You’ve probably heard people talking about raw milk, or maybe you’ve read an article discussing the many benefits. You may be wondering what the difference is between raw and organic milk.

They are as different as night and day! Unless you are buying raw organic milk, the organic is pasteurized and homogenized. It might even be ultra pasteurized which is even worse. This means the milk has been heated for a certain amount of time (longer times for “ultra) to kill the supposedly harmful bacteria.

Raw means it is just straight from the cow or goat, not heated, not changed in any way.

Is this safe? Well that depends on your source. If you were to go to one of the huge dairies that provide your regular everyday grocery store product, and you were to ask them to let you have some milk straight from one of their cows, I would say that is not safe.

Why? Well, because the dairies know their milk is going to be heated, thereby killing anything harmful, they do NOT practice the best health practices. They feed far too much grain (easier and cheaper) which is bad for the cow, and often the cows are left standing around in small feed lots in their own feces. The dairies are not going to be concerned about this because, after all, there will be pasteurization that will kill all these harmful organisms (and they will remain in the milk even though they are dead).

Speaking of dead, this process leaves you with a basically dead beverage. All the live and healthy enzymes and bacteria are gone.
Now, if you are talking about milk from a healthy mostly-grass-fed cow who is milked under sanitary conditions, yes, this is safe for you to drink. Everything healthy remains, and your own health will benefit greatly.

So is there a big difference between raw and organic milk? You bet there is! Oh and I almost forgot the taste - what a huge and amazing difference there.

If you can, seek out a family-owned dairy farm in your area and try some for yourself.