My first experience with raw milk happened in the throes of labor…
No, not my labor. I was doula-ing for a single first-time mother a couple of years ago, and she lived a little ways outside of town with her parents. Her parents had a farm with many cows, and her mother had a milk cow.
In between contractions, knukkles massages, and rebozo-ing, her mother asked me if I wanted something to eat or drink, and she offered me raw milk.
“Well, I’ve never had it,” I said.
“Oh! Well then you’re missing out!” she told me matter-of-factly. “I’ll pour you a glass!”
While I helped her daughter through another contraction, she poured me a tall glass and set it down on the coffee table.
Sixty-seconds later, I had my first taste of raw milk. It felt creamy and sweet as it slid down my throat, and it was so rich that I could only drink half of it.
“This is fantastic!” I said.
I won’t go through the details of the birth, but the next day we had a healthy baby boy. And the family was so kind as to extend to me an offer of a gallon of raw milk for a week, so long as they had extra.
For a few months, I was blessed with raw milk, until one day, she told me she was drying up her cow.
By then, I was hooked! I desperately wanted another source, so I Googled raw milk, and found tennesseansforrawmilk.com. I quickly typed in my name and email so that I could get a list of raw milk sources in my area, I got the list, and moved on. What I hadn’t accounted for was that I would continue to receive their newsletter, put out by Shawn Dady, President of Tennesseans For Raw Milk, and a Weston A. Price Chapter Leader.
For over a year, I got that newsletter, and I used many of the sources listed within to find local producers of pastured meat or eggs.
And for over a year, I failed to realize what the little letters “WAPF” in the signature meant.
Then, one day, I watched Mama Natural‘s absolutely hilarious videos, “Sh*t Crunchy Mamas Say” parts I and II. And after identifying with nearly everything in the videos (“It’s actually EYE-na May Gaskin.”), I realized that the only thing I didn’t have a CLUE what she was talking about was the name Weston A. Price.
Google to the rescue!
What I discovered was a wealth of information to supplement a lifestyle I was already living and a wonderful and resourceful community of people to plug into that believe in the same kinds of things.
Now, I think of the name “Weston Price” as a sort of modern day ichthus for crunchy people. Seriously, it’s like a stealth code.
You can be in the middle of a conversation, casually say, “Weston Price?” and if they’ve heard of it or are fellow Weston Pricers, then YAY!—you can now talk about the same things without fear of judgement or appearing overly excited about chicken liver or a great price on raw grassfed butter!
But if they haven’t heard of Weston Price, you can either (A) introduce them to it or (B) casually say, “Oh nevermind,” smile, and keep on talking. : )
I know that a lot of people are against labels, but I like this one because it represents an idea to me. Saying I’m a “Weston Pricer” doesn’t mean that I worship at the alter of Weston Price, because I don’t. But it is pretty dang convenient when I’m trying to describe my lifestyle, and “real foodie” “healthy” “natural living” “organic” just doesn’t cut it. Those things just don’t even come close! One mention of Weston Price though, and people are like OHHHH you drink BONE BROTH and eat BUTTER.
I love when this happens to me. What about you? :)
And yes, I have reached into someone’s fridge, with the same facial expression, and said, “We totally shop at the same farmer!” :)
Hi, I have some questions about raw milk that I cannot seem to find the answer to. I am thinking about consuming raw cow and goat dairy but I have a chronic bacterial infection (for at least 9 years, maybe 20. I am very sick.) so I am worried about not being able to handle any bad bacteria in the dairy. The farms where I would be getting the dairy have never had a problem with dangerous bacteria but I am still worried about drinking and eating the dairy because my immune system is low. If I were to boil the milk and cream to kill any bad bacteria, would that make it as bad as pasteurized milk or is it okay to boil raw milk? Thank you.
(I don’t eat/drink pasteurized dairy. I stopped a few months ago.)
If you boil raw milk, then you are pasteurizing it yourself. I would ask your farmer for a bacterial plate count. The maximum allowed federal number of bacteria for a standard plate count is 100,000 per ml. In California, the max allowed at a state level is 50,000 per ml. In Tennessee, where we were getting raw milk, our farmer’s plate count was less than 500 per ml consistently.
Having the $$ for raw milk and grass-fed meats (and especially decent eggs) is a dream of mine… but hopefully one that will be realized soon.
Also, watching those videos I understood 95% of what they were talking about/demonstrating (down to the pumping in the bathroom stall…hahaha!). Does that make me crunchy, even if I don’t do all of it yet?
Because I’m OK with that… :)
We found that switching to only buying 100% real food, grass-fed, pastured, raw milk, etc. only raised our monthly grocery budget by $110. That $110 was easily found when we stopped eating out. So now, it’s more or less the same as it was before! Grass fed beef and lamb is actually SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than grocery store prices when you buy in bulk! We purchased grass fed lamb for $5/lb. this year (for all cuts), and beef at $6/lb. (for everything from ground beef to filet mignon). I can’t even look at grocery store prices anymore. They are so high! Check out this cost analysis of grass fed beef: http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/07/how-to-purchase-grass-fed-beef-in-bulk.html
Also, even if you’re paying $5-$7 for pastured organic eggs, they are still cheaper than other foods (especially packaged food) considering the nutrient density and nutrition you are getting out of a single egg.
It’s not impossible. Not even close! It just takes some getting used to and rearranging of your budget, and it requires you to buy in bulk up front….long term vision vs. short term vision. But you can do it! :)
I know what you mean. Unfortunately WAPF isn’t as popular here in Australia and being in a local area, we don’t have a local chapter. I am forever explaining why I own a cow, why I would get up at 5am to milk her, why I don’t pastuerise the milk before I make cheese etc and that’s just the raw milk questions! Then there’s why I would raise and kill my own chickens and why I would attempt to knit socks etc! But when you do find a like-minded person, it is so refreshing!
Love hearing other people’s stories…..We were introduced to WAPF via our family doctor believe it or not. She told me to quit drinking soy lattes, they were the cause of my breastfeeding daughters colic/reflux. Sure enough she was right…..we’ve never looked back!
That’s great! :)
I love this! I had my first taste of raw milk when I lived with some friends who had a milking cow. I loved it! I just recently started drinking milk again and of course it’s raw! It taste like cream. I wish I grew up on the stuff–my mom served me non fat milk.
You’re right! It does taste like cream. :) I love the subtle, yet full-bodied sweetness of raw milk.