raw milk

[DaveB]

Raw milk and raw milk cheeses would present no health problem until the large commercial producers got hold of them. These are the people who made rare hamburgers and Steak Tartare history!

[Jock]

Dave Bowers states my point more succinctly than I did. Thank you.

Jock

[Kimmie]

by Isa: A few years ago our federal government decided to protect us from the danger of cheeses made with raw milk. There was such an uproar from the population they had to change their mind.

Sad but true. I'm also a big defender of raw milk, and I miss Steak Tartare!

[Jock]

Where have you been Kimmie? Haven't heard from you in a while.



Jock

[kuan]

I voted yes on this. But I don't think it should be sold to the general public. All the warnings in the world won't do us any good. There are still going to be people out there who don't have a clue. Look at how many people still smoke! Besides, when was the last time your parents told you not to do something and you went ahead and did it anyway knowing full well it wasn't the right thing to do?

Kuan

[Live_to_cook]

If my grocery can sell me 167 kinds of tobacco, which will kill me, and raw chicken, which might make me ill, and fish filets already turning putrid in the case ... you know, I'd like a chance at raw milk, properly labeled.

My guess is that the milk industry has cost-benefit analysed this product out of the line-up. (One dead baby lawsuit would wipe out X years of profits from such items.)

Just another reason to get to know your local farmers. "Pssst ... hey buddy ... how 'bout some of that milk? ..."

[Pete]

Growing up, living in Vermont, we had a neighbor up the road who owned a couple of Jersey cows. They would sell the milk to people in the village. You just walked into their basement, from out side, dropped a$1.50 into the jar, returned your old gallon jug and grabbed a new one. We did this for years, drinking the milk and using the cream for butter. Not once was that milk the cause of an illness, that I know of. Just like any product, raw milk would need to be handled safely, but isn't that the case with pasturized also? I am also of the belief that raw milk, with all its minimal traces of bacteria, etc. is actually healthier for people in the long run. The less we mess with things, the better off we will be, for the most part (Kraft Mac & Cheese and Velvetta notwithstanding!).

[cape chef]

With out going into to much detail, You cannot compare the flavor of pasturized foods to raw. When you eat a Tomme, Brie or robluchon as examples from the mountians of Savoie..you will never eat anothe pasturized cheese. It was said that untill the giants of the food world get there greety hands on these products we should be ok is a fairly accurate statement. Also our immunity to raw products is something to consider to. With that said i say allowing people to consume raw dairy should be considered "how" I don't know. But how many of us scramble for the best illegal caviars to eat? Plenty. If you develope a repoire with a chees house or dairy farmer you may be suprized at what you can get your hands on
cc

[Live_to_cook]

In rural upstate New York, that was where we got our milk too: the local farm. A buck and you could use the big tin dipper to bring it out of the stainless steel vat that collected it from the milking system until the milk tanker came. The dairymen probably broke a few rules to do it, but it was the best.

For several years after we lost our supply, my brothers and sisters could not enjoy commercial milk at all. Washed-out, greyish, bitter. When I found out that the cream that always rose to the top of our milk (the top 4 inches in a glass gallon jug), which we used to make whipped cream and butter, was skimmed off most commercial milk, I was shocked. My thoughts turned to all the boys and girls out there who were getting ripped off.