by Barbara Kessler
Your Green Path

Raw milk has enjoyed growing consumer attention in recent years as people have learned that it retains nutrients better than commercial milk that has undergone high-heat pasteurization.

Industrial milk producers, however, have fought this trend, painting raw milk as risky or no better nutritionally. This has led to what the Organic Consumers Association and others call the “milk wars”, in which state legislatures have been asked to either tighten or relax the laws regulating the sale of raw milk. The OCA supports raw milk producers and retailers, calling access to this natural farm product “a right” that should not be fairly regulated for safety, but not overly regulated to squash competition.

At least 10 states concur and allow the sale of raw milk at farmers markets and other venues; 15 more states allow sales at the farm. Advocates defend the sale of raw milk as supporting the consumer’s right to choose, as well as local economies, because raw milk is typically sold by small, family-owned dairies. (Last year’s battleground was in Massachusetts, where the state tried to shutdown milk buying “clubs” that bought raw milk at the farm and distributed it to members. This year the battle is moving to Minnesota, where three state legislators want to open up raw milk sales, but big industry and state regulators have said this would be too dangerous.)

Ramy Jisha, who with her husband Kent Jisha, owns Texas Daily Harvest, an organic dairy in North Texas, says her family is committed to selling organic milk produced by Jersey cows that are mainly pasture fed because it is healthier for humans and better for the cows.

Like other raw milk producers in Texas, the Jishas are not allowed to sell raw milk at farmer’s markets because state law forbids it. But legislation is in the works to change that and broaden market access to raw milk. The Jishas do sell raw milk at their farm northeast of Dallas, and they sell low-temperature pasteurized milk at market, which meets state requirements but has not been as highly heated the conventional milk sold in groceries.

In our video, Ramy Jisha explains how mass milk production came to rely on high heat pasteurization, and how the Jishas’ milk, though produced differently, is safe and rich. (A bonus: Raw milk forms cream at the top, so buyers get milk and a cup or so of heavy cream in each gallon. If you grew up on a farm, this will be no surprise.)

Ramy points out that raw milk has had a strong niche following for years, noting that the Weston A. Price Foundation has been advocating for more naturally produced and less processed milk for decades. The Foundation encourages the consumption of raw, whole milk from cows properly fed a grass or pastured diet. They are careful to warn that this wholesome milk comes from clean, responsible farms that feed and treat their animals properly. Low-fat or raw milk produced by “conventional” dairies cannot substitute for this sort of milk because without the butterfat, it loses the qualities that protect it from bacteria. The Price Foundation’s advice: Know your farmer.

That said, raw milk has many advocates among the slow food and local food movements.

Texas’ Farmers and Ranchers Freedom Alliance (FARFA), for instance, supports the expansion of consumer access to raw milk in the belief that raw milk is healthier and can sustain rural economies and the smaller farms that sell raw milk.

Here are some  points about the health benefits of raw milk collected by the Weston A. Price Foundation.(You can see the original sources at their webpage.)

• BENEFITS IN HUMAN STUDIES: In early studies involving humans, raw milk was shown to be superior to pasteurized in protecting against infection, rickets, and TB; and children receiving raw milk had better growth than those receiving pasteurized milk.

• BENEFITS IN ANIMAL STUDIES: In an early animal study, animals fed raw milk had better growth, less anemia, fewer signs of anxiety and stress, and fewer signs of nutrient deficiency than animals fed pasteurized milk.

• ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES: Several recent studies in Europe have found that drinking “farm” (raw) milk protects against asthma and allergies.

• RAW HUMAN MILK: Infants and premature babies on pasteurized human milk did not gain weight as quickly as those fed raw human milk; problems were attributed to pasteurization’s destruction of lipase.10 In another study, neonates given raw human milk had a markedly lower incidence of infection than those who received pasteurized human milk and formula.

• LACTOSE INTOLERANCE: In a survey of milk drinkers in the state of Michigan, over 80% of those advised by a healthcare professional that they were lactose intolerant were able to consume raw milk without problem.

• POSITIVE TESTIMONIALS: There are hundreds of testimonials involving reversal of failure to thrive in infants; allergies, asthma and behavior problems in children; and digestive disorders, arthritis, osteoporosis and even cancer in adults.

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