The Milk Papers, Part 1

What Is Real Milk?

By Nina Planck

Not very long ago, raw or unpasteurized milk was the standard fare in every farm kitchen. Raw milk was a way of curing all manner of ailments from arthritis to obesity to eczema.

Today, commercial distribution of milk makes pasteurization a necessity. The milk of many dairies is mixed together, which poses risks of contamination. Milk travels long distances, which jostles its delicate fats and makes it more apt to spoil. Pasteurization is a practical solution to both problems. It can kill pathogens such as salmonella that may have tainted milk; it also extends its shelf life from one week to two or three.

Routine pasteurization means that most Americans have never enjoyed a glass of fresh raw milk straight from the fridge. That’s a shame. Even though pasteurization is standard in the milk industry, many people prefer to drink raw milk for its superior flavor and nutrition. Raw milk enthusiasts will go to some trouble to find a supply of certified raw milk from a herd of healthy cows raised by a conscientious dairy farmer and bottled in a sparkling clean creamery. I am one of them.

When I was growing up on a vegetable farm in Virginia, I milked our Jersey cow, Mabel. We drank our own fresh whole raw milk every day. How little I appreciated Mabel’s ability to make rich milk from nothing more than a small patch of green grass! Now that I live in New York City, I begin to grasp the luxury of having more fresh milk than we could drink.

Every couple of weeks, I schlep across town to collect raw milk, cream, butter, yogurt, whey, creme fraiche, and fine dairy foods from farmers who raise their cows the old fashioned way: on grass.

The milk is fresh and sweet. The cream is even sweeter and-there is no other word for it-ineffably creamy. The yogurt is smooth, rich, and dense, better than any I have tasted. Perhaps that is because it is made from rich Jersey milk (5-6% fat) and heated to just 100 degrees Fahrenheit-no higher than the temperature inside a cow.

REAL MILK IS GOOD FOR YOU

As the dentists (and the dairy board) never tire of repeating, milk is good for you. It contains complete proteins (and the right balance of amino acids), healthy fats (both saturated and unsaturated), and many essential vitamins and minerals, including B12 (essential for vegetarians), phosphorous, and calcium. The calcium in dairy foods may aid weight loss through its effects on hormones and fat storage. Designed as it was for the exclusive nourishment of babies, milk is a complete food and nearly perfect.

But all milk is not created equal. There is a big difference between the milk from modern factory farms and the milk we drank 10,000 years ago when we first began to corral and milk wild ruminants-or even the milk most Americans drank only 50 years ago, when farmers, like my great aunt Esther in Milford, Illinois, kept a cow. Traditional milk is grass-fed, raw, and unhomogenized. Industrial milk is grain-fed, pasteurized, and homogenized. Real milk is better for you than the industrial kind, and its superior flavor is unmistakable.

Traditional milk comes from cows fed chiefly or-ideally-exclusively on grass and hay. Industrial milk comes from cows fed an unnatural diet of corn, grain, and soy beans. Compared to grain-fed milk, grass-fed dairy foods contain more omega-3 fats, more vitamin A, and more beta carotene and other antioxidants. Grass-fed dairy foods contain conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated, omega-6 fat which fights cancer and prevents heart disease. CLA disappears when dairy cows are fed grain. Industrial milk comes from cows treated with the genetically engineered hormone rBGH. Such milk contains high levels of the naturally occurring growth hormone IGF-1, which is linked to breast cancer. IGF-1 is identical in cows and humans.

Traditional milk is raw. Industrial milk is pasteurized, a form of sterilization that kills the living organisms in milk, both beneficial and pathogenic. The most gentle form of pasteurization-preferred by dairy farmers and cheese makers for whom quality is paramount-heats the milk to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Standard pasteurization heats the milk to 161 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds. Ultra-pasteurized milk is held under pressure at 280 degrees Fahrenheit for two seconds. Milk labeled UHT-for ultra high temperature-is ultra-pasteurized and then packaged in aseptic boxes sterilized with hydrogen peroxide. UHT milk lasts for months without chilling.

Traditional milk is unhomogenized. In real milk, the cream separates from the milk and rises to the top. Homogenization forces the fat particles through a fine mesh, breaking them into particles too tiny to separate. The cream never rises. Homogenization is entirely unnecessary and ruinous for flavor and texture. It breaks up the delicate fats in milk, producing off flavors and causing it to sour more quickly.

If you would like to learn more about raw milk:
www.realmilk.com
Weston Price Foundation - NYC chapter
Weston Price Foundation - national site
Keeping a Family Cow by Joann Grohman
The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid

NINA PLANCK is a food writer in New York City. This excerpt is from REAL FOOD: WHAT TO EAT AND WHY, by Nina Planck. For more, see www.NinaPlanck.com.