Sunday, September 4, 2011

April 19–Carlton Farm

One of our spring field trips was to this picturesque dairy farm.

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The tour included milking and egg sorting demonstrations and lots of time to pet baby animals.

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Our friends the Spaughs and Barias

 

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Meg could have stayed by this little calf’s pen all day.

 

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At the farm we bought a gallon of raw milk for about $7 (I hear that is a great price) which they sell “for pets” (in Georgia it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption). The farmers and several friends of ours tout the health benefits of drinking unpasteurized milk. So under the influence of all the fresh air and green grass I decided to bring some home. The kids thought it was wonderful (that was just because it had all the fat in it), but all kinds of other people said, “Um, you really shouldn’t be drinking that.” Well, I’m just enough of a rule follower (ok, I’m completely a rule follower) that I started having second thoughts. Of course you can find loads of facts and anecdotes to support both sides. But then one of the kids began to complain of a stomach ache, so I dumped the rest of the milk down the drain! I know, I know people have been drinking milk straight from the cow (goat, etc.) for millennia but, at least for now, I guess I’m not one of them.

1 comment:

Bethany Johnson said...

We were at a friend's dairy farm recently and he said that raw milk is great, but that most people's stomachs aren't used to digesting it...so it does make people sick. If you grow up drinking it or get used to it, it has good health benefits, but I'm not surprised it made one of the kids feel sick.