"Engagement"

The fifth in my series regarding our Raw Milk Adventure.  To see previous posts, click on the "Raw Milk" label at the end of this post. 

Jason ordered our milk cooler online yesterday.  The estimated delivery date is November 15, but we are hoping it arrives a day early, because next week's milk delivery got pushed back from Monday to Tuesday.  The couple who does the deliveries will be out of town Monday.  Readers, please understand that I am not complaining, simply highlighting the need for flexibility when entering these kinds of agreements.  If we get the cooler Monday, we'll be able to drop it off Tuesday morning and we'll be drinking raw milk Tuesday evening.  (And by "we" I mean Jason, Grace and Abby.  I don't drink milk, except in coffee, but I'm really looking forward to making a gingerbread latte with this milk.  It's been awhile since I had a Starbuck's Gingerbread Latte, but if memory serves me correctly, add whipped cream and nutmeg and this is it!)

The expectation is kind of intense (in a weird I-probably-care-too-much-about-my-food kind of way).  Gracie has such bad eczema right now, that her school called me Monday and told me to take her to the doctor to be sure it wasn't something contagious.  I took her to the doctor, and indeed, it's the same eczema that she's gotten the last few years at this time.  The doctor gave us a prescription for some cream, which seemed to relieve the itching much more significantly than whatever he'd given us last year.  He gave us the same recommendations we've been (mostly) following: use Dove soap, use unscented moisturizer liberally, bathe less than once a day.

I think of our family as fairly healthy overall, but we do have a few medical issues.  In addition to the eczema, Gracie has asthma and allergies (fairly unspecific allergies to pollen, mold, dust and grass); she takes medicine daily to control them.  Evenso she's experiencing significant nasal symptoms lately (running nose, itchy eyes, itchy skin).  She's also mentioned that her tummy hurts fairly frequently in the last few weeks.

I can't help but wonder if the raw milk might relieve some of these issues for her.

I've also had a bit of a stomach and a headache off-and-on for the past couple weeks.  The headache seems to be getting less frequent, but the stomachache creeps up most mornings.  I wonder if the probiotics in raw milk will have a positive effect.  In warmer months I tend to eat yogurt and granola for breakfast a few times a week, but as the weather's gotten colder I haven't been eating yogurt.  Maybe that has something to do with it.  Despite my best efforts at brushing, flossing and flouride rinsing, almost every time I go to the dentist, he finds a cavity.  Some research I've read says that drinking raw milk might attribute to better dental health.  After paying $1700 for a root canal this week, I am intrigued. 

oOo

Interested in learning more about raw milk?  Here are some links I've found interesting:

www.raw-milk-facts.com  At first I was skeptical that the information on a website called "Raw Milk Facts.com" would be biased.  It certainly is, but isn't that the case with any controversial topic?  It's very difficult to find unbiased information.  What I appreciate about this site is that it uses footnotes to link to all its reference material, so you can easily do some clicking to see if you feel their references are reputable and do more research on the topic.  (The article I linked to above regarding raw milk relieving allergies is one that this site links to.)

Farm to Consumer Legal Defense  Apparently natural foods stores, co-ops and farmstands are being raided because of the precarious legal standing of raw milk.  This consumer group is a resource for consumers, farmers and sellers of raw milk and other products.

www.realmilk.com  Good information about the health benefits of "real" milk and the economics of "real milk" (raw milk from pastured cows).  "Based on data in a 2003 USDA/FDA report: Compared to raw milk there are 515 times more illnesses from L-mono due to deli meats and 29 times more illness from L-mono due to pasteurized milk."

Sharable: The Shareable Food Movement  Another article about the legalities of local foods.  Thanks to Chris Kerston of Chaffin Family Orchards for posting this on Facebook. 

The federal government  -to be fair, here's the counterpoint.