I absolutely love Nourishing Traditions. Not only has following the common-sense, scientifically-backed information helped make Precious Jewel and I more healthy, it's saved us a bit of money as well.
One of the ways that I have started saving us money is by buying local raw milk. It took some time, and some diligent work to find a reliable, "cheaper" source, but it is well worth it. I spread the word out to anyone I could that I was looking for raw milk for $5 or under per gallon, and it took about another year, but a friend finally found a source. Thankfully, the local farmer is selling it for $4/gallon, and a good pint and a half or so of cream comes off the top of every gallon. So, I purchase 2 1/2 gallons a week, and we no longer need to buy milk, cream, butter, sour cream, ice cream or cottage cheese from the store anymore. I already made my yogurt from home, but now it's super delicious and much more healthy. I might go up to 3 gallons to make cheese.
Ethically, I can't stand to buy milk from the store anymore, and am finding it harder in myself to buy any kind of dairy from the store (I am only buying cheese now). It's ethical for me, because cows that are raised in large farms meant solely for mass-milking cannot roam around and be cows. Because of space/time constraints, cows on large milking farms are trapped in pens that force them to wallow in their own manure all day long. Even with many companies "abandoning" the artificial growth hormone (rBST), many still feed their cows soy, alfalfa and other foods that increase milk supply. While cows and humans are indeed different, soy and alfalfa both have shown to have very negative effects on the human body. I can only imagine what it does to a cow. Studies are being done to show the effects, and I will be interested to see the results from a variety of sources.According to the Weston A. Price Foundation website, "Milk straight from the cow contains cream, which rises to the top. Homogenization is a process that breaks up the fat globules and evenly distributes them throughout the milk so that they do not rise. This process unnaturally increases the surface area of fat exposing it to air, in which oxidation occurs and increases the susceptibility to spoilage. Homogenization has been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis."
I find it ironic that the mass-milking farms first pasteurize the milk to counteract their unsanitary milking conditions, and then homogonize the milk, which causes the milk to spoil faster.
The benefits of raw milk are quite amazing.
When it comes to the fat content, it is far superior to not just the full-fat variety of milk at the store, but especially the lower fat milks.
Farmers feed their pigs low-fat milk... to fatten them up! Low-fat milk has been touted to keep weight down, when in fact, it induces weight-gain.(Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 2006.) To top that off, it's been linked to infertility (Clinical Nutrition, Jan. 2007). Wonder why we have staggering rates of primary and secondary infertility? I am sure it has been influenced by the pesticides we spray on our produce, the synthetic junk we push in our animals veins (and then eat), the chemicals we spray in our homes to clean them, etc. But low-fat milk has been linked to infertility.
Since I am no scientist, and I will fail to explain it all properly enough, I would love to send you over to Raw Milk Facts for a list of the health benefits from raw milk, including carbohydrates, viatmins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, cholesterol (it can be good, read that site!), beneficial bacteria, and of course, fat!
What started out this morning as one post has now spawned in my mind as a series of posts on healthy fat. Join me for part two, here in a few days. I want to go over some of the things I've learned about meat, mayonnaise, cooking oils, etc.
Don't be shy Google Readers- stop in at the blog and comment! I'd love to know who is passing through and who reads regularly.







