Rad Home Maker

It was a simple mission: go get milk from the store. At 8pm I was left with the only option of a mainstream grocery. Standing in front of the isles of organic milk, pristine linoleum and florescents overhead, I’m dumbfounded. Are any of these worth it? Despite their friendly earth-loving labels, in big letters it reads “ultra-pasteurized”. I’m confused why this is written large enough to be considered a selling feature. I’m looking for raw milk, preferably whole. Amazingly untreated milk, in its original untreated form, now a specialty item. I turn to the coconut milk beside the dairy as alternative, only to read the chemical make-up of this new perverted trend. But hands down, Horizon milk, the most common organic milk choice, takes the cake in perversion.

More via Wise Bread: …One thing that cropped up was the term ‘organic’ and how the word has become perverted and practically raped by the agricultural industry. Not surprising when you consider it’s now a $15 billion a year business. That’s a lot of money… which means power… which means corruption.

So, I decided to do some digging around, putting a product in my own fridge under the microscope.

Horizon Organic Milk. The packaging and verbiage promise a lot: a beautiful world of cows grazing in green pastures with big smiles, happily producing only the tastiest, unsullied milk.

“…We allow our cows to make milk according to their natural cycle and keep them in good health by giving them certified organic feed, fresh air and access to pasture.”

The key word here is ‘access.’ Right now at work I have access to the executive squash courts, but I am rarely allowed to use them, if at all. I’m too busy and I’m not an exec. Well, the cows at Horizon may have access to pasture but it’s a known industry fact that milk cows don’t spend their days grazing on green grass. They just get to look at it, cooped up in the usual factory-farming warehouses. Occasionally, when the press drops in, the cows may be allowed out for 20 minutes to make a good showing, but this is a rarity. For Horizon Milk to remain productive and profitable, they must keep their cows hooked up to the milking machines.

Horizon cows are hard-workers. The average Horizon organic cow produces almost double the amount of milk of the national average. Which makes it even more difficult for these poor cows to step outside.

Then there are the slaughter rates. They’re higher than the national average because, as no antibiotics are involved, they simply ship the cow off to slaughter if it gets sick. And as the factory-farming conditions are rife with disease and infection, this happens a lot.

We should also address the claim of certified organic feed. In the past, Horizon has used and supported local area farmers. But the growth of the organic industry could not let the limitations of these small farms get in the way of making a profit. Now most of the feed that Horizon buys is shipped in on massive railroad cars, processed by a giant corporate agribusiness and then given to the cows. And much of this feed is irrigated by dams that have been condemned for destroying ecosystems. So, while it may technically fit the terms of the organic feed set out by the USDA, it does not support local farmers… and that was originally a backbone of the organic industry.

In addition, this feed is made from corn, soy and other products not digestible by cows. Just because it’s organic, doesn’t mean it’s how nature intended it. Meaning, the cow is unable to absorb the vitamins and nutrients, resulting in a devoid of nutrient milk… well, the milk before it was ultra-pasteurized. The reason vitamins began being added as a secondary process.

Raw Milk vs Pasteurized Milk

Pasteurization destroys almost all of the nutritive value of cow’s milk. The milk everybody drinks today is far from a whole food, and in my research is not fit for human consumption.

Pasteurization also destroys beneficial bacteria found in raw milk. It kills the natural enzymes and destroys the chemical make-up of calcium in raw milk. Calcium is vital to the growth and health of children. Pasteurization has been implicated in everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer. Truly, the resulting product after pasteurization is not raw and living, but rather “killed and dead.”

Today’s pasteurized milk comes from cows crammed in cages loaded with synthetic hormones and antibiotics. Homogenizing purposely destroys raw milk’s natural butterfat in an effort to separate and hide the cream from the consumer. European studies show that this is dangerous and may cause heart disease. Of course our FDA disputes this. Homogenized milk is quite unnatural!

Back in the 20′s Americans could buy raw, clean, grass-fed milk and cheese – and at that time milk-borne diseases were rare.

The Nutritional Benefits of Raw Milk

• Organic, raw milk is a complete food, loaded with minerals, protein and vitamins. Raw milk contains an amazing selection of minerals ranging from calcium and phosphorus to trace elements. Pasteurization destroys them and they must be re-supplied
• Raw milk has 20 of the standard amino acids
• Up to 80% of the proteins in raw milk are easy to digest — some are complex antibodies
• Raw milk is abundant in calcium — legendary for its benefits for teeth, bones etc.
• It is also loaded with enzymes that have an array of health benefiting functions
• Raw milk is alive with beneficial bacteria that aid digestion and protect against disease-carrying organisms

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