I keep reading about so-called A1 and A2 milk. I haven’t read The Devil in the Milk, but have read enough about it to get the main idea. (According to Amazon’s description of the book, “Milk that contains A1 beta-casein is commonly known as A1 milk; milk that does not is called A2.”) A1 milk leads to chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, while A2 milk promotes good health, goes the hypothesis.
It all makes a lot of sense on paper, and from various reviews, I gather The Devil in the Milk makes a compelling case for dairies to convert their herds to being A2 producers. There are some problems with this neat approach, though. Perhaps most serious, dairy farmers say there is apparently no way for them to test out their milk, because the test is proprietary, and isn’t currently being offered in the U.S.
The chiropractor, Joseph Mercola, advises consumers to seek out farmers producing A2 milk. That seems to be exactly what they’re doing. Pam Robinson, a Massachusetts raw milk producer, say she’s getting calls about what her milk is. She says she doesn’t know, so people ask about the breed of her cows. They are mostly Holsteins, a breed commonly identified with producing A1 milk. That’s leading to lost sales.
It’s an unfortunate situation. You have people seeking a certain type of milk no one can identify for certain, that may be healthier than another type of milk that could be dangerous. (The New Zealand Food Safety Authority has an interesting FAQ, which suggests that the evidence about the differences isn’t yet conclusive.)
I mean, as an American raw milk consumer, you’re doing well simply to find a regular and reliable supplier of raw milk. Now you’re supposed to figure which raw dairy suppliers are producing A1 and which are producing A2? Sorry, that’s not going to work.
I guess you can seek out dairies with Guernseys or Jerseys, which tend to produce A2 milk, but you still have no guarantee. I say, just leave it go until we learn more, or at least until farmers can easily test their herds.
***
New England barns are supposed to look a certain way—you know, triangular red-wood structures that are sturdier than anything else on the farm (see photo below).
I was back at Cedar Mountain Farm in Vermont on Friday—the publisher of my upcoming book wanted to film an interview with me, and what better place to do it than on a dairy farm producing raw milk? Kerry Gawalt and Stephen Leslie, who own the farm, were most hospitable.
While waiting to do the video, I had trouble taking my eyes off the farm’s new barn. It doesn’t look anything like a barn—more like an airplane hangar than anything else. But it’s apparently the newest thing in barns, light, airy, and highly energy efficient (see photo below).
Apparently the several dozen residents of the cohousing enclave that shares the land of Cedar Mountain Farm debated for many months before approving the barn. Many residents wanted the old-fashioned New England barn. No matter that such barns are much less energy efficient, they wanted a barn that blended into the landscape, was more a traditional barn.
The modernists eventually won out, and the cows and calves now enjoy the latest in barn technology. I suppose green isn’t always beautiful, but then, looks aren’t everything. Given the financial pressure on farms, they should be making barn choices based heavily on economics rather than appearances. 
They call this a barn? The new style at Cedar Mountain Farm. 
Traditional New England barn.
From a factory farm point of view,A2 milk would be a great way to continue to manage cows in the same way and also offer consumers a "better" product.Just switching to A2 semen would be easy for them to do.In a couple of cow generations they could be selling all A2 milk.Don’t fall for this! The most important factors in quality milk will still be the way the cow is fed and managed.The fact that I milk Guernsey cows doesn’t influence my opinion on this subject.Get your milk from cows that are fed and managed the way cows were before grain became cheap and gallons/cow became the most important factor.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=w5O&q=bonnie+bassler&start=20&sa=N
Your friend may be on the vanguard of a whole new career opportunity area. Kind of a modern-day version of the king’s taste tester, or the canary in the coal mine.
David
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v59/n5/abs/1602104a.html
" how we feed and manage our cows can change the makeup of that community of bacteria.If we want A2 milk,we should manage the cows as close to the way they were traditionally managed back when all cows gave A2 milk."
This is what I’ve read often on this site. It makes for the healthiest milk, cows and environment.
