Raw Milk
When Dr. Weston A. Price traveled around the world in the 1930's studying isolated populations eating their traditional foods he found examples of cultures that had a high degree of what he described as "physical perfection".
The diets of these healthy cultures were extremely different from each other, yet there were characteristics common to all traditional diets. Milk was consumed by some populations and not others, but in cultures that consumed dairy they used their milk products raw (in cultures that did not consume dairy products they ate some of their other animal foods, such as fish, meat and insects raw).
One of the main purposes for the system of local WAPF chapters is to connect people with local food sources. Raw milk is an important local food, and we receive many inquiries about where to obtain it.
We are fortunate that raw milk is legal and available in Oregon. You won't find it in stores, but you can purchase it directly from local farms. If you would like to receive our list of local raw milk suppliers you can contact us. We will email you names of farms in the Eugene area that provide raw cow or goat milk.
If you are new to the concept of drinking milk in its natural unprocessed state, we suggest you read some of the articles and books on the subject or talk to those of us who have been drinking real milk for many years. Raw milk is a frequent topic at our meetings.
Below are a few links to articles on the web:A Campaign for Real Milk
Milk: It Does a Body Good?
Raw Milk by Tom Cowan, MD
Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
The Safety of Raw Milk
A Simple Change In Mindset: Learning to Maximize the Use of Your Real Milk and Cream
Food Borne Illness
Supplemental Report in Favor of Raw Milk
Books:
The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Foods. by Ron Schmid, ND
Suggested Reading
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The Cornucopia Organic Dairy Report
The Weston A. Price Foundation recommends consumption of raw dairy products from pasture-fed animals, but while in transition to traditional diets, many of us continue to purchase homogenized and pasturized yogurt, butter, sour cream, and such.
Organic standards for dairy cows require organic feed and "access to pasture", however, the procedures, attitudes and ethics of those producing organic dairy products can vary widely. As organic foods become more popular, factory farm corporations are entering the market by meeting the bare minimum organic standards or by purchasing small organic dairies. As one would expect, these large companies are focused on profit rather than the health of their customers or caring for the land. Because of this consolidation of ownership, several popular widely distributed organic brands are not operating with the ethics you would expect.
If you are buying ANY dairy from the grocery store, please go to the Dairy Report and look up the brands you buy.
The Organic Dairy Report is the creation of The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog group. "Promoting Economic Justice for Family-Scale Farming".
The Cornucopia Institute's national survey of organic products in the dairy
case showcases
ethical family farm producers and exposes factory farm producers and brands that threaten to
take over organic dairying. With this Web-based rating tool, you can see which brands and
dairy products found in your region are produced using the best organic farming practices
and ethics. Based on a year's research into the organic dairy business, the scorecard rates
68 different organic dairy brands and private-label products.
Maintaining the Integrity of Organic Milk will empower consumers and wholesale buyers who want to invest their food dollars to protect hard-working family farmers that are in danger of being washed off the land by a tidal wave of organic milk from the rise of factory mega- farms.
A local Oregon dairy I often recommend, Noris Dairy, is an organic farm that is not yet listed in the Dairy Report. From what I can tell, they are an ethical small farm that produces milk from primarily pasture-fed cows. Their cheese is made from raw milk, aged 60 days. A local raw milk farmer visited the dairy herself, and decided to carry Noris cheese at her store. While their bottled milk and cream is pasturized, it is not homogenized. I also like the fact that their yogurt (while made from pasturized milk) does not contain powdered milk or other thickeners common in commercial yogurts.
Return to top of pageThoughts About the Potluck
The potluck plays an important role in our local meetings. For many of us, learning about the Weston A. Price Foundation and the book Nourishing Traditions (NT) has meant re-acquainting ourselves with our kitchens, trying new recipes and using unfamiliar ingredients.
The potluck has several goals:
- To provide an opportunity to make NT-style recipes for people who appreciate them.
- To allow you to sample NT-style recipes made by other people.
- To share good food in a like-minded community.
Nourishing Traditions contains a wealth of techniques. You are encouraged to bring a variety of dishes to the different events, and to experiment with different recipes. Come discuss your failures as well as your success.
I believe that food should be created and eaten with love and respect, and if making something for a particular potluck is an overly stressful event, I have always said that bringing something is optional. But please use this option only once in a blue moon. The rest of the time we expect you to bring some home-made NT-friendly food in an amount suitable for the number of people in your party.
Cooking NT food requires some foresight and planning. Our potlucks are a wonderful opportunity to try out some of these new recipes with people who share the goals of healthy, whole, unprocessed, local foods.
Guests and children are welcome at all WAPF Eugene Chapter meetings.
Return to top of pageRoot Beer Update
Our July fermentation class was on the topic of lacto-fermented beverages. We had demos and samples of seven drinks and three fruit chutneys.
Those of you who attended know that I tried several attempts at lacto-fermented root beer. The results were interesting, but did not have much resemblance to commercial root beer. I have continued my experimentation. The last version of the root beer that we sampled (version 2 on your hand-outs with the variation listed at the bottom) has the most potential in my opinion, but it tasted too strongly of the roots. At home after the class, I diluted it with some of the honey and water. It now tastes much closer to a commercial root beer, but I still need to work on the carbonation.
Basically, the root beer, spice beer and ginger ale recipes each involve making an infusion of flavorful herbs, roots, spices or fruit, and then sweetening and fermenting the liquid. I found that it is very important to choose flavors you enjoy, and to avoid overpowering flavors (the licorice and molasses both overpowered the other flavors). In my next attempt I will reduce the amount of roots to the amount listed below. For those of you who did not attend the class, here is a quick recipe:
Root Beer
Makes 2 quarts- 1/2 cup Sassafras root
- 1/4 cup Sasparilla
- 1/2 cup sucanat
- 1 tsp unrefined salt
- 1/4 cup whey (liquid strained from yogurt)
- Filtered water to make 2 quarts
Directions: Bring water to a boil. Add roots, spices, sucanat and salt. Simmer about one hour. Let sit covered until tepid. Strain liquid into a 2 qt (1/2 gallon) jar. When liquid is comfortable to the touch, add whey and mix. Add additional water if needed to make 2 quarts. Cap jar, and label with recipe name and date.
Primary Fermentation: Let sit at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Secondary Fermentation: Taste root beer. Transfer into canning jars or bottles with tight fitting lids or wire tops. Pour carefully and leave sediment in jar if desired. Prime bottles by adding an additional 1/4-1/2 tsp sucanat. Label bottles & let sit at room temperature for about an additional 1-4 days. (This is an optional step that allows for carbonation to create bubbles). Place into refrigerator & enjoy.
Taste root beer. If root beer becomes too tart or is too strong for your taste, dilute with water and add honey or other natural sweetener while serving.
Note: bottles must be able to withstand pressure, so use canning jars or bottles designed to hold carbonated beverages.
I will continue to keep you updated on any future improvements. If you experiment with any of the recipes and come up with something you like, please share your recipes! I will include them in an upcoming newsletter.
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Please join us at one of our upcoming events!
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