The Lowdown on Pasteurization and Homogenization: Why Grass Fed Raw Milk and Dairy Products Are the Best

At the Organic Consumers Association home office in Finland, Minnesota, nestled in the woods between Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, our office lunches and snacks are always organic, as you might expect. We purchase food from our local food co-ops and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) buying club.

Our refrigerators and pantry contain seasonal produce, eggs, wild rice, home-brewed beer, fermented vegetables and maple syrup, produced or harvested by our staff or neighbors.  We also stock organic and fair trade-certified chocolate bars, tea and coffee, with donations for these products going to support our local community center, where we hold potlucks and occasional meetings.
 
But the most popular section of our fridge in the kitchen area of the OCA office is the milk and dairy section where we have non-pasteurized, non-homogenized raw milk, yoghurt, cream and butter, purchased directly from a local grass-fed, organic dairy.
 
Although our raw milk products (in reusable glass Mason jars) do not carry a USDA organic seal, we all know, because we regularly visit the local organic farmer that we buy from, that these products are not only organic, grass-fed, delicious and healthy, but in fact better than the pasteurized and/or homogenized USDA certified organic dairy products sold in our local food coops.