Pardon my cynicism, but those who hold a ‘better future’ for ransom for a buck, can’t really have the ‘better future’.
Know your farmer, know their herd, know your milk. Period.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-rawmilk-infection,0,6023817.story
cp
People drive long distances because tptb are foolish and try to dictate what is consumed. For what reason? What give tptb the power to do that? Why make raw milk so difficult to obtain? Food safety? If "food safety" were truely the issue then all the other foods that are harmful, adulterated and have greater potential for/do sicken many more than raw dairy, would not be in exisitance. The govt simply should not dictate what can or cannot consumed.
As for carboon footprints, do away with the factory farms,dairies, interstate/international food shipments, etc…those have a far bigger print. The tiny smear of a carbon footprint against raw dairy consumers isn’t worthy of mention at this point. In the big sceam of things they don’t show up on the radar.
In my own household, I am currently dealing with the influence of two books very popular among teenagers right now: "Skinny Bitch," for girls and "Skinny Bastard," for boys. I’m sorry, but those are the real titles. After reading them, my 17 y/o daughter and my 19 y/o son recently attempted to turn vegan and give up refined flour and high fructose corn syrup. I was actually thankful that the list of "bad food" included Mt. Dew and Red Bull.
BUT there have been trade-offs. Seeing as how we live on a small farm, and eat our sheep, goats and chickens, the moral self-evaluation involved personal conflicts for them. My daughter is also the program coordinator for our local Grange. She is having to reconcile her values with,…her values.
They learned about the books from a boy from another state, whom my daugher is dating. They met through a friend of hers who met him on the internet, dated him for an extended time, and broke up with him. (That girl is dating another boy she met on the internet, in yet another state). This young man just began his Freshman year at a state college in the state he lives in. He is 18, a PETA member, and very fired up about veganism because of these books. My daughter wants to have him over for Thanksgiving.
Nearly every small farm in our area with road frontage has had authorities called on them for some "animal abuse" or other. So you can imagine my apprehension. I have taken this as an opportunity to educate yet another suburbanite on the intricacies of food issues. It is tiresome. It is A1 and A2 raw milk type discussions, although I don’t think I’ll introduce that topic just yet. We have to get past the idea that we just drink milk first.
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation puts out a magazine for its members called, "Our Ohio." The executive vice president, Jack Fisher, writes a sort of forward in each one. In August, it was entitled, "Animals in our Lives." It talks about the formation in Ohio of a Center for Food and Animal Issues, to discuss and debate all sides of contraversies, and attempt to keep Ohio farmers in business in the current ethical climate. He quotes an observation someone made, "Americans want animals in the center of their lives and at the center of their plates."
It is extremely, extremely frustrating for those of us who attempt to raise even just our OWN food, to deal with people who maybe went to a farm in 3rd grade and got to try milking a cow once, who read such books written by well-meaning authors and for us to live out simply keeping producing just our own food. Never mind the neighbors, the country or the planet.
Sylvia,
Maybe, but the locavores are pretty firm in their definition of what is local and sustainable, even with small carbon footprints (like how far a tomato travels). I’m not sure "raw milk" fits their definition. Do you think, or care, if raw milk is local, sustainable?
Bacteria in and on the body and gut change everything….environments and diets change everything.
I must agree….it is far to early to conclude anything from one book and a branded idea of A-1 verses A-2.
I have tried for five years to get the A-2 Corp to test OPDC raw milk. At one point I spoke with the North American representative and he said that they would only test the milk if it was sold as a pastuerized product under the A-2 branded name….
That was all I needed to hear.
I do not care if the milk is A-1 or A-2 or A-3 or AR-15…. if it is killed to death it is killed to death and the amount of protein and enzyme and bacterial destruction offsets any potential benefit from the genetics of the supposed A-2 link. If one protein link is that critical…then think about the massive protein destruction of superheating the milk. Pastuerized milk looks like a really bad car crash compared to fresh raw milk.
