A glass of milk was one of the great pleasures of nearly all my childhood meals. Since I was "supposed" to have three glasses of milk a day anyway for good health, the fact that I actually enjoyed it (especially with cookies) was a bonus.
Over the years, though, I’ve gotten away from cow’s milk nearly entirely–until just a few days ago. I had become concerned about all the news about hormones and antibiotics that are part of most of the milk we buy, not to mention saturated fat, so I had gradually made a transition to soy milk for cereal and fruit shakes. But then I had an opportunity to purchase so-called "raw" milk–milk that hasn’t been either pasteurized or homogenized–at a farmers market in New Hampshire, so for $3 I took home a gallon.
I’d read about the supposed benefits of raw milk in various Internet postings, notably the presence of beneficial enzymes that are killed off in the pateurization process, and the absence of harmful processing inherent in pasteurization and homogenization. (Just go to Google and search "raw milk.")
Unfortunately, I’d read more recently the semi-hysterical mainsteam media, such as a major article in USAToday which boils down to this: you could easily become deathly ill from drinking raw milk…and if you want to risk endangering your family’s health…well, that’s your business…don’t say we didn’t warn you…
So when I poured out milk shakes for family members after dinner that I had made from the raw milk, I did it with trepidation. I wondered if we’d wake up in the middle of the night deathly ill…or even wake up at all!
Well, we all woke up the next morning feeling fine. I loved seeing how the cream had come to the top of the milk container and shaking it up to ready it for my cereal. Made me feel like it must have been like in old times. I even had the milk straight, and couldn’t help but notice how crisp and clean it tasted, none of the slightly "milky" taste or after-taste that was the main thing I disliked about milk as a kid.
In the meantime, the media’s assault on people’s growing desire to drink milk that is less processed and/or contaminated by hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides continues. At MSNBC, a writer argues that "research" doesn’t show added benefits from organic milk (which is pasteurized and homogenized). I love the little throwaway line near the end of the article: "Recent USDA reports show that nonorganic milk may contain low levels of certain pesticides, but these are far below established tolerance levels." Sure, just wait years for "the research" to show that "the established tolerance levels" were a bit optimistic. (Damn, I hate when that happens!)
I’m looking forward to getting back into the milk habit again.
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