Real Milk

On April 26, 2008, agents of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture raided the farm of a peaceful Mennonite farmer and stole upwards of $50,000 worth of products and equipment.  What was the crime?  The farmer, a real folk hero, Mark Nolt, was selling his farm fresh milk to customers who wanted it.  Yes, that’s right, milk.  From January-April for the past four years, I, and several other young mothers, have spent countless hours working with the Maryland legislature to reinstate sales of fresh milk in my home state of Maryland where fresh milk is prohibited.  So what is it about this white stuff that has peaceful farmers risk getting raided and young mothers like me jumping into the political fray to fight for something?  Farm fresh milk from old-fashioned grassfed cows, like the milk Mark produces, is the most wholesome food a person can obtain.

Rich, delicious fresh milk is the perfect food.  Not only is it the best accompaniment to a meal, or perfect as a snack, but also the nutritional benefits of fresh milk are outstanding.  Choc full of bioavailable calcium, vitamin C, phosphorous, other vitamins and minerals, fresh milk offers the body probiotics and enzymes absent in most cooked foods.  It these living components of fresh milk that help the body build immunity.  Mothers watch in awe as their children, who suffered from chronic infections, asthma, eczema, or behavioral problems while drinking pasteurized milk, suddenly regain their health and vigor when they switch to fresh milk.  And, for all children, it is the ultimate in a quick meal.  Real milk—it’s how to eat well.

But, the benefits of fresh milk from a local farm where the cows graze do not end with the eating well.  These benefits extend to the environment and the local economies and communities.  When someone chooses to support a local grass-based dairy with a few cows, they are choosing to support a model of agriculture that honors and respects the natural cycle.  This has obvious positive implications for the eco-systems on which we all depend.  Furthermore, engaging in direct trade with a farmer means that they are receiving the entire cost of the product and earning that profit themselves rather than that going to a processor or large industry.  In turn, the community benefits from the wealth of the farmers.  This is an efficient economy based on solar input.  Knowing that how you choose to purchase milk can help to create vibrant health in your family while supporting an ecological farmer and economically stimulating small, rural communities, now that’s a great feeling.  Real milk—it’s how to live well.

So if fresh milk is great for us, for the environment and for local economies, why is it illegal in half the states and so hard to find in many of the other states?  There is really no easy answer to this rather ironic conundrum.  As I have discovered in MD and Mark Nolt discovered in PA, the status quo will go to great lengths to maintain their tight control of the food supply—especially fresh milk.  State and federal regulators argue that it is for safety that all milk must be pasteurized before consumption.  But clearly that can’t possibly be the real issue because it is perfectly legal—and in fact encouraged through advertising—for me to feed my four growing children fast food three meals a day.  I can also smoke or drink around them.  Not that I would of course, but it does give less credibility to the argument that pasteurizing milk is for “safety”.

The laws will change.  Availability of fresh milk will become ubiquitous.  Mark will keep selling fresh milk to customers who demand it, even at risk of another raid, while I, and hundreds of other moms across the country, continue to tromp through the halls of our legislature and demand the restoration of our right to feed our families as we choose.  And everyone has their own choice to make: fresh milk with all its accompanying health, environmental and economic benefits, or the pasteurized status quo.

Grass-fed meats

A few weeks ago a friend of mine approached me who recently recovered from cancer.  With her immune system shot and still very weak, she developed multiple systemic infections in her body including a horrendous fungal infection.  The new naturopath she goes to instructed her to eat plenty of grassfed beef for her recovery and for her immune system to regain strength.  Grassfed beef, as well as other pastured meats, offer greater nutrition and flavor than their confinement raised counterparts.  For example, pasture-based livestock roam outdoors absorbing sunlight and converting that sunlight into vitamin D in their bodies, which is then readily available to us in their meats.  Omega 3 fatty acids have received wide publicity lately for their role in fighting cancer.  They are also credited for being the “heart healthy” fat and helping reduce high blood pressure.  Not surprisingly, grassfed meats have much higher amount of omega 3s than other meats.

As I have journeyed into buying pastured meats for my family, I have wanted to learn as much as possible about what I am eating and why.  I’ve become somewhat infatuated with several farming publications.  My subscription to Stockman Grass Farmer teaches me all about the benefits to the land, animals and people, of pastured meats.  Not only is meat from animals on pasture healthier and more flavorful, it comes from animals that live a far greater life than those of animals in confinement.

Pastured meats are clean meats that are relatively low in toxins.  The grass that is the main ingredient in their diets generally does not get sprayed or fertilized with chemicals.  A bovine’s system is designed to graze and digest pasture grasses and legumes; chickens need grass in their diets; sheep graze; pigs, and goats, though not grazers, still thrive in an outdoor environment where they get the sunlight and space they need.  It is this harmony with nature that allows these animals to live well and provide us with the nutrition necessary to stay healthy, or as in the case of my friend, recover from disease.

As with buying milk from a small, local farm, buying meat the same way contributes identical benefits to the farmer, the surrounding communities and the environment.  Suddenly, choosing a grassfed steak becomes not only a scrumptious, healthy choice, but also a great earth-conscious choice and economic boon to the small producer’s community.  Eating well means a greater life for you, the farmer and animals.  Eat well to live well.