The Farms I have Come to Love

With the help of wonderful friends I was able to do research and find local farms that I felt comfortable with and then started purchasing their food. I also went out to visit one of the farms to see the milking operation. Talk about sanitary. The cows are treated well, they are happy and content. During milking, they are given a little bit of grain (the only grain they get). The milk is pumped through stainless steel equipment that is cleaned with hot steam, bottled immediately, kept at 35 degrees Farenheight and sold with in a couple of days. The cows are continuously evaluated for their health. I feel like I "know" the cow that our milk comes from. How many people that buy pasturized milk can say that? I take my boys to the farmers market in the next town every Wednesday morning to pick up our orders. I am now friends with Chad (the son) and he keeps me updated on new items that the farm may be selling. He is a caring man and answers all questions that I may have regarding his products or farming practices. For example, one week the egg yolks from his free range eggs didn't look as orange as they usually do. He told me that his yolks will be most orange during the spring and summer months when he can get the most betacarotene (through certain veggies) in the chicken feed. I had no idea! Chad's farm is called Carlton Farm located in Rockmart GA. Their website is www.Carltonfarm.com. Every Wednesday I meet people who have been buying his milk and eggs for years. Its become a little community for us now. We chat about our lives and whats new since we last saw eachother.

The other farm that I purchase meat from is located in TN. Its called West Wind Farms and is run by a sweet couple named Kimberlie and Ralph Cole. We have yet to visit them but plan on doing so one day this summer. They send us a list of their meat and cheese selections once a month. Its not just large cuts either. We can get seasoned roast beef, bacon, sausages and bones for stock. They deliver to a host house in my town and I have now become good friends with her. I actually bring her a gallon of raw milk from Carlton Farms once a week because she can't get to the farmers market. She is a keeper for honeybees and harvests honey from them once a year. Its an amazing sight to see but a little scary as well!! My point is that we are a community of people who are opting out of the processed food machine. We are choosing to go back to nature and support local sustainable farms. These farms cultivate the land and improve the environment instead of using up our natural resources. I feel safe when I eat their food. My body feels good knowing its all grass fed without harmful chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics or vaccines. The website for West Wind Farms is www.westwindfarms.com. I am now on the search for raw butter in bulk. These farms need A LOT of cream in order to churn butter and they rarely sell it. I have made it before on my own but it spoils easily. If I can find a farm that sells raw butter, I would be their first customer!

The Quest for Raw Milk

Now armed with the knowledge that what I have been eating for practically my entire life has been made of corn in some form or another and has most likely contributed to future health problems, I felt empowered. I decided that I would seek out food from other sources. Food that didn't make its way down the traditional supply chain. Food that was not advertised on TV, not marketed through vehicles such as coupons or displays in the grocery aisle. I wanted to get back to the way our ancestors ate food because for what its worth, these new diseases and disorders were unheard of back then. Yes they were plagued with other diseases and illnesses that were just as fatal but in my opinion, I don't think it was as a result of their diet. So I was told about the Weston A. Price Foundation. This foundation was started by a dentist believe it or not. He thought that many of the diseases we see today are directly related to the modern diet. The whole premise is that any farm that joins the foundation should adhere to the beliefs of traditional farming. This means pastured animals. Cows that eat only grass. Free range chickens and pigs and most importantly unpasturized dairy. This really spoke to me as my boys were about to turn 1 and would be transitioning to cows milk soon. I learned that milk from grass fed Jersey cows (not Holsteins which are breeded to be able to digest corn better than other breeds and can grow to enourmous size) has important enzymes that can help with autoimmune issues such as asthma, rosacea and excema. Once heated, these enzymes are killed off and the milk is left inert. The main reason for pasturization in this country is to protect our milk from harmful bacteria that can be passed on from the cow or the unsanitary farm hand. Well, this issue tends to be most prevalent in the monolithic dairy farms that feed their Holsteins corn. These cows get sick from the corn and the living conditions that they are subjected to. Their milk becomes pussy and infected and MUST go through a pasturization process. The milk is transported to a heating facility that raises the temps to kill off all bacteria (good and bad) that may be living in the milk. The milk is then transported back to be packaged in large metal trucks that have been cleaned on the inside with toxic chemicals. Sound tasty? I think not. Raw milk is intended to be a smaller operation. A local family farm. Raw milk is not shipped nationally and does not have large networks. Its found through word of mouth or through the Weston A. Price Foundation. In most states its illegal to purchase raw milk for human consumption. I think this is a shame because we as free citizens have a right to choose what we consume but instead we are being limited under the guise of "protection". The government likes to scare us into believeing that if our milk isn't pasturized, we will surely get sick!! This couldn't be further from the truth but the government has done a great job at promoting this lie because everyone I have spoken to about raw milk has warned me that I will get sick if I am not careful. Hmmmm, I have been drinking it and so have my boys for almost a year now and we are all thriving!! So there! I was able to find a local GA farm through the Weston Price website http://www.westonaprice.org/ and drive to a local pickup weekly to get my raw milk, free range eggs and various other organic locally grown produce. As for meat, I was also able to locate a regional farm in TN that raises all pastured (grass fed) beef, chicken and pigs. They deliver to a host house in my town and I pick up my order monthly. You can tell the difference in these products by first sight. For example, the milk has about an 8 inch layer of pure cream on top. Its absolutely delicious. The meat isn't marbled (not much fat)and the chicken is some of the freshest I have ever eaten. My boys are doing so well on the milk. I will go into their eating issues in another post but I truly believe that raw milk has helped them gain weight and boost their immune systems. Along with the foundation, there is also an amazing cookbook that helps cooks make everyday meals out of their farm fresh products and teaches them the invaluable prepatory skills needed to get the most nutrition out of the foods we eat. The book is called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and I highly recommend it!