Page 7 - Sonoma County Gazette - August 2017

LETTERS cont’d from page 6
Thank you for writing to the Gazette. I remember hearing from you once before -- hello again, Lana!
Bike Carefully!
My son couldn’t handle regular milk as a baby so we gave him raw, which was available even in supermarkets here, as I recall. It was produced by Alta Dena. As I recall, they had a problem with spoiled or contaminated milk later on, and maybe some regulations were introduced. Anyway, it became less available.
Watch when walking in Sonoma!! My husband and I are both Seniors
and thankfully, walk a lot!
It has occurred to us both recently
that kids on bikes/on sidewalks are something we walkers need to keep a VERY careful eye on.
Twice, this past week, in the area of Andrieux and 1st St W.and Second St.West, kids coming along at face pace around a blind corner and almost knocked us down! A close call and VERY concerning!
No one ever said anything about lightly boiling it rst!
I can understand parents wanting their children to be safe by not always riding in the street, but this is really something we need to be very cautious about.
You could ask Whole Foods to stock it, but now that it is owned by Amazon, or soon will be, and Sonoma Market by Nugget, both seems less like friendly neighborhood markets. If you want to ask the Farmer’s Mkt, I’m sure one of the farmers can tell you whom you should contact. Maybe I’ll write about it this week! Wouldn’t there be a problem keeping it cold enough at the market? I wonder about the meat too, but it’s frozen I think.
Best, Stephanie Hiller
You are right, I think now that Amazon bought Whole Foods, things may change. Sonoma Market used to sell raw milk, but they stopped about 6 months ago and I could not nd out, why. After trying (and deciding against) several brands of pasteurized milk available in Sonoma, I started driving to Santa Rosa - which is about 50 miles per round trip, when you think about it, a little excessive, just to get some milk!
Kids too, need to be briefed by their parents on this issue and they too, VERY careful.
Please, when walking, keep a sharp eye out around those blind corners
A concerned walker in W. area. Joy Bennett
Hello again, Stephanie, Nice to hear from you!
Raw Milk
I thought I’d write a few words on raw milk situation. We are blessed to have access to some of the most amazing artisan-made foods here, in Sonoma County. One thing that puzzles me is why, while most of the county (as well as Marin, as even Lake Tahoe area) have access to raw milk, you cannot buy it in the town of Sonoma. Raw milk is a far better quality product than its pasteurized counterparts. It is considered a potent medicine, according to Ayurveda. Pasteurization kills the good stu and causes lactose intolerance. I believe people still need to be educated about the raw milk. Many folks assume that if you want to consume it raw, you have to drink it out of the bottle. That’s not the case. Raw milk can and should (to make it more digestible) be heated just up to the boiling point, when it starts to froth, then cooled and drank safely. Boiling milk on low heat does not equal pasteurization!
I studied Ayurveda for many years. It recommends heating raw milk just to the boiling point, which makes it safe to drink, as well as more digestible. It still has great un-pasteurized taste and retains its health bene ts.
In Europe, raw milk has always been sold at farmers markets. Often, there would be a dozen or two of dairy vendors, all selling fresh organic raw products from their family farms.
With the current movement towards small scale local farming, more farmers might be interested in selling raw milk directly to people (instead of selling it to large processing facilities where it gets pasteurized into oblivion). Raw milk sourced on smaller scale should be quite safe. Both gentle boiling and, as an alternative, fermentation into yogurt or ke r are supposed to take care of unwanted bacteria.
It would be wonderful to see raw milk sold at Sonoma County farmers markets! Sold on a small local scale and boiled lightly before consumption, it would be a perfectly safe and healthy product. I think most people either forgot - or never knew the taste of real raw milk. It’s divine.
Respectfully, Lana
LETTERS cont’d on page 8
Lana Pereyaslavska Sonoma
8/17 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 7