Raw Dairy

Monday is day of my milk. I do not mean running to the local bank to buy a gallon of pasteurized, homogenized, low-fat milk to pour on my cereal in the morning. I pack my glass jars of 1 gallon and make a trip each week to a local dairy farm expense unpastuerized not homogenized and "full of good fats, raw milk. I made this week each for about 5 years now and I must say, at no time have I ever had a negative reaction from consumption of raw milk.

I know what you think ... "Really, how raw milk? I personally think that raw milk is safer and healthier to drink than pasteurized and homogenized milk that is on most grocery shelves. Although, please keep in mind, I chose to buy my milk from organic farmers principles that will satisfy certain criteria that I will share with you a few paragraphs.

I know what you might think ... "What about these deadly outbreaks of Salmonella and E. coli? Yes, there is the occaisional headlines that seem to appear on the tactics on the evening news describing the raw milk that miserable dirty to destroy you. Yet What I found could not be further from the truth.

First, let me say that milk in its raw state contains a wealth of natural enzymes, minerals and beneficial bacteria with important proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. When you buy milk on the grocery shelf, generally, the milk has been a sophisticated form of filtration and treatment (pastuerization and homogenization). The high temperatures resulting from these processes kill essential nutrients and quickly destroy the health properties associated with raw milk. In other words, the milk is nutritionally deficient.

You must ask yourself, "Is your milk cooking a really good body?"

After studying a lot of information on raw milk, I found a way to ensure that I mean the quality of milk is to know my farmer So I did! It is not uncommon for me to spend a few hours on the farm to talk with my friends and watching the new farmers. Through this experience I gained considerable knowledge, understanding and respect for the small dairy farmer local community ... Believe me, much more than I received from a health official government or corporate Croney. I say, the chances of an outbreak are much less and the nutritional benefits that I get from drinking raw milk much greater when the milk is from healthy animals that are raised and handled carefully and is driven mainly by organic food grass.

Here is this short list of criteria that I use when seeking a farmer who offers raw milk:

* Cleanliness - is the cleaning of equipment and cleanliness? The operator to take additional steps to ensure that things are well maintained?

* What are the cows being fed? I prefer the cow requires a diet consisting mainly of organic grass. Some farmers may incorporate small amounts of grain during the winter months when the cows may have a limited time on pasture. Absolutely no GMOs!

* The size of the herd - I prefer the small farmers. For 2-3 workers a herd of 35-40 cows is manageable. Beyond the potential to be mishandled is greater. I feel, large corporate dairies are too large to maintain the types of standards in health I insist.

* The average age of the cow? healthy cows can be milked to 12-15 years on average. On dairy farms large enterprises milks cows on average 3-4 years. Clearly something is wrong here.

* Bacteria account - the number of PI (pre-incubated) seems to be important for life and the taste of milk. In the state of California, the IP number is required to be under 15,000 per ml in order to sell raw milk. My farmer prefers to have less than 5000 per ml.

* Growth.