Milk Freedom

This morning Claire and I headed to Wisconsin in support of real milk. I had been reading about the upcoming legislative hearing for weeks and really wanted to attend, but didn't think I'd be able to; at the last minute (8am) my schedule unexpectedly opened up and we were on the road by 9. The turnout at Chippewa Community College was great and by the time we arrived, about 15 minutes after it started, the auditorium was already packed and didn't even have standing room left. We didn't have to wait long before several classrooms were opened up for overflow where we watched the proceedings on tv. We met up with some friends who arrived shortly after we did, and I had the privilege of sitting between a farmer and an RN/health educator, both very knowledgeable and strong supporters of raw milk. This is our version of "the big game"...we spent almost 3 hours glued to the action, cheering at some points and rolling our eyes in disgust at others. "Seriously, you're going to compare the sale of raw milk to the sale of melamine-tainted baby formula?! Come on!"

One issue here is freedom of choice; if I want to drink unpasteurized milk, then I should be able to legally do so. It makes no sense that foods containing trans fats and other health-damaging toxins are legal to buy and consume, yet raw milk - which has proven health benefits - is such a problem. Raw milk is a living food with good bacteria (probiotics) and enzymes necessary for digestion. In milk from healthy, grass-fed cows, the good bacteria help to regulate the bad bacteria. The pasteurization process kills all of these benefits, rendering it a dead, nutrition-less food. My family of 2 adults and 1 toddler consumes 3 gallons of raw milk every week, and we have only seen our health improve in the 1.5 years we've been drinking it. And the same goes for the dozens of people we know who also favor unadulterated dairy. In fact, I know of more cases of food poisoning caused by pasteurized products than raw...when I was a kid in the '80s my mom became seriously ill and was hospitalized after eating Kemp's ice cream, thanks to an outbreak of Listeria. A quick Google search turns up numerous recent recalls for Kemp's ice cream alone. But that's not too surprising, considering where their milk and cream come from, and how it's handled. I won't get into the whole "cows weren't born to eat grain" argument right now, but the reality is that grain-fed cows are unhealthy and therefore produce unhealthy milk that justifies pasteurization (but still doesn't have health benefits). Milk from grass-fed cows is a completely different story, and should be treated as such.

Another issue is access - imposing strict regulations and requiring large amounts of paperwork is not going to change the safety. It is only going to hurt the small farmers - the very farmers we raw milk drinkers want to do business with. I love the fact that my farmers drink the raw milk their cows produce, too. They are a small operation committed to raising a healthy herd while improving the environment. I love the level of trust one is afforded when dealing directly with a farmer, as opposed to the national companies who see customers as nameless numbers. Who is going to strive for better quality, the farmer who knows the customers personally and invites them to the farm for a BBQ each summer, or the farmer who never sees customers but knows that his milk will be pasteurized?

I'm reminded of the recent peanut recall in 2009. I got a letter in the mail one day from Sam's Club, notifying me that a product I had purchased was included in this recall and they were offering me a full refund. I went in, confused, because I hadn't bought food from Sam's Club in over a year. "Which product was it?" I asked, thinking they must have me confused with another Nelson. "Let's see..." the employee scrolled through computer screen after computer screen until she located the offending product: Kashi granola bars that I had purchased just before I got pregnant with Claire. I think it was around January 2007. The same granola bars that I ate throughout my pregnancy. Lovely! Because of a negligent company who knowingly failed health inspections but chose to send products out anyways, my baby and I could have become seriously ill or died. And it took them nearly 2 years to trace the product to me to let me know! It's about accountability, and the large companies don't always have it. I put my trust in the farmers and producers I can meet face-to-face, and who have ways of contacting me within hours of detecting a problem, rather than 2 years later. Here's another great article about this issue.

These are some of the reasons it was so important for me to attend this hearing today. As a consumer I had to show my support for the small farmers who would be most affected by this bill. I'm so grateful that everything fell into place so I could go, and so thankful that Claire was content to tag along. She enjoyed the hour-plus drive to Eau Claire, loved the long walk from the student parking lot to the auditorium, and made lots of new friends throughout the day; all it took to keep her happy was some homemade granola, a notebook, a pen, and a baggie of crayons. Oh, and one of the hats pictured in this article. I should have gotten a picture of her wearing it!

Here's Claire in the walkway that ran over the busy street between the parking lot and auditorium - she's obsessed with tunnels, and loved how her voice echoed inside this one. She also loved the crowds of cool college kids, and was quite a hit with them, too :)