Raw Milk: The Controversy

Recently in the news there have been warnings against the dangers of raw milk: Raw milk illness rates in U.S. prompt CDC warning. According to the CDC, drinking raw milk had “great risks” that can lead to “severe illness”. Most people drink pasteurized milk, but there seems to be an increasing trend, especially among the “real food” folk, to find sources of raw (un-pasteurized) milk. In Canada, you can’t legally buy raw milk. You can, however, be part of a herd share, which allows you to get raw milk from a cow that you partially own. Here is a list of herd shares in Canada.

We used to be part of a herd share. The raw milk that we received was delicious and it didn’t make any of us sick. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the herd share was ended and we’re back to drinking pasteurized milk. I really miss having raw milk and it’s my dream to one day own a family cow for milking.

There are many benefits to drinking raw milk. Of course, raw milk has to be expressed and stored scrupulously. In a healthy cow, the problem isn’t the milk itself but the way it’s handled which can cause it to be contaminated. Anyways, here is an interesting rebuttal to the recent CDC warnings: CDC cherry picks the data to make case against the safety of raw milk — WAPF.