If I, as your doctor, were to tell you that dry, powdered milk were every bit as good for you and your growing children as the organic milk in the half gallon cartons in the refrigerated section of the store,
If I, as your doctor, were to tell you that dry, powdered milk were every bit as good for you and your growing children as the organic milk in the half gallon cartons in the refrigerated section of the store, would you believe me?
If this were 1950 you just might. Back then, it was all about better living though chemistry, when children played in the spray of the DDT pesticide trucks and women were told to forego breastfeeding in favor of formula. In those days, if a middle-aged man in a white lab coat told us that powdered milk were as good as fresh, because they were comparable in terms of protein, sugar, and fat content, we believed him.
Today we’re a bit more critical about health information. We’ve learned to trust our instincts when they tell us — as I’m sure yours tell you — that a heated and processed product is unlikely to be anywhere near as nutritious as its less processed counterpart.
That’s why this might make some sense to you: Pasteurized, homogenized milk, cooked at 160 degrees and then squeezed under high pressure to miniaturize the fat particles, is not as nutritious as the genuine article — raw, fresh milk from happy, grass-fed cows. Not even close. Of course, most of our milk is shipped from the mainland in unrefrigerated containers, and so must be pasteurized a second time after it arrives.
The point of pasteurization is to make milk — and other products, like apple juice — safe. But raw milk, just as with raw apple juice, is perfectly safe, providing the product is produced using basic sanitation protocols. If you’ve ever had a chance to compare the taste of raw milk or raw apple juice with the cooked versions, you already know how much pasteurization diminishes flavor.
The science that explains why raw milk is tastier and so much more healthful than pasteurized is readily available in a number of books, including my own. Health-conscious consumers conversant with the literature are buying raw milk at their local grocers in places like California and Washington State.
According to Jerry Kahana of the State Department of Agriculture, Commodities Branch, Hawai‘i may be missing out on a real economic opportunity. In a phone interview, she explained to me that in the 1980’s Hawai‘i was self-sufficient in diary. But by the ‘90s, for reasons having to do with economy of scale, all milk production on Kaua‘i was shut down. Given the recent interest in buying local and grass fed, Kahana suggested there may be a place for small, community-based dairies to develop and thrive.
So why hasn’t this happened already? Upstart, locally minded growers typically can’t afford the $300,000 needed for the requisite grade-A pasteurization equipment. In the dairy game, you’ve got to pay to play; small producers need not apply.
That is, at least when it comes to pasteurized milk. Producing raw milk would give small producers the traction to compete against mainland conglomerates. With the $300,000 entry fee waived, local family-run operations could control the supply line from cow to marketplace (what business people call vertical integration) and remove the middlemen who might otherwise pocket a disproportionate share of the profit.
More money going directly to the producers gives them the opportunity, and incentive, to produce higher quality milk from happier, healthier cows — a difference you can taste. Bottles of this creamy, wonderfully nutritious milk could be available at farmers markets next to heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, and cucumbers, fortifying our bodies as well as our economy.
Imagine: The state that produced our first African American president, who has already replanted the Roosevelt victory garden as promised, could lead the way to greater food self sufficiency, consumer liberty, and smarter business. I get thirsty just thinking about it.
As things stand, raw milk is illegal, so none of this can happen. But right now, our state has an economic need, a refreshed sense of possibility, and a wonderful opportunity to serve the interests of all who live here. Why not milk it for all it’s worth?
The freshest, best milk in Hawai‘i today comes from Island Dairy in Ookala, where cows live primarily on pasture. This milk is reported to be BST-free, is distributed by Meadow Gold and sold under the Hawai‘i’s Fresh label, available at Foodland.
• Dr. Cate Shanahan is a family practice MD at West Kaua‘i Clinic Kalaheo and co-wrote “Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food” with her husband Luke Shanahan. For more information, visit www.DrCate.com or come to a lecture entitled “Rich Cell, Poor Cell: How Peasant Food Can Change Your Life” at Parish Hall in Kilauea on April 15.
