How to Find Real Milk

Raw milk, cream, and butter are not widely available commercially. By executive order of Ronald Reagan, F.D.A. regulations state that 'raw dairy products shall not be shipped across state lines for direct human consumption in final product form.' Tankers filled with raw milk rumble across the country every day, but the milk is pasteurized before it is sold to the public. In 32 states, however, it is at least technically possible to sell raw milk for human consumption legally.

A few states allow the sale of raw milk from licensed dairies in shops. California's certification program includes regular inspections of dairies. In 2000, California farmers and consumers defeated an attempt to ban raw milk sales by marshalling statistics to demonstrate the safety of raw milk. In New York raw milk may not be sold in shops, but licensed dairies may sell raw milk at the farm. In still other states, you may buy raw milk for pet use only (nod, wink). Some states permit farmers to sell a 'cow share,' which entitles you to regular supply of fresh milk.

Happily, unhomogenized milk has not disappeared entirely. Better shops and many smaller dairies sell unhomogenized milk, sometimes labeled 'cream line' or 'cream top.' It is typically pasteurized at lower temperatures. In New York City, farmers' markets and good shops carry pasteurized, unhomogenized, and rBGH-free milk, cream, and butter from local dairies who raise their cows outdoors on pasture.

The best milk, as I have recently rediscovered, comes from a cow you know. 'The cow is the most productive, efficient creature on earth,' writes Grohman. 'She will give you fresh milk, cream, butter, and cheese. She will provide rich manure. Each year she will give you a calf to sell or raise for beef.' With some pasture in Western Maine and a cow, Grohman feels rich. 'I serve exceptionally fine food and I am not stingy with the butter and cream,' she says. 'The cow is a generous animal.'

However generous the cow, I suspect most readers won't rush out and buy one. (If you are so inspired, there is no better book than Keeping a Family Cow.) If you don't have a room for a cow, the best way to obtain raw milk is to find a local dairy, preferably one you can visit, run by a farmer you trust.

If, like me, you live in the city and hanker for traditional milk and cream, there is no better place to start than your local chapter of the Real Milk Club at: