Milk: Going Raw

I don’t get my milk from the grocery store anymore.  Instead, I lease a share of a small dairy herd on a local farm, and every week, I make a trip to the farm to pick up a gallon of unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk. It may sound a bit extreme, and rather hippy-ish, but there is solid research behind this very conscious choice. Raw milk contains beneficial vitamins, enzymes, and bacteria that pasteurized milk does not, because the pasteurization process destroys them. I explained the basics of my thinking in my post on Homemade Butter.

Since then, I’ve received numerous questions. Some people think I’ve gone a little overboard, and some are just curious. A surprising number have wanted to know how to go about it. How do you find a milk share? What does it cost? Do you have to pick it up yourself? How is it different from store-bought milk? I’m going to attempt to answer these questions here, because I think raw milk is so beneficial that it’s worth a post.

Most states still have bans against the direct sale of raw milk, and in those that do, the ability to lease a share of a dairy herd is the most common workaround. If the direct sale of raw milk is legal in your state, it’s possible that raw milk is available at your local health food store or farmers’ market. Finding out where to buy it can be as simple as a little research online and/or a few calls. Or it may be that you can buy directly from a farm. Those of us in states where direct sales are illegal have to work a little harder. It’s true that if you live far from any rural areas, you’ll probably have some difficulty finding a milk share to join. But if there are farmlands fairly close by, you might be in luck. A simple internet keyword search that uses the phrases “milk share,” “herd share,” and the name of your town, city, county, or region has the potential to unearth plenty of options. The workers at your local food co-op, health food store, CSA, or farmers’ market can also be great sources of information – if there’s a local milk share in operation, they’ll know. Personal experience causes me to advise that you choose a farm that milks Jerseys – their milk has the heaviest cream percentage, and will yield about 8 ounces of cream per half gallon of milk.How Much?
Most herd shares involve two costs: a flat rate, often a one-time or annual fee, for the lease; and a monthly boarding fee (often paid quarterly) that covers care of the herd. Prices depend on the farm. I’ve been involved in two herd shares, and the price of the milk ends up being $6-8 per gallon. This sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that store-bought organic milk averages around $3.50 per half gallon, and if you use your raw milk to make your own butter, sour cream, cheese, yogurt, and so on, you save the cost of those products. Most herd share offer a full share (2 to 3 gallons a week, depending on seasonal productivity) or a half share (1 to 1-1/2 gallons). Some even offer a quarter share. Just ask the farmer.

What’s it like?
My experience has been pretty consistent: you show up at the farm with your own containers (I use wide-mouth half-gallon canning jars with plastic lids; the wide mouths make it easy to remove the cream after it rises to the top). At each farm, I was personally trained in the sanitary use of the milk tank by one of the owners. You fill your own jars with last night’s milk (cows are always milked in the evening) from a temperature-controlled bulk tank, sign off on some kind of a pickup log, and off you go. If you want to skim off the cream, you let the milk sit overnight in the refrigerator, and in the morning, you use a ladle to take off the cream. (Let me just say here: nothing is as delicious as fresh cream. Nothing.) Raw milk will stay sweet for 7-10 days in the refrigerator, and then it starts to sour. Sour milk is not “rotten,” though. It can be used to make sour cream, creme fraiche, and yogurt, among other things. A great source of raw and fermented dairy recipes is the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. With raw milk, you will notice a fresher, richer taste and texture, and you will notice that even though you may skim off the cream, bits of it will inevitably be left behind to swirl around in the milk.

How do you know it’s safe?
Do your homework. Both of the herd shares I’ve been part of publicly documented their practices for members. They are small, family-owned operations who care about what they do, and do it because they have a vested interest in people’s health. The cows graze in pesticide-free fields all summer, and eat alfalfa and hay in winter. They are never given hormones or treated with antibiotics; if they fall ill, they are taken off the milk supply and treated with herbs and gentle care until they recover. The milk is voluntarily tested for every strain of virus and bacteria you can imagine on a monthly basis. Neither farm has ever had a customer fall ill due to the consumption of the milk. A reputable farm will engage in these practices, and will tell you that up front. You will also be invited to tour the milk operation and meet the farmer before you join.

Personally, I find that raw milk tastes better than anything I can get in the store. So do the butter, yogurt, and other products I make from it, and none of them are difficult to make. Some require a day or two of “resting,” but the actual effort is minimal – and the taste is worth the work they do require.