Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Lent '11: Letting Go of Judgment, Challenge 6 RESULTS




Time for another week's results! To refresh your memory:

Week 6's Challenge was this:

Try the other side, even if it's just once, and see how it goes. Obviously I would never suggest you do anything that goes against your faith or morality. But try something, from small to big, that's "different" for you. Be it drinking a soda, letting your kid try a Pop-Tart, or visiting a different denomination church, do something you wouldn't ordinarily do. Is it what you thought it would be?

Well, if you followed along with me last week, what I chose to do should come as no surprise: I bought, and drank, raw milk. Yes, yes I did.



Want to hear about it?

Accessibility: Raw milk is ridiculously easy to procure in Connecticut. Not only is it readily available at many farms, it is sold legally in several health food stores. Our laws are lenient and very consumer friendly. I opted to buy the milk at a farm in a neighboring town. It was an easy, pretty drive.

The Buying Experience: I drove right by the cows themselves and parked in a dusty little "lot." An old beagle ambled over to greet us and the kids and I headed through the door marked "Raw Milk Sold Here." Inside, we found a large, glass fronted refrigerator and a grey metal box for money. Self-serve, baby. And easy peasy.

Trying It: The kids were super eager to drink this milk. They were beyond excited. While some of this had to do with the cool experience of visiting the farm, a good portion was also simply because I really, really talked it up. Maybe it's just my kids, but I can get them excited about getting a shot at the doctor's if I talk it up enough...

Their Reaction: "This cow milk is the best ever! It's so super delicious!" (This was a great reaction and they really DID like it. I am being completely truthful though when I tell you that, when pressed, they said they liked it "the same as" their other milk. Just keepin' it real.)



My Reaction: It tasted like... milk. Honestly, I didn't notice anything unique or strange about it. The only thing I was surprised about was the fact that, in my opinion, our raw milk didn't actually taste as "thick" as typical whole milk... it had a consistency more like 2% and, as a result, it was easier for me to choke it down.

Would I Buy It Again?: Sure. Maybe. We only had a half gallon of the stuff and that's not very much, so I was not expecting any miracles. And we didn't see any. We all reacted to the raw milk the same as our usual milk. It didn't taste different. At four dollars for a half gallon, I'm not sure I would call it "worth it" for US. For OUR FAMILY. Trust me, I've read dozens of the posts that say, "I would give up anything else in my budget before I'd give up my raw milk!!!" And that's great. I also understand that switching to raw milk has proved beneficial to many individuals with dairy issues or certain health problems. We are primarily healthy but, I'm sorry to report, my littlest (though she happily drank it) still showed signs of sensitivity with the raw milk. It is what it is. If I were to buy it again, it would be because we enjoyed seeing the cows who provided the milk. I liked supporting a local dairy farmer. I would buy it for the experience, not because I believe it would be life
-changing for us.

For now, I'll keep buying my pasteured eggs down the road and my hormone
-free milk at the store and call it good.

How about you? Did you participate this week? I'd love to read about your experience! Link up below or tell me about it in the comments:




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