Investigating the Benefits of Organic Milk

unpasteurized healthy milk obviously requires healthy cows, eating a healthy diet and leading a healthy lifestyle: pasture-raised, grass-fed and spared the antibiotics and growth-hormones that befall the gigantic herds of industrial dairy farms. In other words, healthy raw milk necessarily implies organic farming practices that only small operations can provide with integrity.Note that raw milk is not legally available in all 50 States. Check here to find out if and how you can procure it.Canada outlawed its sale in 1991 on the grounds of protecting public health—which doesn’t prevent its fans from getting it since drinking it is permitted by law. Organic or not?Consumers caught on this latter argument early on. Even when safely pasteurized, they reasoned, milk must be healthier when produced by healthy, happy cows rather than by confined animals that are stuffed with pesticide-laden feed, antibiotics and artificial growth hormones (note that the United States is in the minority among industrialized nations by allowing the use of synthetic growth hormones to artificially stimulate milk production in dairy herds; the practice is prohibited in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and in the 27 countries of the European Union). Over the past decade, organic milk production has enjoyed one of the fastest growth among all organic agriculture segments, despite a steep price premium (up to twice as much) justified by the relatively higher production costs of small-scale operations.Things started getting complicated when some industrial dairy farms, lured by the promise of this emerging market, tried to enter the fray with a view to improve their margins. The only way to achieve this was through bending the organic label requirements so as to incur as small a production cost increase as possible. This strategy included keeping massive herds (thousands of heads), giving them a strip of raw dirt as a way to comply with the “pasture grazing” requirement, and feeding them grain. Under the Bush administration, the USDA never bothered to enforce its own regulations.Simultaneously, the milk lobby PR machine went into action, supported by such organizations as the Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI), disparaging the claims that “organic” milk held higher health benefits than “regular” milk. Studies were published to demonstrate that there is no difference in nutrient content and that the genetically engineered growth-hormone rBST, designed to increase milk production, is as harmless to consumers as natural growth-hormones that are a normal occurrence in milk.The public grew confused as to what “organic” actually stands for and whether the price premium is justified. In 2008, the Cornucopia Institute published a scorecard that sheds the light on the practices of 110 dairy brands of organic milk and is still considered the best reference available to consumers.The public scored a victory in 2010 when the USDA passed new regulations, effective as of last June, designed to tighten the requirements imposed on dairy farms to earn the organic label. The main one is that ruminants must obtain 30% of their dry food intake from grazing, which means that they must feed in a pasture at least 120 days a year. Existing organic farms have until June 2011 to comply.And last but not least, a study published in January 2011 by the University of Newcastle seems to have put an end to the raging scientific debate about milk. Conclusion: organic trumps, for the sake of your health and the cows’. These are among hundreds of tips you can adopt to “green” your lifestyle and contribute to a healthier planet. Take your free assessment on GoingGreenToday and receive your customized plan of action tailored to your household, with tips, links and easy access to a wealth of resources. 
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