Many consumers are waking up to the fact that animals on grass produce healthier meat, eggs, and milk, but there is a problem that not everyone is aware of. There is a lot of fraud in this industry. Pastured milk has become very popular in the last few years, but what many people don’t realize is that a lot of the cows producing this milk aren’t actually on grass. The only way to truly know if you are getting what you are paying for is to visit the farm where you are sourcing your products.

Raw milk from properly fed cows on pasture compared to those in confinement will contain cancer fighting CLA, it will be higher in beneficial fatty acids and lower in omega 6, and contain more vitamins and minerals and fat-soluble activators. According to the Weston Price Website, the fat-soluble activators that were discovered by Weston Price were, “vitamins A and D, and what he called Activator X (now believed to be Vitamin K2), found only in certain sea foods such as shellfish, fish livers and fish eggs, in butterfat and organ meats from animals eating rapidly growing green grass, and in lesser amounts in eggs from pastured chickens and the fat of certain animals such as the guinea pig.”

Confinement dairy cows will produce white butter (food coloring is added to this without being listed on the label). Because we never feed grain and our cows are on pasture during the growing season, I have observed that when we transform our raw cream into butter it is very yellow in the summer, and lighter yellow in the winter. This might be something to watch for to determine if the milk/cream you are buying is actually pasture fed. There is a trick in the “pastured” poultry industry where they give the hens marigolds to make their yolks more yellow (so it appears they are on grass), but I’m not aware of any tricks in the pastured dairy industry. At least not yet.  

If you can find a dairy with old-fashioned, smaller framed cows and where the cows are not given any grains, the milk will be healthier and safer. I would especially avoid cows that are fed soy. Many dairy cows today are fed soy and this stimulates them to produce more milk which can lead to mastitis, shorter life span, sterility, and problems with their livers. There are a growing number of people that are testing positive for soy allergies, and what the animal eats can affect these people as well. We must remember that what an animal is fed along with their health will affect the quality of the milk. You can learn more about why we avoid soy here.

Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, get rid of the distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, some important discussion about natural sweeteners, talked about Forgiveness, hopefully we got our eggs right, learned about the benefits of pastured, clean meats, considered getting mercury removed, we got the toxins out of our mouth, skin, and hair, made some changes in our cleaning routines, and now we are focusing on raw milk. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.