Two events led us to try raw dairy: First, I read Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, which I refer to often and which had a profound impact on me during an especially difficult season, facing infertility. Second, my little sister sent a PETA social media post on International Women’s Day that said “supporting women means opposing systems that harm mothers,” referencing this article. She thought this was ridiculous and shared it for a laugh, but it prompted a very dangerous rabbit hole for me. I watched a short 2019 documentary (beware, very sad) of animal rights investigator Erin Wing’s undercover experience at a Southern California concentrated animal facility (CAF). I soon shared the disgust and anger clear in the PETA article and social media post. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of similarly exposed “farms,” and I had no interest in supporting or consuming anything from such dire and cruel conditions. I was further upset reading about ag-gag laws, which make this whack-a-mole method of shame & change much less practical.

We went vegan for a few weeks, which quickly became unsustainable, cooking two dinners after a full-time workday. Thinking back to Nourishing Traditions, I decided to try raw dairy, which is repeatedly recommended throughout the book. We quickly learned this was not going to be an inexpensive solution. I went to a local grocer (Major Market in Escondido) and picked out a bottle of Claravale cream top milk, from Panoche, CA. It was delicious and we both loved it. (Actually, they sell jersey heifers and I’m planning to buy one someday!) Eventually we moved, and I haven’t found Claravale at my new grocery stores so I buy Raw Farm and Alexandre Farm milks (Alexandre is my new favorite and is vat pasteurized, but is not homogenized). My main motivation for buying raw milk wasn’t for the live bacteria and enzymes we’ve all heard about (I cook most of our milk into yogurt, oatmeal, bechamel, etc anyways). It was for the higher rigor and cleanliness required for producing it, and the lack of homogenization–all of these boxes are checked by Alexandre milk.

“The modern cow is a freak of nature. A century ago cows produced two or three gallons per day; today’s Holsteins routinely give three or four times as much. This is accomplished by selective breeding to produce cows with abnormally active pituitary glands and by high-protein feeding. The pituitary gland not only produces hormones that stimulate the production of milk. it also produces growth hormones. Recently the FDA approved a genetically engineered growth hormone for cows. These hormones are identical to those produced by the pituitary gland in today’s high-production cows. This practice will simply add to the high level of bovine growth hormones that have been present in our milk for decades. These hormones are present in the water fraction of the milk, not in the butterfat. Babies receive growth hormones from their mothers through their mothers’ milk. Small amounts of these hormones are necessary and moderate amounts are not harmful, but a superfluity can result in growth abnormalities. Excessive pituitary hormones are also associated with tumor formation, and some studies link milk consumption with cancer. The freak-pituitary cow is prone to many diseases. She almost always secretes pus into her milk and needs frequent doses of antibiotics.

“Another serious problem with today’s dairying methods is the feeding of high-protein soybean meal to the cows. This stimulates them to produce large quantities of milk but contributes to a high rate of mastitis and other problems that lead to sterility, liver problems and shortened lives. Little research has been done to determine what these soy feeds do to the kind and quality of protein in cow’s milk. Is the current high rate of milk-protein allergies due to the use of inappropriate feed in our dairy herds? The proper food for cows is green plants, especially the rapidly growing green grasses in the early spring and fall. Milk from properly fed cows will contain the Price Factor and cancer-fighting CLA as well as a rich supply of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, under the current system, farmers have little incentive to pasture-feed their herds nor to follow other practices that result in high quality milk.

