Page 4 - Winter2010

Letters

My reading revealed the reason peptones (proteins from casein) reduce So all is well down here at South
why UHT treated milk froths better, frothing capacity. But as we hear more Pork Ranch because Foremost became
and in the process I better understood and more about casein allergies, we real- paranoid about our farm supplying a
the benefits of drinking and using raw ize that allowing the natural protease to great product to those who craved it.
milk as a staple in our diet. act on the casein reduces the allergenic- These mega companies seem deter-
Raw milk allows the activity of ity of the milk protein. mined to keep shooting themselves in
natural lipase, an enzyme that breaks In summary, I generally want my the foot. Fine with me—no skin off my
apart dietary fats. This means the fat milk raw because it has natural lipase bucket of milk. “Diversify and conquer”
in the milk is broken down into the and protease activity and the delicate is our new farm logo.
easier-to-digest free fatty acids. For whey protein and immune factors Donna O’Shaughnessy
people with weak digestion or difficulty remain intact. But all these beneficial and Keith Parrish
digesting fats (such as those with prior attributes get in the way of my milk Chatsworth, Illinois
gall bladder removal), this higher free froth experience. My solution? At the
fatty acid content will be better absorbed moment, I have tea with raw honey and NO BOYCOTT PLEASE
and tolerated. But, the higher the levels raw milk in front of me. Café au lait may I have a one hundred percent grass-
of free fatty acids in milk, the less it replace my cappuccino for a while. Just fed (only hay over winter) organic dairy
froths. a little insight from a raw milk advocate farm. When we became certified organic
Lactalbumin (whey) protein is the and occasional cappuccino drinker. ten years ago, we put up a small cheese
dominant protein that produces the Richard Maurer, ND plant and for the first years, made all the
froth, and when this protein is denatured Falmouth, Maine milk from our eighteen to twenty Jersey
(broken down), it froths more. High cows into raw milk aged cheese. After
heat and pressure cause these proteins A SILVER LINING a few years the state milk sanitation
to denature. Thus UHT milk froths bet- Thank you for working to change department asked us to not sell to our
ter than simple boiled or scalded milk, Organic Valley’s anti-raw milk policy. biggest customer because he refused to
but boiled milk froths better than raw. Because of this very same issue with get the proper permit to repackage and
When milk is heated, the heat-labile Foremost Farms, our farm went “rebel” sell cheese. Without the cheese sales to
proteins are the ones to break down. almost six months ago. We were told him, we had surplus milk and began
These fragile proteins include immuno- to stop selling raw milk “or else.” We selling to Organic Valley, which we still
globulins, bovine serum albumin, and chose the “or else” and told Foremost consider to be an excellent co-op.
alpha-lactalbumin. “bye-bye.” It was the best decision we When the co-op decided to not
Casein is the least susceptible to have ever made. allow milk diversions, we at first con-
breakdown by pasteurization. While In Illinois it is legal to sell raw milk sidered downsizing our herd and just
enzymes and immunoglobulins in the to the customer so we do, many, many selling cheese, but because the market in
milk are denatured, the more difficult- times each week. Our customer list our local area is flooded with farmstead
to-digest protein, casein, is left intact. grows and grows. We are not selling all cheese, we instead decided to sell the
This enhances frothing, but complicates our milk yet, but that is just fine because cheese business and increase our dairy
digestion and allergic reactions to the what is left over goes to our thriving herd to make up for the income loss. We
milk. pig herd. The hogs are then sold to the found a buyer and sold the business and
In raw milk, proteolysis of casein restaurant trade in Chicago. They rave it equipment to a cheese customer.
caused by the natural protease in milk is the best pork they have ever had. We My reason for writing is that I
will result in the presence of smaller cannot keep up with the demand for our appreciate that the Weston A. Price
protein fragments of casein. These small milk-fed pork. Foundation is working with Organic
4 Wise Traditions WINTER 2010

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