I’ve never been a huge fan of milk, even when I was a kid. The taste just never got me to say, “WANT NOW PLEASE.” But lately, I’ve been reading so much about the health benefits of raw milk, including its medicinal applications with eczema, I decided to buy some. So of course I’ll need to make some chocolate chip cookies tonight, for my health. We’ll see how it goes.
I also made a salad for dinner tonight with CSA veggies and homemade caesar dressing with a raw egg. Both of these things have lead my doctor friend to believe that I will die tonight.
An excerpt of our text conversation:
Me: [sends her picture] If I die tonight as I’m sure you think I will, tell Sallie Mae I said “suck it!”
Her: Is it pasteurized?? If not, DON’T drink it!!!
Me: Not buying into your corporate-sponsored lies!
Her: It’s not lies! It’s science! You will surely perish!
Me: People have been drinking raw milk for THOUSANDS of years. Why shouldn’t I trust that?
Her: And THEY DIED!!!!!!!
Me: Everyone dies. It only started killing people when cows were taken off their natural diet of grass and fed bullshit corn.
Her: No ma’am. Incorrect. People died long before that. In the old country.
Me: You know Europeans didn’t bathe!
I told her that she could have my vanilla cinnamon drop biscuit and coconut milk pancakes recipes. Because I am giver.
Footsteps On Concrete 
I’m with the doc. Raw milk is dangerous, and while the odds of getting a bug certainly increase with the poor practices maintained in milk production today, the real reason I would caution against it is because of the proximity of the udders to the cows…anus. There is a definite cross contamination risk there, and if you look at recent statistics (because I swear I have) regarding illnesses relating to milk consumption, the vast majority occur among those who consume raw milk (not numbers wise, but according to the amount of people getting sick vs the number of people consuming each type of milk). Unless you know the farmer personally and firsthand and can truly vouch for his/her meticulous handeling of the milk, you really and truly are taking a big risk by assuming that this other corporation – the one you bought your raw milk from today – is taking the extremely stringent precautions necessary in order to ensure there is zero cross contamination. As far as the raw eggs are concerned, unfortunately it’s really another misconception that the only reason the “corporate” eggs are unsafe today is because of the current egg farming practices. The bacteria that infects the egg is actually present and naturally occurring within the chicken’s tract where the egg is produced. Salmonella can certainly spread other ways, but it’s simply untrue that there isn’t a risk just because you got your eggs from a clean source. The bacteria is inside the egg itself, not on the outside, so just know that the risk is still present for salmonella. I know none of this is going to change your opinions, I just realized a few months ago that both of those facts, about the milk and especially about the eggs, were not widely known. Even I was surprised to find out that eggs could be contaminated regardless of where they come from. Just please don’t feed raw milk or raw eggs to any kids or old people.
I have had food poisoning 4 times, including one time that required hospitalization, so food safety is very important to me. This is the farm I bought from:
http://www.organicpastures.com
And this is their rating on a 3rd party consumer advocacy site:
http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/FarmID_79.html
I feel comfortable buying from them because their level of transparency is so high. I would never treat buying raw milk as I would buying pasteurized. That goes for the eggs as well. I only felt comfortable with eating it raw because I bought it at farmers’ market and spoke with the farmer. I would only eat a raw egg from a chicken that had not been given antibiotics in order to reduce running into an antibiotic-resistant strain (in the event that it was contaminated).
I understand the concern, but I don’t see it as being any riskier than eating sushi.
My western medicine response to my eczema has been, “Here’s how you deal with the symptoms.” I think that there has to be something better. I’d rather as Hippocrates said, “Let food be [my] medicine, [my] medicine shall be [my] food.” 🙂
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2007/01/19/raw_milk/index.html
i’ve eaten a hundred raw eggs and i’m still alive. better for it.
Amen.