Finding Quality Dairy
I find it completely maddening that in this wonderful country called Canada, I cannot purchase organic, pasture-fed, raw dairy. I can buy cigarettes; I can buy alcohol; and for a while there it was looking like I would even be able to buy pot legally, but quality milk is strictly illegal unless I own a cow or am part of a cow-share program. How stupid is that?
I’m not suggesting that they make pasteurized milk illegal so that everyone is forced to choose raw – all I want is the choice to be able to buy the healthful, enzyme and nutrition-rich raw dairy. Currently I am forced to choose the pasteurized stuff, where all the enzymes, vitamins and minerals have been destroyed.
Sure, they say that this is for my own health, and that the bacteria in raw dairy is dangerous. Maybe in another time when the milking barns were less clean. But when one looks at the incidences of sickness from milk, just as many people get sick from pasteurized milk as raw.
Even Louis Pasteur, the person that told the world that heating up food will kill the bacteria in the food, admitted late in life that the problem is not the germ, but rather the terrain. Just like you can’t light a fire with soaking wet wood, it is difficult to get sick if your immune system is strong and healthy.
It is crazy that we as consumers have to wade through the garbage that is being sold to us as food to find the quality food that will nourish us. So, let’s help each other! Our dollars are powerful! Use this blog to post the brands that manufacture quality dairy.
Criteria? Best is certified organic, pasture-fed, raw dairy. (If you live in the Vancouver area and legally want access to raw dairy, use the contact form on www.wellnesstips.ca to contact me.)
2nd best is certified organic, non-homogenized dairy (homogenization is the other form of destruction that milk undergoes before it hits the supermarket shelves, where the milk is passed through a microfilter so that the fat globules are broken down into tiny little bits and stay suspended in the milk. Unfortunately our body no longer recognizes those particles as food.)
Third best is certified organic. Stay away from the ultrapasteurized stuff!
So what brands to buy? If you happen to live in California, you can walk into your supermarket and buy organic, raw, pasture-fed milk, cream, yogurt, butter and even colostrum. The brand is Organic Pastures. Support them!
From anywhere in the States you can go to their website and order from them and get raw dairy delivered to your door.
Because in Canada raw dairy is illegal, many would suggest that no dairy should be consumed at all. In Ontario, however, one can find organic non-homogenized milk from the Harmony Dairy in Bornholm Ontario, in stores across the province.
In the Vancouver B.C. area, Avalon Dairy just started selling an organic non-homogenized milk – yeah! It’s the glass bottle with the white cap and the red lettering. All lower-fat milks are homogenized so don’t drink them. And besides, you need the fat to absorb any of the nutrition that may be left after the pasteurization process.
Whipping cream is pretty much always non-homogenized, so go for it – just make sure you choose organic.
Yogurt – only get the plain, full fat, organic, non-homogenized. Flavoured yogurts are essentially pots of sugar, and they are even worse if they are low fat. Your insulin will go through the roof. See my tip on Blood-Sugar Regulation for more on that.
Brands? My favourite by far is Jerseyland, and they sell in western Canada. Not sure if it can be found in the States – maybe someone can let us know. 2nd is Saugeen – it says non-homogenized on the lid. I think it is an Ontario company so it is probably available across the country.
Cheese – raw is easy to find. Even organic. Jerseyland has nice quality cheeses, and L’Ancetre Cheese Factory sells organic raw cheeses across Canada, and many of the cheeses imported from Europe are raw organic.
If the label does not specify that the milk is raw, assume it is pasteurized and make another choice.
I can’t speak for Eastern Canada, US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America etc, so please help me get this info out there and write about your favourite healthy brands of dairy.
Facebook Wellness-Tips Page
Design by
Tyron Piteau said,
April 17, 2006 @ 12:13 am
Thanks for all the good info Vreni.
I was wondering, how does Mclennan Creek Organic diary products stand up? i.e. their organic goat’s milk yogurt? Or Moutain Meadow’s organic sheep’s milk yogurt? These two products I enjoy so please let me and others know what your thoughts are on these.
Thanks.
Victoria said,
April 17, 2006 @ 3:25 pm
Dear Vreni
Thank you so much for all the hard work you do in producing you ezine and you blog. I have been travelling with my husband in our RV for 6 months and enjoy reading the articles. I often forword articles to folks I think can benifit from them. I have been enjoying being almost pain free after 10 sessions with Mark Finch. I have been working out in a gym when I can and riding my bike as well as hiking. Keep up the good work and I will keep reading. Victoria
Vreni Gurd said,
April 24, 2006 @ 10:13 pm
Hi Tyron,
Mclennan Creek Organic goat’s milk is non-homogenized, as when you open the bottle there is a lump of cream at the top. Because of that I presuming, but am in no way certain, that their yogurt is non-homogenized also. I haven’t personally tried it yet. Does it have a layer of thicker perhaps slightly yellowish stuff on top? (Sounds appetizing, eh? But you just stir it in.) As for the Mountain Meadow Organic sheep’s milk yogurt, I asked at the store, and they seem to think that it IS homogenized.
Vreni Gurd said,
April 24, 2006 @ 10:14 pm
Hi Victoria,
Glad you are doing so well, and I’m also glad that you are enjoying the tips. I enjoy writing them – that’s for sure!
Norman RJ Shaw said,
June 15, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
I just enjoy reading your material -especially H.F.C.S., your communication skills are just right-keep helping the world-it needs your down-to-earth style.
