According to a study conducted by the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center in 2001, 48,677 milk cows were certified organic in the United States. They produced less than 1 percent of the 6.3 billion gallons of beverage milk.
The growth factor to which Epstein is referring is called insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1. Both human and cow's milk contains some level of IGF-1 because milk is designed for the young and IGF-1 helps us in the growth process. Epstein says that the higher levels of IGF-1 in the blood could stimulate cancerous cells to grow. Melissa Hooper, nutritionist for the Midwest Dairy Association, disagrees and says that rBGH can't affect humans because it is a bovine hormone that has been deemed safe by the FDA.
Ideas similar to Epstein's are what keep the Noffke's Pleasanton farm, Skyview, all natural. The Noffkes do not use growth hormones because Noffke has read about the link between the hormones and cancers in the reproductive organs and breast tissue. She also understands that science currently cannot back up these claims.
Worries about hormones are not the only reason farms like Noffke's go organic. She compares eating and drinking inorganic products to stepping on nails. She says that occasionally stepping on a nail won't hurt you too badly. Stepping on nails every day is a different story. Included in Noffke's "nails" are pesticides and fertilizers. An organic farm can neither feed its cows grain that has been treated with pesticides nor medicate the cows with antibiotics. The pasture where the cows graze must be naturally fertilized, and the water source must be controllable. The final product is all natural and pure.
Straight from the udder?
Take the idea of natural and pure one step further and you'll run smack into one of the newest milk crazes—or should I say oldest? Obviously, milk straight from the
cow was consumed before the whole idea of pasteurization, but now some consumers are choosing raw milk over the pasteurized version because it is richer in vitamins and minerals and therefore possibly more healthful.
The problem for these raw milk guzzlers is that store-bought milk is sold in the pasteurized form. Pasteurization is a process that began in the late $19^{\mathrm{th}}$ century after people began to blame raw milk for tuberculosis. Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, came up with a process in which the milk was heated to between 145 and 150 degrees for half an hour and then chilled to less than 55 degrees to kill germs and prevent quick spoilage. The milk sold on the shelves of grocery stores and gas stations goes through a process called HTST (High Temperature/ Short Time) pasteurization in which the milk is heated to 161.5 degrees for at least 15 seconds.
The enzymes that pasteurization removes aid in the digestion of milk, creating lactose intolerance Noffke says. She says that if you were to feed pasteurized milk to a calf, it would die of malnutrition because of the missing nutrients that the pasteurization process has destroyed.
The sale of raw milk is outlawed in many states, but that doesn't decrease consumer demand. Noffke says that she is up to her eyeballs in raw milk customers, but in Kansas, dairies that sell raw milk can only sell it on the farm. They are not allowed to transport the merchandise, and they cannot advertise beyond the farm. Drive-by customers only see a small, white sign lettered in black to alert them that Skyview sells milk.
The skinny on fat
Diet fads change from clinical study to clinical study. Years ago, dairy products were on the strict dieters "do not touch" list, but recent studies claim that calcium-rich dairy products actually aid in weight reduction. Hooper says that Dr. Michael Zemel, professor of nutrition at the University of Tennessee, discovered this correlation almost 14 years ago. He noticed that African-American men who consumed at least two servings of whole-fat dairy a day lost an average of 11 pounds during his yearlong study. These men did not reduce their calorie intake.
This led to Zemel's more current research published in "Obesity Research" indicating that people on a reduced-calorie diet who eat three to four servings of dairy a day on a reduced-calorie diet lose weight in their abdominal region. In his study he divided the subjects into three categories: high dairy/high calcium, high calcium and low calcium. Zemel's study found that subjects eating the high-dairy diet lost 70 percent more body weight and 64 percent more body fat than those individuals on the low-calcium diet.
Hooper says calcium plays a role in weight maintenance and reduced medical costs and that people can get their biggest source of calcium from dairy. The nutrients in milk are undeniable because dairy products are naturally nutrient rich.
The controversy lies in hormone-injections and weight loss.
Back on the farm
Whether everything Noffke says is based on scientific fact, the attitude at Skyview Farm is hard to resist. Lazy, wellfed cows walk aimlessly about the pas-
ture. They are unstressed, free and healthy.
While heating curds and whey to make mozzarella cheese, Noffke opens her refrigerator and pulls out a white plate displaying pure butter the color of an egg yolk. She smiles and tells me that when cows are grass-fed, their butter turns bright yellow. She puts back the plate after I rejects her offer of a taste. Instead, she reaches for the raw milk and pours me a small glass. I feel nervous because of all the germs and bacteria I've read about that make their home in the liquid, but I take a sip and realize what I've been missing. It tastes fresh, cold and thick. Maybe it's the idea of the cows' freedom that does a subconscious dance on my tongue, but it tastes so much better than store-bought milk. I swirl it around, coating the glass like a good wine, and swallow the rest of the sample. Noffke looks at me, eagerly awaiting my reaction. "It is good," I say, while I secretly pray that I would not become violently ill.
Days later, I'm fine and craving a glass of raw milk.
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02.03.05 Jayplay
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