—
—
You qualify for home delivery!
Pantry
*Originally published on 3/14/25. Updated on 4/15/25.
Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it.
Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc.
Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on.
Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs.
Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the body. Depending on the metal, it can accumulate in the bones, muscle, skin, brain, etc. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment.
And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you use apple cider vinegar to draw everything out and make it thick and gelatinous and nutrient rich (like our broth).
There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today!
Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract.
Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead:
But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth.
Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result.
Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets."
That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political?
My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. And, as we know, our poor planet is becoming more and more contaminated with toxins like these toxic heavy metals ?
What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We need to stay vigilant and test from time to time. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study.
For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing:
We actually tested twice. As it turns out, the first test results from March had a LOQ (limit of quantification) that was to high. So, we sent new products in April for testing at a lower LOQ.
You can find the actual Eurofins test results right here!
For easy reference, here's a chart summarizing the results:
You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<2.0 μg/kg" and "<4.0 μg/kg".
The "<" indicates the limit of quantification (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So if a "<" result appears, it means that none of that metal was found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQ. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that's not provided by the test.
It's also important to note that a μg/kg is a part per billion (ppb). So, for 1 μg/kg, in every billion grams of that food, there would be one gram (or 0.0000001%) of that particular heavy metal. The small numbers matter when it comes to toxic heavy metals, since it doesn't take all that much for your body to become inundated and start experiencing issues or damage.
Our amazing customers mentioned Mike Adams to me numerous times after we released the first set of broth results. Mike Adams is an outspoken consumer health advocate, investigative journalist, activist, and science lab director. It turns out Eurofins, the lab we used, is a lab that he recommends.
Moreover, our results land us in his highest rating when it comes to heavy metals!
I think we're doing pretty great when it comes to providing clean, natural food. But, one result did make me pause.
First off, it's important to note that there are organic forms of arsenic as well as inorganic forms. Our body can handle the organic kind pretty well. But, the inorganic kind is carcinogenic. Our test results show the level of all arsenic, and it doesn't divide inorganic and organic.
Second, as you can see from the Health Ranger rating above, your body can tolerate way more arsenic than the other three toxic heavy metals. It can handle 6x more than cadmium, 25x more than lead, and 103x more than mercury.
Third, it was a mystery to me how arsenic had a reading in the ground beef but not the beef bone broth. Thankfully, that has a pretty easy explanation. Whereas lead mainly accumulates in the bones, arsenic accumulates more in the organs and muscles. And, of course, meat is muscle.
And finally, it was also quite perplexing how arsenic showed in our beef as well as our chicken. You see, our beef and chicken are grown on two separate farms (hours apart) and are processed at two separate processors (also hours apart). They're fed two completely separate diets, too!
My only explanation is farmland in general or maybe even our environment in general.
Organic arsenic has always been naturally present in the soil and water. It's just there in small amounts. But, levels nowadays are likely higher due to overuse of products laden with inorganic arsenic over time.
Starting in the 1940s, conventional farmers would include drugs filled with inorganic arsenic in the feed for pigs and chickens and turkeys to encourage fast growth and prevent disease. Ugh. This actually led to concerns about arsenic poisoning, and that that practice was banned recently, in 2016. It makes me think that all the agri-waste has contaminated our farmland a bit, perhaps in both the soil and water.
And then of course there are synthetic pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers that may contain inorganic arsenic. And their use on conventional farms might runoff everywhere else.
Since our meats are grown on farms that have been naturally managed for some time, I think that's why our arsenic levels were so low, especially compared to conventional meat.
The data below is based on a few scientific studies:
Wow! Putting that into perspective, it looks like our broth and meat are quite clean and extremely low in toxic heavy metals!
I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us ?
-----
Sources
I’m pretty new to this “health conscious” world, and honestly… it can be so overwhelming! Do you ever feel like that? There’s SO much information, so many rabbit holes to fall into, and it can feel like you need a degree just to grocery shop.
For me, it started with sugar. I know, I know, we ALL know that sugar is bad. But when you grow up in an environment where health isn’t really talked about (like me), no one actually explains why it’s bad. They just say “Don’t eat too much sugar.” But what does too much even mean? And why is it bad? What happens if I eat too much?