“Another factor contributing to the degradation of today’s milk is pasteurization. We have been taught that pasteurization is beneficial, a method of protecting ourselves against infectious disease, but closer examination reveals that its merits have been highly exaggerated. The modern milking machine and stainless steel tank, along with efficient packaging and distribution, make pasteurization totally unnecessary for the purposes of sanitation. And pasteurization is no guarantee of cleanliness. All outbreaks of salmonella from contaminated milk in recent decades— and there have been many—have occurred in pasteurized milk. This includes a 1985 outbreak in Illinois that struck over 14,000 people causing at least one death. The salmonella strain in that batch of pasteurized milk was found to be genetically resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. 21 Raw milk contains lactic-acid-producing bacteria that protect against pathogens. Pasteurization destroys these helpful organisms, leaving the finished product devoid of any protective mechanism should undesirable bacteria inadvertently contaminate the supply. Raw milk in time turns pleasantly sour, while pasteurized milk, lacking beneficial bacteria, will putrefy.
“But that’s not all that pasteurization does to milk. Heat alters milk’s amino acids lysine and tyrosine, making the whole complex of proteins less available; it promotes rancidity of unsaturated fatty acids and destruction of vitamins. Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50 percent; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80 percent; the Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor is totally destroyed as is vitamin B,, needed for healthy blood and a properly functioning nervous system. Pasteurization reduces the availability of milk’s mineral components, such as calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur, as well as many trace minerals. There is some evidence that pasteurization alters lactose, making it more readily absorbable. This, and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption in civilized societies has been linked with diabetes.
“Last but not least, pasteurization destroys all the enzymes in milk—in fact, the test for successful pasteurization is absence of enzymes. These enzymes help the body assimilate all bodybuilding factors, including calcium. That is why those who drink pasteurized milk may suffer from osteoporosis. Lipase in raw milk helps the body digest and utilize butterfat. After pasteurization, chemicals may be added to suppress odor and restore taste. Synthetic vitamin D, or D3 is added-the former is toxic and has been linked to heart disease 23 while the latter is difficult to absorb. I24 The final indignity is homogenization, which has also been linked to heart disease. Powdered skim milk is added to the most popular varieties of commercial milk—one-percent and two-percent milk. Commercial dehydration methods oxidize cholesterol in powdered milk, rendering it harmful to the arteries. High temperature drying also creates large quantities of cross-linked proteins and nitrate compounds, which are potent carcinogens, as well as free glutamic acid, which is toxic to the nervous system. 125

“Modern pasteurized milk, devoid of its enzyme content, puts an enormous strain on the body’s digestive mechanism. In the elderly, and those with milk intolerance or inherited weaknesses of digestion, this milk passes through not fully digested and can build up around the tiny villi of the small intestine, preventing the absorption of vital nutrients and promoting the uptake of toxic sub-stances. 126 The result is allergies, chronic fatigue and a host of degenerative diseases. All the healthy milk-drinking populations studied by Dr. Price consumed raw milk, raw cultured milk or raw cheese from normal healthy animals eating fresh grass or fodder. It is very difficult to find this kind of milk in America. If you cannot find good quality raw milk, you should limit your consumption of milk products to cultured milk, cultured buttermilk, whole milk yoghurt, butter, cream and raw cheeses-all of which are available in all states.”

Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, p. 34-35

But Alexa, there is salmonella and e. coli to worry about! I am not worried about either of those, or any food-borne pathogen in my raw milk (or cheese, or cream). I think that the benefits outweigh the risks and that food poisoning is far more likely from grocery store produce, which I will also continue to eat. Ironically, the largest salmonella outbreak (~200k cases in 1994) was actually from dirty, pasteurized ice cream. No one consumes raw dairy to decrease their risk of food borne pathogens, they do it to decrease their risk of gastrointestinal diseases, asthma, allergies, respiratory infections, or simply because they prefer less processing for their food.

Finding unbiased (read, not shadow-sponsored) research to weigh pros and cons is very tricky, especially about something as far-reaching as human health. You have to pick apart an article to find the actual results, whether samples were balanced, whether it tested the thing you actually cared about, whether the conclusions made any dramatic leaps, etc. Of course, I think it is worth spending the time to dissect published research, what is more important to read about than health?

I’m disappointed that raw milk has become a political issue. I think that our diet is the cause of almost all modern disease, and that no one is incentivized to look after your health other than you. Personally, I’m choosing raw creams, butters, cheeses, and milks, or at least minimally-processed cream-top variations from small farms.