Kelly's DAY ELEVEN~Got Milk?

After watching this short video the other day, I learned that in 1994, they started using genetically engineered protein and human growth hormones in dairy cows. The instance of ovarian cancer, cysts, mastitis, lameness, skin disorders, and increased antibiotic use in these cows went up exponentially. After learning this, I realized I needed to research milk. Here's what we found locally.

So, like Kristin said, we took a field trip today to "The Family Cow." It's a family farm in a nearby town that provides antibiotic and hormone free, grass fed cow's milk and milk products (cheese, yogurt, and KEFIR, which is apparently some sort of yogurt-like drink). They sell "Raw Milk," which is apparently SO good for you! They say that asthma sufferers (check!) and allergy sufferers (check, check!) should drink raw milk. Also, they say that 90-95% of people who are lactose intollerent will NOT have allergic reactions to raw milk! It's because the pasteurization process kills lacTASE (which breaksdown lacTOSE). I'm still not sold on the raw milk thing, but I'm with Kristin. I'll try anything once...well, almost anything, including, but not limited to, raw milk.

Family Cow sells their Raw Milk to a local creamery called Trickling Springs Creamery, which sells any kind of milk and organic milk products (I still have a little "figuring out" to do here because if the RAW MILK is organic, HOW can they get "organic" and "regular" milk? huh?). Consequently, Trickling Springs Creamery is located on Molly Pitcher Highway. Anyone know anything about Molly Pitcher? My father-in-law is a Civil War historian and told me that "Molly Pitcher" was a gal that used to take water out to the troops and, um, "service" them. Right. Route 11? Named after a prostitute. Our dog is named Molly...consequence? Moving on!

So, my favorite little Mennonite market around, Paul's Country Market, has now begun to sell Trickling Springs products (including ice cream). They carry the "Farm Friends" label. I do not know the difference between Farm Friends and organic Trickling Springs milk. A friend of mine told me about THIS guy, who delivers Trickling Springs milk right to your doorstep!

For some reason, I was telling one of our pastors today that we're going organic. He replied, "Just don't turn into a food nazi." You know, Kristin and I were talking about that on our field trip. We could totally turn this into "Hi, nice to meet you! OH! Yes! I'd LOVE to come over for lunch...is that chicken in the chicken salad grain or grass fed? Grain? Oh, okay. I'm not really hungry. I'll just have a glass of water" real quickly if we let it. While I want to be wise in what I'm feeding my family, I also don't want to alienate others in my quest to do what I think God is calling me to do....and I definitely don't want people to call me a "food nazi"! But, as I already told you, I don't want to be "FOOD DUMB" either!

That being said, I'm definitely going to be buying organic milk, but I would definitely buy the "Farm Friends" label as well.

Goodnight MOOOO-N! (Oh, that was so very, very cheesy...oops! Did I say...CHEESE?)
Oh, no.
I'm on a roll.
Someone stop me!

Kristin's Day Eleven

Kelly and I took a field trip to The Family Cow this morning. We learned quite a bit, but I'm still unsure about raw milk (sorry, Kelley Williams). I do want to try it after the fast is over.

We stopped by Paul's Country Market on the way home to check out the Trickling Springs Creamery inventory. They now have all natural Farm Fresh milk, but they do not sell the organic milk at Paul's. It was also pretzel day...YUM - for the kids :/

I am finding that I am getting pretty hungry multiple times a day which is SO weird because I feel like I'm eating alot. Guess I need to rework the diet a bit, lol.

Here's where I'm at today. I want to serve God with all that I am. I am extremely thankful to learn so much about food and I want to continue that journey. HOWEVER, I do not want to replace my fallen idols of coffee and TV with the idol of all things healthy food. I need to find balance, so if you're praying for me...;)

On another note...I'll be traveling to Haiti at the end of June/beginning of July with a group of teachers to do workshops for the teachers there. I'm super excited about working with the teachers...but I'm also excited to eat there. It is AWESOME to try new foods, yay!

Do y'all remember the Kashi commercials? That would be such a cool job to travel the world and learn about God's creation, people, and cuisine!