The cherry on top of the A-2 saga was that the idea was so good that the A-2 Corp went Bankrupt in North America and is trying to be reorganized out of New Zealand BK right now.
The CEO told me that they will be back into the A-2 testing business very soon.
This is like a bankrupt aircraft manufacturing company ever building and flying again…hardly seldom and perhaps never. Their product still causes lactose intolerance…it is dead milk with no beneficial bacteria to create the missing lactase enzyme….this is stupid CEO’s following stupid science. It is all about some simple poor sucker in Australia trying to differential his dead product and make a few bucks more and it failed.
I will place my bets on grass fed organic raw milk with cross breeding of genetics and assuring that there are good bacteria all arround that cow and her environment. Thats what matters….that is what has always mattered.
The proof is in the raw milk….it is miraculous and works just fine the way it is.
By the way…lactose intolerance has nothing to do with the breed of cows….it is a bactertial and enzymatic issue. Also…there is a huge plecibo effect on consumers of milk. If the person has a headache or congestion…..that is something about the cassein and not the lactose…and that is a different story and issue entirely. Lactose is about gas and the gut and worse out the bottom end.
Watch out for false negatives and positives about Lactose intolerance. There is a simple breath test to determine lactose intolerance. A big University in CA is about to study this issue and publish the results and give us all some hard information to put the LI issue finnally to rest.
The NIH is going to remake all the books on medicine in a few short years. Doctors do not have a clue about what makes us all tick….it is bacteria and they are in the medical stone ages….the Human Microbiome project will redefine medicine and how we get treated and treatments work….just you watch. We are at least 95% bacteria by cell count and that bacterial genetic information is critical to our functioning, and most doctors are trained to kill bacteria by any and all means possible.
Mark
For openers, Amazons description of A2 milk is not true (that if its not A1, its A2). There are other forms of beta-casein besides A1 and A2 these are just the first two that were identified.
My milk comes from an all A2 herd (Guernseys and Jerseys), and the cows caretaker (agister) had the same problem that others have had – of locating a testing source. A test is currently available in Holland for identifying A2 cows. It is not prohibitively expensive. I understand that the A2 corp did want to keep the test proprietary and make big bucks. For some reason, they were shut down / cut off/ whatever, their test became unavailable, and he (the agister) could find no one else who could test for A2 until this lab in Holland turned up. He has identified several cows that he would like to add to the herd and is waiting for the labs results before he buys them.
None of the above should be construed that I strongly believe that A2 is far superior to A1 and I dont know anyone, personally, who matches Lynn Thors anecdote. My herd just happens to be A2. Beyond that, some members of the herdshare travel at least 55 miles from Sacramento to get this treasure (green pastures, lots of cream, wonderful taste, great sanitation, and maintenance of the chain-of-cold) even though OP, and I think Claravale, is readily available much nearer by.
Yes, Lykke, the carbon footprint is significant, but most people are willing to drive long distances to get what they need and want especially in matters of health. Let s/he who is without sin cast the first stone.
I had not read your resonse to Sylvia before I posted my comment. I deeply apologize.
I believe most foods should be as local as possible. I like coffee and tea, they aren’t grown in CA as far as I know, nor are bananas (though I don’t consume bananas often). If the foods I wish to consume aren’t grown in my local area, then the next is within CA and then the USA. Few things I purchase are imported (clothes seem to be difficult to find made in USA). It would be great if all areas of farming were sustainable and as local as possible. I do utilize my farmers market for all produce, wild fish, range pork, etc. I cannot speak for others just as they cannot speak for me.
As for raw milk…it is one of the things I believe should be as local as possible. If I consumed more dairy, I’d consider joining a local herd share. Currently I may use 1/2 gal a week plus cream.
