Latte Crudo - part 1

"Muhuu" was the sound that we heard when the milk was being poured in the glass bottle, "muhuu". But this milk was not warm like it would be when you milk a cow. No, this milk was ice and ice cold. It does make you feel a little bit closer to the cow and the source of that fresh milk, when you get you latte crudo (raw milk) from a vending machine in the middle of a little town and it even says "muhuu' to you.

Raw milk from a vending machine, you will think? Yes, in Italy this is possible. They might not like it up there in Brussels, but in Italy you can find 1445 raw milk vending machines in 92 different provinces. Seventy of these machines only have organic raw milk for sale. All of them contain milk that is coming from local farms, so the milk does not have to be transported over long distances and therefore is better for the environment. Buying your milk from a vending machine has more environmental advantages though, since the milk is not being bottled and you can just buy one glass (or plastic) bottle once, and keep on using it. And of course, you support your local farmer by buying milk this way, while there are no middlemen involved; the milk goes directly from the farmer to the consumer and the farmer gets the full price.

What about the milk that does not get sold and consumed? And how often does the machine get refilled with fresh milk? These are questions that the Drover and me asked ourselves. On the website MilkMaps, where you can find your local distributore di latte crudo alla spina, I find out that the milk that does not get sold within 24 hours is being used for making ricotta and other cheeses, so there is absolutely zero waste. A brilliant idea if you ask me!

The raw milk does not only decrease your environmental foodprint (compared to buying milk form the supermarket), it is also economically interesting. The glass 1L bottle that we bought for our milk costs €1,- and you can use it hundreds of times. The milk itself costs only €1,- a liter, which easily competes with supermarket prices. Especially when you think of the nutritional value of this milk, that is (arguably) much higher compared to milk that has been pasteurized or, worse, has undergone ultra-high temperature treatment (UHT). When buying raw milk you might get a lot more value for money than when you choose for cheap processed supermarket milk.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I never buy pasteurized milk. I do. And when I do I always choose for the organic milk. What I never buy is UHT milk, mostly because, while being Dutch, I am used to have access to enormous amounts of fresh, pasteurized (organic) milk available in supermarkets and organic shops. Although I have noticed that there is an increasing amount of UHT milk around, that does not need to be refrigerated and therefore can be found next to other drinks like juices and Coca-Cola, my common sense has always told me to choose the fresh, refrigerated milk that according to Dutch food law always needs to be pasteurized.

In various places around the world there are big debates about raw milk vs. pasteurized or UHT milk and although I was aware of the existence of these debates I have never really looked so much into it, until the last days. While talking with the Drover and his friends from Australia I came to realize how strict food safety regulations are Down Under, and the sales of raw milk or cheeses made with raw milk are completely forbidden. If you do want to find raw milk in Australia you obviously need to 'go underground' and ask local farmers or cheese producers on farmers markets if they sell 'bath milk'. In the Netherlands, where all milk sold in shops and supermarkets needs to be pasteurized, cheese made with raw milk is widely available. Some of the Dutch farmers cheeses carry the label 'Boerenkaas' which indicates that these cheeses are made with raw milk. A strict rule is, however, that only cheese that gets aged can use raw milk, whereas fresh cheeses always need to be made with milk that has undergone pasteurization.

While searching a good quality fresh cream with a high fat content to make the local dessert specialty panna cotta, the Drover and me found out that this is very difficult to find In Italian supermarkets. We have noticed that fresh, pasteurized milk and cream is only available in small quantities whereas UHT products are widely available. It is easier to find UHT cream, some refrigerated, others outside of the fridge, than to find panna fresca, fresh, pasteurized cream. The quantity of fresh milk is also very low compared to an average shop in the Netherlands, whereas UHT milk is widely available.

These observations about fresh milk and UHT products, the fact that it is very easy in Italy to buy raw milk from the vending machines, the strict food safety regulations that Australia and the United States are known for, the threat of banning raw milk in the European Union - I started to get very interested to learn more about all this. What is going on in the world of milk? What are the worries and threats that raw milk seem to be surrounded with? Why is UHT milk extremely popular in some countries and non-existant in others? What reasons do advocates of raw milk have to choose and promote the sales and consumption of raw milk and what reasons do governments have to ban it in their countries? What consequences would it have for the various delicious cheeses made with raw milk if the use of raw milk would be banned completely? Is it true that raw milk has very positive health effects and can reduce allergies and intolerances? Many, many questions came up to my mind, and many, many answers can be found, although some questions seem to remain unanswered.

Because the issues around raw milk and the debate about the pro's and contra's of raw milk vs. pasteurized milk and/or UHT milk has struck me, I am currently doing some more research about it. Soon I will post Latte Crudo - part 2, where I will tell you about all the things that I have found out. Hopefully I will be able to answer some of the questions mentioned above. So would you like to know more about milk, make sure you have another look on my blog sometime soon. For now, I will just enjoy a nice fresh glass of raw milk with some Italian biscuits...