Want to try Rocky Mountain Oysters? Not easy to find, but if you really want them, you can have them.
Want raw milk? Even in areas where that is legal, raw milk is extremely hard to find. And you'd might have to travel far to likely come up short.
In the season of resolutions, I resolve to try raw milk in 2014. Like most resolutions, this won't likely happen.
The good news is that I live in a state where farm sales are legal. The bad news is I don't have the path I had a few years back to possibly score raw milk.
To get to a state where retail sales are legal, I'd have to travel from Illinois to Pennsylvania. But I could also find raw milk retail sales in Washington and California, two possible vacation destinations in 2014.
Previous coverage:
Raw milk has to go underground despite a lack of negative proof
As you can tell from this 2011 column, my curiosity for raw milk isn't Johnny come lately. But in all that time, I haven't had a taste of raw milk.
Of course, a simple taste won't do much to give me or anyone else the benefits of raw milk, the reason those who believe so heavily in its health assets want to drink the raw milk.
Yes, drinking raw milk can invite potential risks. The very young, very old, and those with immune issues. Also, making sure your source is a good one.
If we had a food system where we were too careful on all fronts, the frustration of scoring raw milk would blend in as a natural outcome. But those who live in the United States can consume foods banned in most countries around the world.
Americans can consume brominated vegetable oil; dyes such as blue 1, blue 2, yellow 5, and yellow 6; olestra; potassium bromate; azodicarbonamide (flour bleacher); BHA, BHT, rBGH, and rBST; and my favorite, arsenic. These are easy to find in foods in the United States. But not raw milk.
You can score marijuana in 2 U.S. states in 2014: Colorado (right now) and Washington (soon). Not just medicinal marijuana, but marijuana for regular use. In Colorado, you can get marijuana in retail stores, but not raw milk.
Even if I can't get the benefits from raw milk (unless I can score a consistent supply), I just want a taste. Some foods that are good for you don't taste good — let's be honest. And raw milk may not taste good.
As a journalist, I want to know what moves so many people to embrace raw milk, and what drives the food industry to make raw milk so difficult to find. And truthfully, the forbidden element is a lot of what drives me.
Sure, I've had cheese made from raw milk, but that isn't the same. But I want the rawness of raw milk.
I will sign a release. As regular readers have noted, I've been willing to sign a release over a medium-rare burger in Canada. I am willing to take the responsibility I've acquired as an adult.
I just want a taste.
I resolve to make a decent attempt to consume raw milk in 2014. I welcome any assistance and will protect any source who helps me. You can e-mail me (see link on right-hand column) or leave a comment.
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