Gwen
<shudder> Teenagers! I remember those years. I work with a doc that is a vegan, she makes comments about me "killing a chicken with bare hands" At times I can’t tell if she is teasing. In the distant past, she has made the comment that raising my own chickens was better than buying from the store, at least I have a better idea of what went into them.
I have to say that the people who grind on my nerves the most, are the coworkers who state, "I just don’t see how you could eat something you raise," whilst eating their McDonalds chicken salads. I find that the ultimate of hypocrytical. It makes my blood boil. At LEAST that doc is vegan.
At least I can look at teenagers as being naive and spirited.
As the supply of fresh milk increases the carbon footprint will decrease.Direct delivery from the farm to the kitchen is already making the local market more efficient than conventional agribiznesses’ distribution system.The carbon footprint of conventional ag continues to increase because in spite of efficiencies of scale,that type of farming needs ever increasing inputs just to maintain yields.Where local,human scale farming really wins the battle and likely the war is in it’s treatment of the soil.Industrial farming practices decimate the life in the soil.The life in the soil is responsible for building fertility and maintaining soil structure.Industrial farming can very quickly eliminate nearly all forms of life in the soil.
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ArAh7Ko-48oJ:www.czelo.cz/dokums_raw/Rusek2.pdf+soil+biota+extinction&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
" Damaged and dead soils in the Czech Republic"
"In the first half of the 1960s very high densities and species richness of soil
mesofauna communities were recorded in the arable soils in S. Moravia and S.
Slovakia. Collembolan community densities reaching 40,600 to 139,600 individuals
per square meter consisted of 28 to 34 species. The total micro-arthropod densities reached no fewer than almost one million individuals. Even such specialized and fragile
groups like Protura, Pauropoda, Symphyla or Diplura were living in the arable
soils "
"Three years later, in 1967, a complete collapse of these rich soil animal
communities was recorded on the same plots. The density decreased drastically to
800 4,200 individuals per square meter, and only 4-5 collembolan species remained from the former species rich communities! These low community parameters, acompa-
nied by low soil bacterial densities (Hattori & Rusek, ms) and the extinction of
anecic earthworms and other groups of soil macrofauna, still persist there today!"
"Recent investigations in northern Austria adjacent to our arable plots in
southern Moravia have indicated better soil biological parameters on some farms
with ecological management there (Uteseny 2003, Rusek unpblished data). The
different, industrial type of agriculture led to a high extinction rate of soil biota in
our country and to almost dead soils. Such soils will occur in most of the former
East European countries with state industrial type of agriculture, but also in the
western countries have been established arable plots with almost dead soils!
The extinction of functionally important soil biota led to soil compaction because
of the lack of anecic earthworms restoring the soil microstructure each year. Their
deep burrows contribute to soil aeration, to rain water and root penetration into
deeper soil horizons."
http://proliberty.com/observer/20090606.htm
"The Russian experience"
"In 2004 Goskomstat reports that Russias gardening familieswithout heavy machinery, hired labor or government subsidieshave grown on their free time and using predominantly organic methods, 33 million tonnes of potatoes, 11.5 million tonnes of vegetables and 3.2 million tonnes of fruit and berries, which represent 93%, 80% and 81% respectively of Russias total output of these crops and 51% of Russias total agricultural output. This Dacha Movement is 2.3% of Russias gross domestic product (GDP). A US$14 billion production value, in 2004, the contribution of these rural family growers to the Russian economy exceeds that of any of the following industries: steel; electric power generation; chemical and pharmaceutical; forestry, timber, pulp and paper; building materials; or oil refining, natural gas and coal industries taken together."
What led the Russian people to produce all of this food?Industrial farming collapsed because of it’s abuse of the soil.They turned to human labor on small plots in order to keep from starving.
"In 2006, 53% (by value) of the countrys total agricultural output was coming from household plots which occupied only 2.9% of agricultural land, while the remaining 47% of output by commercial agricultural enterprises (often the former collective or Soviet farms) and individual farmers, required 97.1% of agricultural lands household production requires 38 times less land area to produce 1 ruble worth of output. It is noteworthy that such exceptional productivity has historic antecedent: prior to World War I, Russian peasants private plots attached to their dwelling were at least four times more productive than the fields outside the village."
