The Raw Milk vs the Taco Bell Crowd
Monday, April 23, 2007 at 10:43PM Melissa’s ongoing upset about the safety of raw milk, based on her daughter’s illness, got me thinking…Suppose I raised my daughter on raw milk, organic produce, grass-fed beef, and other natural products—and assiduously avoided feeding her carbonated drinks, fast food, and other such staples of American culture. Then I sent her to Melissa’s for the weekend. (And Melissa, I’m just using you for illustrative purposes, since I don’t know what your family eats.) There, unbeknownst to me, she is fed a Taco Bell burrito, filled with factory beef, processed cheese, bleached-flour-taco, and other such goodies, all washed down with king size Cokes. A few days later, she becomes terribly ill with what seems to be E.coli, and almost dies.
How would I feel? I’d probably be pissed that my daughter was fed such junk food, since I avoided feeding it to my daughter partly out of fear that it could contain toxins. The experience would confirm all my concerns and prejudices about the factory food system.
In point of fact, of course, dozens of people did get sick a few months back from Taco Bell food. Out of 71 people who got sick, eight developed HUS-based kidney failure, and likely went through the same kind of experience Lauren Herzog experienced.
Once the smoke cleared, though, I doubt that Melissa would discontinue serving her family fast food (though maybe she’d go to Wendy's instead of Taco Bell).
My point is similar to that made by Dave Milano, “There are two distinctly different schools of thought at work here…a philosophical Grand Canyon.”
Because raw milk challenges so much about how most of us were raised, it has become a lightning rod. As a lightning rod, it is a symbol, of a gulf between two different approaches to nutrition, health care, and life itself. One fears bacteria as “germs” and wants the government to do everything in its power to stamp them out; the other sees bacteria as part of a larger ecosystem within which we humans try to integrate ourselves.
Thus, I think it matters much less about whether it was raw milk that made the California children sick or not. Nothing will ever be proven conclusively about whether Organic Pastures raw milk sickened the children. People will make their nutrition decisions, as Anna suggests, by doing their own investigating and risk analysis. Consuming raw milk is just one of those decisions. The Taco Bell crowd won’t consume raw milk without making other changes in lifestyle, nor will the raw milk crowd eat fast food on a regular basis without giving up on a natural-food lifestyle. Decisions will be based on belief systems, not whether one feels raw milk is or isn’t healthy.
Reader Comments (9)
About 4 years back I was having my kitchen remodeled and I was without for about 4 months. Right up the street there was a fast food place called Carls Jr. Well, needless to say we ate at Carls quite a bit for convenience. Me loving to cook as much as I do, it was killing me to be without a kitchen but I was also, at the time, a very busy, single mom...To make a long story short... after the 4 months, I vowed to never eat fast food with my children again.!!
I have now re-married and have 5 children to feed so I cook at home more than ever. I'll admit to the occasional stop at a fast food joint but hey, the kids love it and why not if it is not excessive.?? When you have 6 baseball games, 6 practices and one gymnastics lesson...it just happens.
I am actually pretty health conscious myself but every once in a while....I will endulge in a burger or better yet....a nice juicy steak.
I know you were just using an example in your post above but just to clarify...I do not feed my children junk food and soda on a constant basis as one person decided to write about me a few months back. The person that wrote that has NO idea at all what I feed my family so I found those comments particularly funny.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading what you wrote this evening. It is a fair approach to what we all individually feel is best for our own personal health.
Call me old fashioned but I still believe in a well balanced diet with plenty of exercise. (fruits, veggies, grains, meat, fish, milk,) You know, that food pyramid thing. Oh and once in a while....chocolate.!! haha
Well thanks again. Have a good evening.!!
Melissa
It is interesting to note, however, that the food pyramid is written by the USDA to prop up certain commodity industries (corn, soybeans, grains, etc.) and has absolutely nothing, or very little, to do with our health.
http://www.newstarget.com/001405.html
http://www.westonaprice.org/federalupdate/testimony/fda_oral_pres_04.pdf
I see where it got so commercialized that it helps certain industries but I was using it as an example for my eating habits. Lots of fruit, vegetables, grains and smaller amounts of meat (including poultry). I added chocolate for a joke because I myself eat very little sugar. Its just a personal preference for me and how I feed my family. I dont really look into what industry I am helping or harming. I just like to eat.!!
I mean no offense here but the point I am trying to make is that we choose or grow up eating a certain way, as David said, and what my be healthy in to me, will not be to someone else.
I think that the ORGANIC thing has blown way out of proportion and that most industries jump on whatever bandwagon is popular. Low Carb was popular a couple of years back and you could go into the grocery store and they had LOW CARB EVERYTHING. Now you cant find any of it. I go grocery shopping now and everything says ORGANIC. Even the Cheerios. Its pretty funny but hey someone is lauging all the way to the bank capitalizing on whatever fad diet is out there. I dont buy into it.
Personal preference.!!! I know it bothers you that I would even consider fast food but my husband is Mexican and I am used to eating fresh Authentic Mexican food. Taco Bell is gross to me. BUT I do like Carl's burgers. They are YUUMMMMMYYYYY! Actually the best burger is IN-N-OUT. They are very fresh. (Factory farmed or not) they are delicious.
It does not bother me that you eat factory-farmed food.
Why do you feel safer eating factory-food farm at home, than you do eating it at a resturant?
ELIZABETH, MY FAMILY OWNS AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND WE PRIDE OURSELVES IN OUR CLEANLINESS AND SAFE FOOD PREPARATION. WE HAVE WON AWARDS FOR OUR CLEANLINESS. WE ALWAYS EXCEED HEALTH DEPARTMENT STANDARDS. I CANNOT EXPECT OTHER PLACES TO HAVE THE SAME STANDARDS AS WE DO. MOST PLACES DONT.