pantsfarm

The subject of raw milk is one that I’ve been curious about since about a year ago. It was then I first saw an article about it, similar to this one published recently in the New York Times.

My first reaction was in line with my often-libertarian leanings. I was stumped on why it mattered if somebody wanted to ingest something that might be hazardous. I thought if they want to do it, that’s their choice.

Much of the press I’ve seen on the subject has people lambasting raw milk on the grounds that it is a hazard to public health. I have difficulty understanding this because unless I am misunderstanding something, it is not that the milk is being presented as a perfect substitute for pasteurized milk, nor is it being foisted on to unsuspecting consumers who are being beguiled into consuming this purportedly dangerous beverage.

But, in this consideration I hadn’t thought about people who aren’t in charge of their own consumption: children.

In the current absence of compelling research to say with authority if it’s a good or bad idea to give raw milk to kids, I’m unsure what to suggest.

For comparison, I understand there is some large body of both well planned studies and anecdotal rules about what pregnant women should or shouldn’t eat. Are there rules dictating that it’s illegal for them to eat what they want because it’s understood that eating such things carries a risk to their child? We don’t legally forbid pregnant mothers from smoking.

I think smoking is actually a good comparison. Though the detrimental effects to health are much clearer on smoking, anybody who wants to go buy them can, while children are (supposed to be) restricted in their access. Perhaps an approach like this would be suitable to raw milk until somebody can say more convincingly that raw milk is good or bad to eat, against the mountains of anecdotal evidence both ways.

It is much harder for people to be attacked publicly by do-gooders in the case of raw milk. It’s easy to see a pregnant woman smoking and condescend and vilify them, but with milk, how will anybody know? How powerful a deterrent is this stigmatization and what are the implications for milk?

For now, I don’t even have the luxury of choosing raw milk. While I did briefly, I made a point of trying it out and while I did like the taste, I don’t think I like and consume milk enough to justify the additional cost (in price or in finding supply or whatever). Goat milk though, that stuff is delicious (and pasteurized and homogenized when I tried it).