The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith is an extremely well-written, well-researched book presenting the case that eating omniverously, including grassfed meats and milk from pastured animals, is more sustainable and more responsible as well as healthier than eating a vegetarian diet. I suggest it for any one who is concerned about local eating, considering turning vegan, or just interested in sustainability and ethical issues around food and farming.
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Myth-Food-Justice-Sustainability/dp/1604860804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251679748&sr=1-1
Jean
It is unfortunate that Weston Price excluded the Asian cultures, continent and subcontinent from his travels and studies. I think he would have found the traditional vegetarian dietary traditions that are 10,000 years old very interesting.
I’m aware of an absurd article in WAPF’s Wise Traditions newletter that tries to claim that vegetarians are actually eating insects hidden in their food. Even if insects get into the grains & pulses in storage, the traditional soaking and washing methods involved in meal preparation will cause them to leave. The author of that article shows a lack of actual knowledge of the culture. He refers to a "Hindu vegan" diet. No such thing!
The traditional Hindu vegetarian diet is a lacto-vegetarian diet in which dairy products are considered precious substances. Dairy products are precious because of the importance of ghee, curd and milk for nutrition in the diet, but also precious due to the recognition that the cow is a mother who must give birth to produce milk (I’m always amazed at the number of otherwise educated adults who don’t realize this!).
Our traditional dairies breed the cows less often and milk for several years on one birth. The milk production drops significantly in the outer years and the quality and content change. Also milking must be done by hand at the lower volume. I realize that this technique doesn’t work for the modern "production" dairies, still, it has worked well for millennia. The cows are bred again if there is sufficient pasture to support another member of the herd. Our tradition tells us that we must provide lifetime employment for any animals that we breed. The bull calves are trained up as oxen to work in transportion or draught work. The senior cows and oxen who are too old for their regular work have a job of eating the grass and producing dung. Cow dung has many useful qualities.
With all due respect to Mr. Keith, our ancient culture is not a myth. Also, we don’t expect meat eaters to stop eating meat. We only ask that those who do eat meat raise and slaughter the animals humanely and respect the fact that some of us do not eat meat.
If you have an issue with vegans and/or PETA, then please be clear about that and not confuse vegans with the majority of the world’s vegetarians.
BTW, I am a lifelong lacto-vegetarian, a third generation Claravale customer and *not* a member of PETA. I have friends who are avid meat eaters, yet *are* members of PETA.
When I inquired about this seeming contradiction, these friends said that they are against factory farming of livestock and they felt the PETA organization was the most effective bringing awareness to the horror of factory farms and hopefully ending them. Isn’t the world and interesting place?
It is really unfortunate to see this culture bashing against vegetarians taking place on a raw milk site. Lacto-vegetarians are very strong supporters of raw milk and traditional foods. Some of us just have different traditional foods than others.
Asking if a producer has Holsteins is also a short hand way to find out if they are a conventional herd or not. Commodity milk producers almost all use Holsteins, but most new producers use anything but Holsteins. Granted this last statement will vary somewhat in different areas of the country and there are exceptions. But in my experience it is generally true.
I really don’t mind if people want to be vegetarians or vegan. I don’t have any issue whatsoever with that. I myself have given up meat, including fish (but not milk or eggs) for Lent on several occaisions, to contemplate the idea of exploitation of all living things, including people. However, I am not exaggerating when I say that nearly every local farm with road frontage has had authorities called on them. It has become absolutely rediculous. I don’t care for PETA’s tactics and that has absolutely nothing to do with veganism or vegetarianism. It has to do with approach. It has to do with getting people fired up to be self-appointed animal cops and passing laws that make already difficult farming even more difficult. It isn’t just factory farms that the organization and the people who belong to it go after. It is me too, and I don’t appreciate it. People who live in the suburbs and join these groups with passion just don’t get what its like to try and raise FOOD – even a garden is too much to ask for 9/10ths of them.
