Not for human consumption

Posted on by Roger Jarman

An interesting thing happened a few weeks ago and it got me thinking. I had a craving for a glass of milk. I haven’t drank a glass of milk in probably 30 years, but suddenly I felt like having a glass of milk. Not just ordinary milk though, I craved something I had never had before. Pure, raw milk and I felt an urge to try it.

I don’t even like milk so I suppressed the urge for a few weeks but curiosity got the best of me and I began searching around me for a place where I could buy pure, raw cow milk. I was in luck, I found a farm not twenty minutes from my house. Off I went.

The farm was amazing, they had a small grocery shop and restaurant, and arts and crafts event on the weekends and even a petting zoo. Being there for the milk I went to the refrigerated area and found milk, whey, yogurts, cream, different cheeses butters and more.

I went to grab a yogurt and a few other thing when I noticed a label saying “not for human consumption”. I thought it was odd, what type of animals are eating yogurt if not humans? Then I noticed this phrasing on all of the dairy products including the milk.

The same dairy foods that have fed the entire human race since the dawn of existence (or at least farming), which is raw dairy, is no longer safe for human consumption? Interesting.

I’m all for simplicity, and trying to source the root cause of things is something I enjoy. How could a food source which has been a staple of humanity for thousands of years no longer be safe to consume?

There are several culprits as to why the labelling is on the products, though it certainly isn’t factually true that raw dairy isn’t for human consumption. Quite the opposite indeed.

While I used to enjoy all the processed foods and fast foods in my younger years, I have since learned a lot about foods and what is actually good for us and not. The simple answer, pure, single ingredient foods are good, beef, dairy, fruits, nuts and so on. Processed foods are not so good to down right bad, (ever seen a paragraph of ingredients on a label?)

Take a look on your next trip to the grocery store, in about any isle in the center of the store, pick a random item up and check the ingredients.

One thing that I’ve learned is particularly bad for us, which is championed by many are seed oils. Vegetable oil, corn oil, and so forth. Here a great article which sums up the oils we consume very well.

Going back to raw milk and simplicity, as my intention isn’t to get into a full-on history of food, but make a more focused point. In today’s day and age there is information everywhere. The downside is a lot of it is garbage. The sad part is most of the garbage is fed to us by those who we should be able to trust the most.

Food started changing during the industrial revolution, people started moving to cities and the availability of fresh food and dairy became difficult as refrigeration and transport wasn’t what it is today. As things shifted, people began creating new products to cover the smell/taste of food on the bring of expiration. Things like ketchup where created to enable people to stomach the meat which was nearly rotten, but which was available.

Over time, people kept adding things to plug holes or make something better. Today we’re dealing with an explosion of obesity because we keep adding fixes to the symptom of the problem, while never addressing the actual problem.

If we all ate whole foods, un-processed foods and spent some time in the sun each day we would experience a renaissance of health in this country. Like most things in life, the answer is very simple. Executing it can be more challenging.

My point in all of this is this. We have to question what we are told by the “experts” and have to be responsible for ourselves and our families. When something a simple and pure as raw dairy is “not for human consumption” it means there is a much, much larger problem we’re not addressing.

If you’re looking for better food sources, here is a link to a great website where you can search for a farm near you. Supporting those farmers and small business owners in our communities is how the world has worked for millennia, and returning to this foundation in our modern world yields some cool results.

God Bless America

Posted on by Roger Jarman

On this day of July 4th we celebrate the Independence of this amazing country. The founding of this great nation happened as does everything in life, one step at a time.

While July 4th is the date we all recognize as our independence day, it isn’t actually the day we won or achieved our independence. It is indeed the day 56 delegates officially declared the intention to create independence from Britain.

It wasn’t until September 3, 1783 (a full seven years later) that Britain finally recognized the declared independence at the Treaty of Paris.

It was almost 6 years later before George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States on April 30th, 1789.

In between the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the Treaty of Paris, a war waged to create the vision our founders sought. The 56 delegates who signed the declaration, along with all of those colonists who supported them quite literally chose to fight for what they believed was their God given right, or die trying.

When looking at the history of the Revolutionary war, it’s stunning to think thirteen colonies could unite and overcome the greatest fighting force in the world. Both sides took allies to help with their objective, only one chose God as it’s foundation from the start.

David beating Goliath on a global scale.

During Washington’s inauguration the procession went from Federal Hall to St. Paul’s Chapel in NY for a service and prayer for the new nation. Our first President in his first act, chose to include God and prayer as primary staples of this infant nation.

As we celebrate today, and everyday we are blessed to live in this country I feel it’s important to also recognize God and His hand in where we are, what our ancestors have achieved.

This is not about religion, (freedom of religion is also a staple of our beginnings) but about God and the higher power we are all connected to in some way, in our own way.

In our daily lives it’s easy to forget that the journey to the goal is just as important as the the goal at the end. The seven years of war had to happen to forge the strength, the resilience and the compassion which is a mainstay of what America is known for.

The bigger the goal, the tougher the road. In our lives individually and as a nation, a world.

On this day of celebration I for one will return to my roots in God, and celebrate His greatness in my life. For even on the darkest of days, the light is always shining.