So there I was, just trying to make some churros (because, priorities — yum!), when I thought:
“I don’t want to use bad sugar..but how do I know which sugars are good and which are bad?”
And down the rabbit hole I went. Now, I’m here to save you some time and break it down the easy way - as simply as I can.
Alright, let’s get into it. What’s the big deal with sugar? Why do people tell us to stay away from it? Turns out, there's quite a few reasons… and I was today years old when I learned some of them.
Knowing this doesn’t make that chocolate glazed donut any less tempting, but once you really understand what sugar does to your body, it’s easier to make better choices.
The average American consumes 17 teaspoons (71 grams or 0.16 pounds) of added sugar per day (honestly, I believe it’s likely more than this)
Here is a quick chart of the recommended sugar intake:
Here’s a chart of common foods and the grams of sugar:
So yeah, we’re eating waaaaay more than we should. And it’s not just about weight, sugar affects your brain, mood, energy, and overall health.
Too much sugar can lead to:
I’ll be honest. I’ve felt some of these symptoms myself. I never really watched my sugar intake…until now. I didn’t think it was THAT big of a deal. But the more I learned, the more I realized how much sugar was affecting me.
The short answer — yes! Here’s why:
Refined Sugars: Refined sugars/processed sugars (like white sugar and high fructose corn syrup) are stripped of everything beneficial. They are digested quickly by the body, causing spikes in blood sugar followed by crashes. This also leads to hunger, irritability, and cravings. Have you ever eaten a donut and still felt hungry?
Natural Sugars: Natural sugars (like those in fruit, honey, maple syrup) come with fiber, vitamins, and minerals that your body actually needs. So it’s digested slower. This keeps the blood sugar stable, reducing cravings. Plus they come with essential nutrients that refined sugar lacks.
For example:
An apple has natural sugar, but also fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
A donut has added sugar, no nutrients, and leads to sugar crashes.
So yes, natural sugars are the better option, but moderation is still key. Even natural sugar is overconsumed, it can contribute to weight gain and metabolic issues.
Okay, so we know refined sugar isn’t great. But what should we actually avoid? Here’s a quick list:
❌ White sugar (refined sugar) - the most processed form w/ 0 nutrients
❌ High Fructose Corn Syrup - common in sodas and processed foods
❌ Sucrose, Dextrose, & Fructose (found in a lot of processed foods) - sneaky names for refined sugar in packaged foods
❌ Artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose) - synthetic sugars, probably so much worse for than sugar
Giving up sugar completely is tough (trust me, I’m working on it too!). But the good news is, there are better options that don’t come with the same downsides as refined sugars.
✅ Pure Maple Syrup: rich in minerals, great for baking
✅ Raw, unfiltered honey: full of enzymes and antioxidants
✅ Molasses: iron rich and nutrient dense
✅ Maple sugar, sucanat, coconut, palm, or date sugar: less processed and better for you
✅ **Piloncillo or Mexican Brown Sugar: raw, unrefined cane sugar. Also known as Mexican brown sugar.
✅ Applesauce & Mashed Bananas: great for baking swaps
✅ Raisins & Dates: natural sweetness with fiber and nutrients
**Side Note: I grew up with this!! I didn’t know that this entire time my family has been using a better version of sugar all long!! It was really cool to learn this.
Look, I’m not saying you need to swear off sugar forever (I mean..churros exist). But being mindful of sugar intake and choosing better alternatives can make a huge difference in your health.
A few key takeaways:
And honestly, give yourself grace. Changing habits takes time. I’m still figuring it out myself, but the goal isn’t perfection. It’s making small, healthier choices every day.
-----
References
You can see that it’s yellower and creamier. You can taste its full flavor and earthiness. In your gut, you just know that this milk is good for you. It’s simply the best.
With modern testing, we can quantify that we’re not crazy for believing this or feeling this within our bodies. It’s scientifically true. Spring grass fed milk is the healthiest milk.
Let’s explore.