I read the Amazon.com reviews on "The Vegetarian Myth," and I probably will not read the book. I’ve kind of had my fill of food ethics for the past couple of years, and am ready to persue another topic in my spare time. I subscribed to Vegetarian Times for several years. I’ve watched about every food ethics movie on the market. I am sensitized.
Just let me raise my goats, sheep and vegetables and share them with my neighbors. Is that so much to ask?
I asked Dr. Meg Cattell, DVM & epidemiologist, to read the book, and her succinct reply was that she thought the book made sense against recent autism/neurological evidence, but that the evidence on healthy people is still circumstantial.
I’m getting more and more requests for A2 milk from consumers, and for A2 milk tests from producers.
It was not my intention to bash vegans or vegetarians by posting the info on Lierre Kieth’s book, but only to draw attention to it to those who might be interested. The word "myth" in the title does not refer to vegetarians themselves being nonexistent but to erroneous "scientific" (not religious) beliefs that many modern (not traditional) vegetarians have.
It has been some years since I have read Weston A. Price’s Nutrition and Physical Degeneration but if I recall correctly he does not say that there are no vegetarian traditional cultures, but only that all traditional cultures that he studied ate some form of animal derived food, including dairy and eggs. I am not familiar enough with all issues of the WAPF journal to comment on what may or may not have been said in it.
Gwen-
I did not mean to imply that I thought you needed to be sensitized or educated on food issues–your posts make it clear how knowledgeable you are–but thought your teenagers might find the book interesting.
Dave-
This continues to be a very thought provoking and valuable blog. Thank you!
Jean
I am sorry to hear that you and your neighbours are being harassed and hope that your local authorities can assist you in curtailing the problems, perhaps as malicious mischief on the part of the person calling in the complaints?
I’m really not sure what to do about the PETA problem. Our community has taken them to task for the violence commited by some of its members as we feel very strongly that violence is not a solution to a problem.
Jean, I confess that I am probably a bit sensitive to the title as a book entitled "The Vegetarian Myth" implies that a vegetarian culture is not valid. I have been refused service and violently asked to leave a restaurant for being a vegetarian. I was ordering a menu item that gave a choice of beef or chicken added to the vegetables and pasta. I asked to have it without either. At no time did I make any comments about anyone else eating meat or ask for a reduction in price. I simply wanted the existing item with no additions. When asked if I was a vegetarian, I said yes, and then the trouble started. It was quite shocking and frightening. It has gotten to the point that many of us no longer feel safe when traveling in some rural communites in the US (and at least part of my family has been here since the days of the Plymouth colonies).
Many forum posts by members of the WAPF appear to hold the view that the existance of traditional vegetarian diets is a myth and engage in quite a bit of vegetarian bashing in their articles. I think their frustration is probably with the minority vegan movement and the activities of PETA but it spills over to a prejudice against all vegetarians. I am a great fan of Weston Price’s book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and his emphasis on traditional foods. Many days I wonder if Dr. Price would be in agreement with what the views and actions that others take, using his wonderful book as justification.
"The Monsanto Bill."
I realize I don’t know much about Sen Florez, but from the recent issues with raw dairy, I am surprised that he authored this bill.
http://www.infowars.com/scientists-experiment-with-vaccinations-in-gmo-corn/
Vaccinations in GMO corn?
NPR did a story yesterday; said the average shipping industry truck gets 6 mpg….That’s for the grains they haul to the farm, the hay (or jelly beans, or processed chicken head feed or whatever they feed them – which took many other journeys to get to their destination), the raw milk they haul to the processor, then on to the distribution centers, then on to the grocery stores. Then the consumer can conveniently pick up and take home. And we subsidize that.
My footprint seems pretty small in comparison.