There's a Man I Call the Milk Man

After exhaustive research, I came to the conclusion that unpasteurized milk is nutritionally superior to pasteurized milk. It has to be from pastured cows, and of course those cows have to be free of antibiotics and growth hormones.

I embarked on a quest to find a source of raw milk here in the T-dot. Now, as you know, it is illegal to sell or buy unpasteurized dairy products here in Ontario. Some people squirm around this legality by selling shares in a cow, as you are allowed to consume raw milk from your own cow if you want to. Some people, however, do sell raw milk outright, carefully vetting their prospective clients, only accepting referrals from clandestine agents, and hiding behind false beards, oversized hats, and Lee Majors' sunglasses.

Through a long and circuitous route I was able to find an agency that was able to hook me up with a purveyor of raw milk. He is the Milk Man.

A cool thing about the Milk Man is he believes that we should be allowed to take responsibility for our own actions and our own choices. He is a crusader for this right, a revolutionary, and an activist. He is also very smart, interesting, and a pleasure to talk with.

Another cool thing about the Milk Man is I get to buy milk directly from the farmer who 'grows' it, and my son gets to talk to him, and thank him for the food he makes us.

Yet another cool thing about the Milk Man is that he uses sterilized glass jars which you return to him, thus eliminating packaging waste.

Finally, one more cool thing about the Milk Man is he makes it possible for people to feed their families with  an amazing, un-denatured, 'living' food. Instead of the processed version we accept almost universally here in North America. He also offers eggs from pastured happy chickens (fed a diet of bugs, worms, and other things chickens like to eat instead of soy), and other great things from neighbouring, like-minded farms.

Before you throw your hands up in horror that I would feed my child milk that has not been sterilized, you must understand that this view is ... based on propaganda.

First of all, any cows who are properly pasture raised are naturally free of disease. You can find out all about this in Michael Pollan's thrilling The Omnivore's Dilemma. If cows require antibiotics, and if their products require irradiation and sterilization, there is something terribly wrong with that farm.

Second of all, anyone who believes as fervently as the Milk Man does in the rightness of raw milk isn't going to mess things up with sloppy house keeping. It's not going to further his cause if he doesn't keep his milk clean and safe.

Finally, raw milk is readily available in Europe. It's not that I think Europe is the end all and be-all (it could be, but never having been there, I really couldn't say), but if people can happily and safely drink raw milk there, we certainly can here, too. And the health benefits are legion. Legion.

The problem with milk in North America in general would be the factory farms, CAFOs, and unnatural lives that we often force upon our animals as we genuflect at the twin altars of mass-production and progress. It doesn't have to be this way.

I am excited that there are people out there who have beliefs as strong as the Milk Man's are. I am excited that in my small way I can stand up for the right to be responsible for our choices. I can stand up for the right to have the freedom to choose. I stand up for the right to have a voice and a vote. For all of us. For our children. There is so damn much at stake here!

So, in my house, we drink lovely, rich, unpasteurized, unhomogenized, fresh RAW milk that comes in glass jugs and has to be shaken before being used. How great is that?


Thank you, Milk Man. We think you rock.