The Hook family are passionate about their milk, and cows that produce it. They hate the way the food industry has turned milk in to a commodity and ruined the end product. As such they sell their milk RAW and direct and are the first to offer national delivery.
The story of raw milk may sum up the food industry. The Food standards agency say it is dangerous, whilst many others, like the Hook family and including some scientist, say it is the only milk to drink.
Raw milk is fresh from the cow, cooled and has a shelf life of about a week. All of the milk in the shops is pasteurised and or homogenised and lasts for about 3 weeks.
Raw milk is said to cure many allergies, including eczema, and can be made in to cheese or yoghurt as it sours naturally. Other milk last for 3 weeks and if not consumed, turns putrid.
Pasteurising means heating the milk to kill any bugs and homogenised means passing the milk through tiny holes at pressure to emulsify the fat in to tiny bubbles. This means the fat stays in the liquid and does not separate as the cream rising to the top.
Pasteurisation ALSO; destroys enzymes, denatures anti-microbial and immune stimulating components, diminishes nutrient availability, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B6 and B12, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth and behavior problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis and heart disease. www.realmilk.com
So why is raw milk banned in Scotland and only available in this country direct from the farmer? A dairy farmer is not even allowed to sell his raw milk to a local farm shop!
This a classic UK ‘food industry’ fix for the milk industry. Ignore the positive effects of raw milk and enforce pasteurisation.
This means that small dairy farmers cannot poison anyone, increase shelf life of all milk to allow a longer supply chain and make milk a commodity to reduce price, and stop people making their own cheese and yoghurt.
All very interesting, to find your local dairy try the BigBarn map and ask if you can buy raw milk direct from them. Or ask your local farm shop about installing a vending machine owned by the dairy farmer. Or buy now from Hook & Son in the MarketPlace.
For some 20 years I have studied health matters. I want my food as natural as possible without interference and I want to avoid toxic chemicals. Raw milk is fantastic for the gut and the immune system. Raw (full cream) milk is fantastic. Pasteurisation destroys vital nutrients. All I want is raw milk ! In France you can buy it in supermarkets. In Scotland it is banned. I had a supply but old George Withers died and his son sold out. Years later I found another supply and then they decided not to sell to the public. Now at last I have found another source, so long as I say it is for my pussy cats. Thank goodness somebody knows what they are talking about. Lucky Hailsham I say, and hopefully you are appreciated.
You raise some very interesting points. I will have to look into the differences of raw milk in more depth. It would be good if you did another blog post with some data or include citations for visitors to read up more on it.
great all we need now is to bring back the milk man with raw milk deliveries i would definatly be up for that as i dont drive and find it hard to get out xx
the only way forward is to bring the prices down, i cannot believe how expensive it is?
Discovered them down in London at the Soho market Rupert Street. It is delicious, can drink it by the glass which i can not do with supermarket milk. Try their butter and cream….
I received my first delivery of raw milk a few days ago and it is fantastic. Tastes just like the milk we bought from the farms in Wales when I was a child – many years ago. I agree it is expensive and Wendy you won’t get it from the milkman, it has to be sold direct from the farmer, I think. If more and more people bought it and realised the health benefits maybe the price would come down.
It only seems so expensive because we have been trained to expect milk at such a low price by the supermarkets. This price is not realistic as the farmer makes a loss at that price and that is why so many go out of business! We pay more for a bottle of water than a bottle of milk… and think how much more has gone into producing the milk. Or think of the price of a pint of beer compared to a pint of milk! If we want our cows to not be intensively farmed and we want the dairy farmers to stay in business we need to be realistic about the price we are prepared to pay for milk.
Great point Sue and thanks, One of my favourite facts about the food industry at the moment is that in some shops milk is cheaper than water.