The kids and I took a little 24-hour trip to my parents’ in East Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since this week is Spring Break, there’s no Bible study on Wednesday morning and no Mother’s Day Out on Thursday (Aaaaagh!). On our way to my parents’ house, we stopped by a farm outside of Big Sandy to buy raw milk.
Why raw milk?
Raw milk has a ton of health benefits, so I decided to purchase it for health reasons and not taste. I had never tasted raw milk before, and it does taste good! I was actually surprised it didn’t taste significantly different than regular store-bought organic milk. I know the good stuff is still in there, despite it tasting the same.
I had also been told that raw milk can be left unrefrigerated for longer periods of time, much like breast milk. This is another one of the main reasons I bought it, because Little Lady likes to sip on her milk for hours instead of drinking it all at once. Since this closely resembles breastfeeding, which I was unable to do past her 8th month, I want to foster her ability to do this while making a healthy choice for her nutrition.
An excerpt from Raw-Milk-Facts.com:
Raw milk is a living food with remarkable self-protective properties, but here’s the kick: most foods tend to go south as they age, raw milk just keeps getting better.
Not to keep harping on this, but what the heck: through helpful bacterial fermentation, you can expect an increase in enzymes, vitamins, mineral availability and overall digestibility. Not bad for old age!
I talked to the owner of the farm by phone before going out and he explained that there is a little storefront in one of the barns that you can drive up to, select the items you want, sign the list for what you bought, and leave your payment in a locked box. While we were there, he came by and we chatted for a while (he keeps a close eye on who comes and goes from the barn, if you’re wondering).
It was so fun meeting the real farmer and buying milk that literally came from the cow the day before!
While we were there, I also bought an ENTIRE QUART of raw, local (East Texas bees are still considered local to the Dallas/Richardson area) honey for $10! That is a huge bargain since I pay more than twice that at the grocery store here in Dallas for honey from the same area.
It’s too bad that farm isn’t closer, because 2.5 hours is too much to drive regularly for me. But if you are closer to Big Sandy, I’d highly recommend it! We’ll surely go by the next time we’re headed to my parents’.
I’ve heard from my friends here in Dallas that there is another local farm that sells raw milk, so I’ll be checking that out next.
Have you tried raw milk yourself or with your kids? What do you think about the risks or benefits?
There are no laws in Texas against this. The FBI was arresting Amish in PA for selling raw milk. I am all for it but watch out for the government to come and shut your supplier down. I’d keep your contacts quiet if you want to continue to purchase it.
I had no idea it was so tricky, thank you so much for pointing that out. I have removed the name of the farm(s) and the links per your comment so that I don’t get any of the suppliers in trouble! Thanks again!
I’m in NH and we have a raw milk supplier just a few miles away. I had a bottle last week. I wanted to try it because my daughter is lactose intolerant and I’ve been told raw milk can be consumed by LI people. I used a little in my tea and most of it in a creamy soup I made. I couldn’t taste the difference. I already have my milk delivered in glass bottles from an “almost organic” source. I am debating the switch to raw milk.
I keep debating it too. I went to the CDC web site yesterday and it scared the crap out of me with all the warnings about raw milk being so dangerous. So we’ve tried it this once and the kids are OK but then I worry about the odds of us being one of the ones that gets sick from it?!