I Used To Drink Milk
Posted: Wednesday, July 06, 2011
by Deborah Jackson
The Organic Garden
Early Saturday morning you could hear the engine idle. If you looked out the window, there it would be; the white van and a little man climbing out. You could watch as he went to the rear and opened the doors. You couldn't see what he was doing but very shortly he would reappear from the back carrying two crates. He would walk to the back steps and you lost sight as he walked up. A dull thud, some clinking noises and if you were still watching you could see that he was carrying the empty milk bottles back down the stairs. He got into the truck and drove up two houses and repeated the process.Our milk was produced locally; bottled and delivered by the the same company; Musgrove Farms. We loved milk, rich creamy and cold. Not a single day went by that we did not drink it and every one we knew did the same. We had milk when we went to school for our cookie break and on the rare occasions that we ate out, we were always served milk.
We had never heard of skim milk or 1% or 2% or even fat-free milk. It was just milk. And it was great. You either liked it or you didn't. I did.
Times changed and the farm that produced our milk was bought by a conglomerate. The milkman was no more and now we had to buy milk at the store. Shortly thereafter, I stopped liking milk. It tasted wrong somehow; watery and thin. There was none of the rich flavor that I had grown up with. It even looked thin; when you poured it into a glass you could almost see through it. It didn't fill you up any more.
Around this time I started seeing other kinds of milk; skim milk, 1%, 2%, fat free. I started hearing about all the things wrong with drinking milk and even though I still drank it with cake or cookies or pizza my consumption was reduced to less than a quart a month.
I spent most of my adult life avoiding milk. Like millions of others I drank sodas, and fruit juices, powdered drinks and devoured coffee and tea. I developed acid reflux and told myself it wasn't good for me. I bought the rhetoric that has proliferated the market place. I tried all the various types and hated them all.
One day I saw in the supermarket a row of cartons of organic whole milk. On a whim, I picked one up. Truthfully, I forgot about it once I got home, but it was that time of year when everything I ate reminded me of childhood. When my sister brought a pan of cinnamon rolls they cried out to be eaten while drinking a cold glass of milk. I grabbed the carton from the fridge and sat down with a hot bun and as I ate and drank was transported to the age of five. Unlikely as it seemed I downed the entire glass I had poured and then sat there feeling satisfied and full as I had not felt for what seemed an eternity. I don't know what it was; the feeling of being contented as I had as a child or just finally being able to enjoy the taste milk again. Whatever it was, I haven't bought anything but whole and organic since and I can say now; I still drink milk.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Hi Deborah thanks for sharing this. I love milk. People would say to me because of the amount of milk I drank that it would be cheaper for me to buy a cow. Even on holiday in bars I drank milk. 2 pints a night I would drink before going to bed. UHT is my all time favourite. Sadly for over two months I haven't touched a drop since a health check came back with my cholestrol level being 7. 2 for which I am now taking tablets for. Thank you for reminding me about what I am missing (lol)
Keep well
KacyThanks for the comment. I've been lucky enough to stay off all of the "medications". The bout with acid-reflux was enough to convince me that natural was always better. Store bought tomatoes brought on an attack almost immediately; picked fresh from the garden, I could eat plantfuls and not even get queasy.
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