot.com/2007/06/michael-moore-applauds-french-medical.html. This page also has links to articles by Chowka.
About the hybridization of CAM and medicine, I think we’ve seen some of that in the US. As I recall birthing centers in hospitals came first. (I wish I had gone to a real birthing center outside of a hospital.) Then after the 1997 study made headlines showing how many of us were paying out of pocket for alternative approaches to health (healthy food, food supplements, alternative treatments), Merck issued a manual providing guidance on herbs and supplements and hospitals began to open special CAM clinics. Our pediatrician began recommending vitamins and minerals–like One-a-Day (!). Someone told me that her physician recommended taking echinacea daily during the flu season as a "preventative." (Of course echinacea isn’t supposed to be used that way.) It soon seemed to me that the medical establishment’s sudden change of heart about alternatives had more to do with their market share and returning outsiders to the system. Sort of like Wal-Mart organics, Monsanto organics, Heinz, Dole, Horizon "organic" milk.
David: are you going to get to call on Jose Bove?
This is an extremely interesting exploration of the implications of universal health care, especially as it affects complementary and alternative care (CAM). Suggests that one of the goals of universal care is to lock out or bastardize CAM.
Check recent presentations by the FDA’s Von Eschenbach on the medicine of the future envisioned in the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative (nutrition equals pharma crops and a radically different definition of "personalized medicine").
Search "von eschenbach +critical path initiative"
Then same search "+criticize"
I e-mailed a bunch of people and told them I had free raw milk yogurt, it was gone within 24 hours. A couple found it a good nudge to consider adding raw milk to their lifestyle.
It is smoothie weather, and I’m happy.
Thanks for the private posts I got, everyone was reassuring.
But with vacation schedules and summer spaciness, I think I’ll be making a lot of cheese and yogurt this summer! People are not as good about picking up their milk and on day 6 I grab it and use it so it doesn’t go to waste!