Raw Milk Won't Kill You...

But the propaganda might.

Welcome to Raw Milk Mama, a newsletter about food freedom, our food systems, and how to create local food security in our communities. As always, I appreciate any and all paid upgrades. I am a solo writer bringing you real, sometimes difficult, news from the front lines of our food system. Sign up here for weekly posts, or keep reading…

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Centralized and heavily industrialized food systems are the “solution” pushed on Americans, often through fear campaigns. But a centralized food system is never the answer and will only lead to more and bigger problems with our food and health.

In 1928, Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Frued, published his book Propaganda.

From the Wikipedia entry about the book:

“Bernays wrote the book in response to the success of some of his earlier works such as Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and A Public Relations Counsel (1927). Propaganda explored the psychology behind manipulating masses and the ability to use symbolic action and propaganda to influence politics, effect social change, and lobby for gender and racial equality.” (emphasis mine)

Indeed, Bernays’ pivotal work contains gems such as this:

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” (Emphasis mine)

Bernays was the guy who worked with the tobacco industry to get women to buy more cigarettes.

Women just weren’t buying “enough” of them.

And that was a “problem” to “solve” so the cigarette companies could have more revenue.

Obviously, propaganda has made serious advancements since 1928.

Take, for example, the May 1945 issue of a popular women’s magazine, The Coronet. It featured a cover story titled “Raw Milk Can Kill You” by Lieutenant Commander Harold J. Harris from the US Naval Reserve. It told the story of a severe outbreak of Undulant fever in the town of “Crossroads, USA.”

The article had all the elements of mass persuasion and propaganda:

• Carefully selected audience (targeting middle class, American women)

• Compelling, relatable storytelling (clear, specific stories the audience can empathize with)

• Direct appeal to authority (doctors, US military)

• Appeal to social status (US military, US middle class lifestyle)

There’s just one problem:

The entire basis of the story was made up. Completely fictitious. There was no town of Crossroads. There was no outbreak. It simply didn’t happen.

Let’s back up….

Who was Dr. Harold J. Harris, Lieutenant Commander of the United States Naval Reserve? (What a formidable title!)

Dr. Harris was considered an expert on brucellosis (undulant fever) in his time.

But, in reading the article, one begins to wonder whether or not he was actually the author of the piece, or a convenient byline for the mission.

Was the mission to compel Americans to stop producing their own food locally and to depend on centralized food production and processing along with imported food?

The story of “Crossroads, USA, tells the disturbing tale of multiple people in the community suddenly becoming quite ill.

There are two doctors in the “town” who quickly step in to represent authority.

They claim that the disease “struck one out of every 4 persons in Crossroads.” And that “One out of every four patients died–of a disease unknown to most of them.”

How scary is that?!!?

A 25% mortality rate of a disease that apparently snuck up on them?

Dr. Harris identifies the culprit:

“Just plain milk. Not pasteurized milk, but raw milk, good, fresh “pure” country milk–warm, frothy, straight from the cow.”

He then goes on to tell another story of a physician who mysteriously fell ill and died from eating goat cheese imported from Italy. A lab culture allegedly showed that the cheese was “dripping with germs of the goat brand of undulant fever.”

Dr. Harris warns us that “undulant fever is not the only killer lurking in “fresh” milk. There’s also that assassin, typhoid fever.”

Just in case you are not yet properly terrified, he explains that “one deadly feature of undulant fever is the way it deceives the doctor. It can lurk for years with no outward symptoms… An estimate places the number of Americans infected with the disease at ten per cent of the population–although not more than one person in ten of these displays any symptoms.”

At this point, any critically thinking person would stop and take stock of the numbers.

The math just isn’t adding up…

Not only does this disease allegedly kill 25% of the people in the fictitious town of Crossroads, but 10% of the American population is infected? And it can linger in you, with no symptoms?? Only 1% of the infected people show any symptoms?

Whaaaaaa?

If undulant fever is so deadly that it swiftly took 25% of the patients in Crossroads, but you can also have it without any symptoms and without knowing it…

That seems like a bit of a contradiction. 

But let’s continue with the story told to The Coronet audience…

Harris illustrates his points with anecdotal stories of several people who had the disease, giving graphic details of their symptoms and telling his readers that “Undulant fever is the great masquerader. There are few acute or chronic illnesses which it cannot imitate.”

Wow – Can you imagine the reaction from anyone who is even slightly prone to hypochondriac tendencies? Yikes!

He uses his presumed authority as a Lieutenant Commander of the United States Naval Reserve to bring the whole weight of the US military down on anyone who might think differently telling his audience, “the US Army and Navy think of raw milk in terms not only of undulant fever but also of TB, scarlet fever, typhoid, strep throat, dysentery, and a dozen other ailments….to be on the safe side, beware of “fresh” milk–at home or abroad. It can turn out to be a poison cocktail–just as lethal as strychnine and ten times more inviting.”

“Just as lethal as strychnine.” Extremely and painfully lethal to humans in small doses, for context.¹

Thus propagated the fear of raw milk in the 1940s and into the 50s. 

There was everything needed in that article to propel it forward:

Relatable stories, authority (doctors AND the US military), there was “science” and history, appeal to status, and social persuasion.

THAT was the perfect cocktail of psychological and sociological programming to arrive at the carefully crafted message:

No one should drink raw milk. Ever.

They ushered in the solution: mandatory industrial pasteurization.

Harris apparently had the ear of the non-farming Americans at that point.

But would his words convince those who had lived experience with raw milk?

In the 1940s, many Americans still had personal experience with raw milk and fresh farm food and they could verify from experience if his claims rang true. Families still had gardens and chickens and produced some of their own food. Many families even had their own healthy milk cows.