Interestingly, it seems that seasonal temperatures have an effect on butterfat. Butterfat is typically lowest in July and August and highest in January. It’s still high in spring.
If you take into account the breed of the cow, our milk is hands down the creamiest around. Our herd is 80% Jersey and 80% Jersey crosses. Jersey cows produce the highest butterfat.
Whole milk in the store is a steady 3.5% (regardless of the season). On our farm, our full fat grass fed spring milk has 5%+ butterfat. Since all of our milk is non-homogenized, you can see that hefty creamline when you let the jug settle.
There are 12+ species of plants growing in our pasture. Since the flavor of the plants come through in milk, this diversity of forage leads to a diversity of flavor in spring milk. Our well kept pastures produce spring milk that’s earthy and grassy tasting.
A word of warning is that the farmer needs to be careful of strong tasting plants like onion grass or sneezeweed growing in the pasture. If cows eat those, an unpleasant bitter taste can be transferred to the milk.
Beta-carotene is a naturally growing plant pigment. It’s what gives many fruits and vegetables a yellow or orange color. It occurs naturally in many pasture grasses and legumes (even though most of these are green rather than orange or yellow).
A sign of high beta-carotene is yellow fat. Since our milk and butter is yellowest in the spring, we know that it has a high beta-carotene content from the fresh spring pasture.
It’s no secret that beta-carotene levels in spring milk are highest. As stated above, we can see it in the yellow color of the milk and butterfat. Here’s a chart that clearly shows the difference.
Beta-carotene is a carotenoid that your body converts into vitamin A. Since too much vitamin A can be toxic, consuming beta-carotene is a safer option compared to taking a Vitamin A supplement. Your body will convert beta-carotene to vitamin A on demand and as needed, avoiding any potential vitamin A toxicity.
Beta-carotene can:
One study looking at levels of α-tocopherol (AKA Vitamin E) by season found that grass milk in the spring had the highest levels. Per gram of milk fat, α-tocopherol was 13.3 - 18.0 μg in spring, 12.6 - 13.9 μg in summer, and 10.6 - 11.7 μg in fall.
Another study didn’t look specifically at Jersey cows, but we can see that among Brown Swiss and Holstein cows, Vitamin A was clearly highest (by a significant amount) in the spring.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that can:
Studies have shown that there is an eight-to-ten fold variation in CLA concentrations in milk. The variation comes from what the cows are eating and how mature the forage is.
When a cow eats pasture, you can see a 2-4 fold increase in CLAs. The more pasture a cow eats, the higher the CLAs in their milk. And, the less mature the forage, the higher the CLAs. This is why our cows eating 100% immature pasture in the spring produce milk with the highest levels of CLAs.
Conjugated linoleic acid is the only fatty acid shown unequivocally to inhibit carcinogenesis in experimental animals. CLA can reduce new tumor growth and destroy existing tumor cells. CLA has killed existing cancer cells in colon, ovarian and prostate carcinoma, leukemia, melanoma, and breast tumors. CLA-enriched butter inhibited a rat mammary tumor yield by 53%
Beyond cancer, CLA has many other benefits, too:
When cows (or any animal) eat biodiverse pasture, it may seem like they’re eating whatever they can find. But, this isn’t true. They are choosing what to eat and what not to eat, like you do at a salad bar. Our biodiverse pastures have 12+ different types of plants growing at any time.
Research shows that herbivores self-select their diet and choose antimicrobial, antiparasitic, or antifungal plants if they are suffering from a disease or feel they need to prevent this. Wow!
For example, a study in New Zealand found that eating tannin-containing legumes can prevent and treat worms in cows (seeds from our alfalfa plants are high in tannins). Larvae have a hard time growing in the host, adult worms excrete fewer eggs, and the eggs that are laid are typically impaired.
—--
Sources
A customer shared his farm food order with us on Instagram. Thanks for sharing, Nick! It included this amazing video of the volcano that can erupt from our fermented pickles:
What's going on here? Why so many bubbles? Conventional pasteurized vinegar pickles (you know, the kind that are considered "normal") don't bubble at all.