Cheers, Norm Shaw
Vreni said,
June 16, 2008 @ 12:48 am
Hi Norm,
Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoy my articles! 🙂
Vreni
Scotty said,
June 5, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
Hey Vreni,
Thanks for the great tips. Isn’t it a concern that the milk of animals contains indigestible proteins (i.e. casein, especially the opioid peptide BCM-7) that inflict damage to the human intestinal villi (and encourage the formation of inspid pus/mucus), as well as bringing in hormones that do not belong in the human physiology.
Also, what about the amines that form in milk after only a matter of a few days?
I’m considering raw dairy for my health, but it does not seem like a natural food according to our long-developed genome (during aeons of nomadism prior to animal husbandry).
Also, doesn’t flesh give rise to GI tract dysbiosis (and ultimately mycotoxins) due to the long transit time in humans (compared to the shorter tracts of more typical carnivores/omnivores)?
What’s your opinion please?
Many thanks,
Scotty
Vreni said,
June 6, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
Hi Scotty,
No doubt many people cannot tolerate even raw milk, whereas others are fine on it. Pasteurized is not good for anyone. It depends a lot on genetics whether or not one can tolerate raw milk, and some that cannot tolerate straight milk are okay if it has been fermented into yogurt, kefir or cheese. I’m with you that very few nomadic tribes would have consumed milk. I think there were a couple of tribes in Africa that did – don’t have my reference books with me to look it up right now – the tribe that survived on milk and cow’s blood, for example. But once cattle were domesticated, some cultures started drinking milk, and did okay on it, whereas other cultures did not, and probably would not do well on milk today either. I’m Swiss, and milk and cheese have been a staple in the Swiss diet for centuries. I realize we are not going back to nomadic times, so your point is well taken.
As for meats, we are omnivores and have been eating meat since the beginning of time. All traditional cultures included some flesh foods in the diet, and those cultures that lived in cold climates relied on flesh foods for survival during the winter when plants don’t grow. What would you eat in northern Europe, Canada or Alaska in January in the year 1400? Certainly not fresh vegetables or fruit! Nor grain for that matter. Many Inuit cultures ate a meat-only diet and were free from the modern diseases of today.
The flesh foods eaten were wild, eating their natural diet, as opposed to the bulk of meat sold in the grocery store, which come from medicated, caged animals that never see the light of day, are fed a diet that is unnatural for them (grain fed to cows, for example). Eating meat from unhealthy animals cannot make us healthy either, but eating good quality flesh foods as traditional cultures did does not cause gut dysbiosis unless there is a sensitivity there. I would suggest that gut dysbioisis is more commonly from eating a diet high in gluten, refined carbohydrates, sugar, and processed food that contains no live enzymes or good bacteria – food that is dead.
I hope that makes sense …
karen said,
July 21, 2009 @ 11:03 am
Hi Vreni,
Great information. Have recently moved back to the lower mainland and have been searching for raw milk that doesn’t cost an arm and leg but the next best thing organic non-homogenized milk. Call Avalon Dairy they informed me that they are just rolling out a new line organic non-homogenized milk today, July 21, 2009. They claim that the standard homo milk is non-homogenized. Just thought I would let you know, your information on the Lower Mainland saved me time today.
Thank You, Karen
Danny said,
August 8, 2009 @ 8:48 am
Homogenized MILK is a poison… Altering the molecular structure of a food before consuming causes various ailments….
http://bittergreensgazette.blogspot.com/2005/04/homogenized-milk-devil.html
http://www.realmilk.com/
http://www.marysherbs.com/heal/heal-mlk.htm
read the above links which shows true insight about homogenized milk.
The bane is you donot know how you are affected by these synthesized foods..It will take couple of decades to proove with a study and it will be contradicted with another study..
But you have answers for good health…ie. what our ancestors practised..Unfortunately, you cannot get it now…due to the modern food business.
Believe your ancestors way of life all natural and raw, fire cooked..in metals pans..no microwave.
Modern food processing are the culprits, it increases the total number patients in almost all the country..
Did your grandmas grandma had acid reflux… I donot think so… Donot be surprised about the increased number of patients in the clinics..it all starts with food…
Ironically, even the third world countries adopt the modern food processing.
Good food good health, Bad food bad health..
All the likeminded people raise your hands together to get what we want..for a good healthy life..what our ancestors taught.
** where can i get non-homogenized milk in toronto, mississauga, brampton ONTARIO
thanks vrani for the opportunity to shed some words
Vreni said,
August 8, 2009 @ 11:18 am
Horizon Dairy sells a non-homogenized milk in Ontario. I’ve seen it in Toronto, and I’m sure it is also sold in Mississauga and Brampton. This milk is non-homogenized, but it IS pasteurized. No store is allowed to sell non-pasteurized milk in Canada. If you are looking for completely unadulterated milk from grass-fed cows, look for a cow share in your area.
Hope that helps!
Vreni
Natalie said,
October 12, 2009 @ 1:16 am
I am in North Vancouver and want to switch my family to un-homogonised dairy. Thanks for the info.
maha said,
August 5, 2010 @ 2:27 pm
Hello All;
if you are in Canada nad looking for raw milk, I jsut bought shares in a cow and started picking up my raw milk for a while now. if you are interested please email me and I will give you the farmers phone number
Mardene Francis said,
September 27, 2010 @ 12:33 pm
Does anyone know any farmers or places in Alberta where one can get raw milk and other products?
Vreni said,
September 28, 2010 @ 11:50 am
Perhaps you can find some on the Real Milk site.
Thiru said,
January 3, 2013 @ 3:30 pm
Does any one know how to get raw milk in Brampton, ON? Please reply if some one know.
Vreni said,
January 3, 2013 @ 6:09 pm
I’d check here and see if any one of these cow shares is close to you. http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder/other-countries/#can Good luck!