Letters to the Editor
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You People Have NO Idea
What next? Marie Antoinette in a dairymaid's outfit? I grew up in the South, next door to my grandfather's farm, and I drank raw milk straight from the grandpa's cow until I was about three...when my mother, my sister and I all came down with Brucellosis. Never heard of it? That's because pasteurization kills the bacteria that causes it, and it is now extremely rare in this country. Nevertheless, it's no picnic: fever, malaria-like chills, possible long-term damage to joints (I'm now 51 and have major arthritis in neck, back and knees....hmmm....). After that episode, it was Atlanta Dairies milk for us. Yes, I know that raw milk supposedly tastes ever so much better than the store-bought stuff. But a lot of nutritionists question why we need milk at all--we're the only mammals who drink milk after infancy. Dark green vegetables have plenty of calcium.
Anyway, given the choice between clearing up my eczema and repeating the brucellosis episode, I'll take the eczema. The rest of you food fad romantics can take your chances, but I've been there and done that.