When fermented pickles are made, it's a very simple process. The following is mixed in a jar: Cucumbers, well water, celery seed, mustard seed, dill, garlic, Celtic sea salt, and whey. Then, the jar sits with a loose lid for 3-7 days, until it's done fermenting.
The seeds and herbs are in there for flavor only. The cucumbers, water, salt, and whey are what make the magic happen.
Note that there is no powdered culture added. Yes, whey is added and it has probiotics, but it simply helps jumpstart the ferment. Even without the whey, those pickles would ferment. It would just take a little longer.
This is because raw veggies naturally have lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in them. When you mix them with water and salt, it creates the perfect environment for them to grow. Pretty cool, right?
The living microbiology (the LAB) grow and multiply. They eat the naturally occurring sugars and starches in the cucumbers and produce CO2, a gas.
The fermentation carbonated the pickle brine! The fermentation made the volcano! It's also a sure sign that there's plenty of good probiotic stuff for your gut in that jar.
Another thing to notice in the jar is how the liquid is whitish, not clear. There's nothing unsafe about it. Yes, you can eat it! It's a natural part of fermentation.
You see, KAHM yeast thrives in acidic environments. As that probiotic goodness ferments and creates CO2, it also creates lactic acid. The lactic acid not only gives pickles their distinct sour flavor but also makes the brine acidic.
KAHM yeast is naturally in the air. It will land on a ferment and think "Gee, this would be a great home." And then it grows. It typically makes a film on the top of a ferment, but it can also sink to the bottom. With volcanic pickles, it gets all mixed up in the brine and will eventually settle.
Nick, who shared the volcanic pickles video, reported that: "The pickles are absolutely delicious. I love them!"
But... we sometimes get complaints about the flavor of the pickles and the white stuff. Is Nick's palate simply more accustomed to ferments? Were some jars of pickles actually off? It's really hard to say... especially when you're not there smelling and tasting it yourself.
What I do know is that fermented veggies are an acquired taste. They're very different from the distinct pasteurized vinegar pickle flavor you likely grew up with.
Fermented pickles have umami to them (think about that "weird" flavor in miso or a very sharp aged cheese). They have a lot of tang. They can even taste metallic. Some may feel a burn on their tongue (that's the lactic acid by the way).
You may want to try making some at home (as I said before, it's pretty easy). That way, you can taste the flavor throughout the fermentation process and put it in the fridge when you think they're just right.
Here are a few tips to keep them in their best shape.
Always store in the fridge. This will slow down the fermentation so they don't get overdone. If you leave them on the counter (especially pickles), they'll get quite sour and mushy pretty quickly. Never freeze ferments. They'll just get mushy.
Make sure the veggies are always covered with brine. If the brine falls below the veggies, simply add more water and sea salt. So easy! If the veggies aren't covered, they can grow mold or dry out and become yucky.
If there's too much KAHM yeast, remove it. KAHM yeast is perfectly safe to eat. However, it can have an off-putting flavor, especially when there's too much. If it's on the top of the brine, simply scoop it off. If it's all mixed up in the brine, let the jar sit for a day or two so it settles. Once it sinks to the bottom of the jar, you can remove the pickles and clean brine (leaving the white stuff at the bottom), clean the jar, and then put the pickles and brine back in. Voila!
With this in mind, you might be wondering...
If a lacto-fermented veggie goes wrong, it will be pretty obvious. It may have a repulsive smell, flashy colors (like pink or black mold), or a foul flavor. While a normal ferment should have a sour, tangy smell, a bad ferment will smell putrid or rotten.
This can be a little tricky, especially if you're new to ferments. The flavor can be wild! Often you simply need to trust your gut.
Why? They're just so darn good for your gut. They're packed with a range of lactic acid bacteria. Fermented veggies usually have bifidobacteria, too, which isn't prevalent in fermented dairy but is crucial for healthy digestion.
When you have robust and healthy gut microbiology:
There's probably so much more, but those are the top ones for me!
I'd love to hear from you! Comment below (no account required - start typing for the guest option to appear) or contact us.
"Color" includes unnatural stuff like dyes as well as natural stuff like marigold and paprika. Nearly all egg farmers nowadays do this... even the natural ones. Why? People demand consistent color yolks, thinking it means a certain quality. Little do most know, yolk color is superficial now.