In fact, right around that time period, my great grandfather put his 3 daughters through college by selling (to their neighbors) the extra milk from their cow.

Not only was raw milk still normal, selling it was a valid means of income.

Passing laws to completely ban the sale of raw milk would be very difficult when many people know–from personal experience–that raw milk from healthy cows is generally safe and healthy.

For anyone who was or is seriously concerned about pathogens “lurking” in raw milk, home pasteurization is and has always been a valid option. It’s no different than cooking your own chicken. 

While it would have been quite simple to recommend home pasteurization for milk of unknown origin or quality, that’s not the campaign that gained momentum and it is certainly not an option that is even entertained now.

The emphasis was on industrial pasteurization as the only solution.

By creating fear, and changing the minds and behavior of millions of Americans, the entities at work changed Americans' lived experiences, separating us from local food production and thus our food security.

The mission remained: centralize food production and processing.

Without the lived experience, it is much easier for the “scientists” and “experts” to make outrageous or nebulous claims and thus intimidate people into specific behaviors and beliefs, and eventually, a change in laws.

Whether this was prompted by nefarious desires to control, or by a prevailing altruistic ideology, is not the point. One could argue both positions and provide ample evidence for each.

The outcome is the same and impacts profound:

A sharp decrease in true community food security.

Today, May, 2024, the propaganda is again fierce.

Are we even more susceptible to the propaganda now that only 1% of Americans have a direct relationship with our food production?

Recent headlines are bringing lots of attention to avian flu in cattle–both dairy and beef.

Some example headlines:

“Bird flu virus is abundant in the milk of sick cows”

“US bird flu outbreak spreads to chickens, cattle, raises concerns over human infections”

“Canada expanding surveillance, testing milk for H5N1 avian flu amid U.S. dairy cattle outbreak”

“More Than Half of Cats on Farm Where Bird Flu Infected Cows Died After Drinking Milk”

Based on the articles I'm seeing, it seems that the thrust of the fear mongering this time is around cattle – both dairy and beef.

You might wonder why...

Again, what better way to control what people eat than to get them to "voluntarily" change their behaviors?

No need to go through the whole complicated and unpredictable legislative process that our nation of laws is based upon.

...Just, change people’s minds…the laws will follow with no resistance. 

Remember Edwards Bernays’ words above…”We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.”

It’s not an accident or some mere coincidence that an animal disease (avian flu) that poses almost no risk to humans, is suddenly making enormous headlines.

Is there an underlying agenda at play?

Perhaps scaring you away from viable, healthy food sources in your community?

(There’s another likely agenda…that I’ll get into next week, stay tuned.)

So when it comes to your food and your food systems, when you see alarming headlines, it’s imperative that you keep asking questions.

Is this true?

How can I know this is true?

Either way, who benefits?

Does this match my experience with food/nature/people/life?

What “problem” is this information “solving” and for who?

Headlines worm their way into your mind whether you want them to or not. It’s the nature of exposure. Articles dazzle you with science you most likely don’t understand. They persuade you with stories meant to stick. They loom over you with authority and social status…

The implication is clear: be afraid of all beef and dairy.

But the real story is never as simple as a frightening headline, or even the “scientific claims.”

Perhaps the stories are designed to remove YOU from a lived experience–an awareness of how to produce your own food, to witness the world around you, and see what makes sense. 

And if you don’t have the lived experience to make sense in a world going mad, it will always be easier to pass laws–or keep laws–that further centralize our food systems, eventually leading us all right to slaughter.

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The antidote to propaganda — Growing Food Security

25 real ways to create a new food system:

$1-50 range

1. Buy seeds and plant them in your yard, a friend's yard, anywhere you have access to. Just start. Don’t worry about being perfect.

2. Support apps like SAGE that help people come together to grow food.

3. Buy locally produced food from a farmer near you (you have no idea how much that purchase means to them!)

4. Take a gardening workshop or class.

5. Donate to a local non profit that provides support to farmers.

6. Donate to the FOR FARMERS movement that provides private mini grants to farmers.

7. Get involved politically to change your state and local regs.

8. Support farmers taking on industrial ag and WINNING.

9. If you’re part of an HOA, work to change those policies to allow for chickens, goats, bees or whatever else you want to grow.

$50-300 range

1. Take a permaculture course and learn more about the ecosystem where you live and eat.

2. Host your next event at a local farm (you have no idea how much that means to them!)

3. Donate to or help build garden beds for a local urban farm/garden.

4. Learn about food forests and apply what you learn locally.

5. Start to stock your freezer by sourcing from a meat farm near you.

6. Buy a bunch of books about gardening and farming so that if our communication networks go down, you still have the information.

7. Purchase (or graft) 1 or more fruit or nut trees and plant them.

$300-1000 range

1. Help fund a local organization’s campaign to change state or local regulations around food production.

2. Support a case that has a chance of winning.

3. Invest in shared infrastructure or land with others who have the same goals.

4. Plant an herb garden or herb spiral.

5. Support legitimate small farms kickstarters.

6. Donate more appreciably to movements like “For Farmers” or other private grant opportunities for farmers.

7. Spend more of your budget locally.

8. Invest in a permaculture design for your land and learn how to create year-round, edible crops.

$1000+

1. Contact me and let’s get creative!

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About Raw Milk Mama: I believe that we can reclaim our food systems through direct action. But it takes your participation whether you’re growing food, processing, or willing to support those who are. And sometimes, it takes taking direct action or calling on your state or federal elected officials.

I’m dedicated to helping people understand our food system and how we each fit into it..

Here’s how you can be part of it:

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine_poisoning