At Miller's, we know this for a fact. Curiosity made us to send our eggs for testing, and there was zero nutritional difference in our orange vs yellow yolk eggs. What mattered most was the farming practices and quality of the feed, and our eggs came out on top for most tests.
It tells our farmers how their pasture is doing. If the plants are too mature, not diverse enough, it's too wet or dry, or if chickens aren't eating the pasture, we'll see that with the yolk color!
Is this true? I mean, removing the color is only a superficial change. It shouldn't affect the flavor.
Well, we needed to find out. So... we did a blind tasting on the farm a few weeks ago. Here's what that looked like:
The biggest factor affecting egg flavor was the yolk to white ratio. The more yolk, the more flavor.
It's spring, and our hens are out on pasture 100% of the time. An egg develops for about 6 weeks inside a chicken, so it takes some time. But... you should start to see darker yolks now.
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us ?
PS: The egg shortage is 100% over, and we have plenty of eggs now!! That means egg bundles are back!
Aaron, myself, and a couple other team members went to Tennessee to participate in Meatstock 2025 last weekend. It's a carnivore/keto party in the Smoky Mountains. Boy, we learned a lot and met a lot of wonderful people, both people who healed through food as well as doctors and experts that help people heal.
One person we had the pleasure of meeting was the amazing Dr. Kiltz. He's a carnivore. He's also a doctor who specializes in fertility. And can you guess how he helps many of his patients? Yup, through food. He's a big supporter of the carnivore and keto diets. He suggests getting 70-80% of your calories from fat, 15-30% from protein, and 0-10% from carbs.
Woah woah woah. Hold up a sec. We, of course, had a conversation with Dr. Kiltz about this.
I mean, why are people having health issues in the first place? Sure, some of it could be genetics. Some of it's definitely environmental. But, a lot of it is likely the food we're eating. It's processed food laden with seed oils and carbs and sugar and yucky additives... but also the farming practices that result in toxic stuff hidden in plain old ingredients.
Dr. Kiltz agreed and elaborated on his statement. What he's saying is that, if you're eating a standard American diet, the biggest and fastest impact you can make comes from altering your diet on a macro level - fat, protein, and carbs. But the granular stuff you can't see or count matters too, especially once you're making progress.
OK, I get it. But then I thought some more...
So, unsurprisingly, I went into research mode. Here's what I learned.
Not all toxins accumulate in fat. Some are stored in bone, muscle, organs, etc. But, there are certain toxins that a body stores specifically in fat. They include:
The reason the above toxins collect specifically fat (AKA adipose tissue) is because they are lipophilic. Liophilic is when a substance is "fat loving" and can bond with or dissolve in fat.
Other toxins are hydrophilic, meaning they are "water loving" and can bond with and dissolve in water. These include bentazone, glyphosate, imidacloprid, flouride, and arsenic. They do not accumulate in fat.
I like to think about toxic overload like a cup. Our bodies can process a little of it. But, when the cup is overfilled with stuff like pesticides, toxic heavy metals, mold, carcinogens, etc, that's when problems happen.
Our bodies are pretty good at handling stress. That's why toxic overload can be confusing. It may take a long time - months, years, or decades - for the problem to arise. Then, once the problem happens, it's hard to pinpoint the cause. And then, healing time is often lengthy (and sometimes the damage can't completely be undone).
When it comes to toxins, the response really depends on the body. The list of issues that can arise is exhaustive. They include fatigue, headaches, digestive problems and leaky gut, brain fog, anxiety and depression, increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, hormone imbalance, mast cell overreaction, histamine responses, bloating and inflammation, trouble sleeping, skin conditions, liver damage, obesity, and more.
When it comes to farming, there are few places that toxins can be introduced to animals. This can be from toxins resistant to breaking down from decades ago or toxins being used or produced today. This can be on the actual farms or in the facilities that prepare food for sale:
When toxins enter your food, you can't see them. You can't taste them. You can't smell them. This is why knowing more about how your food is produced is important.
Well, there are bunch of ways toxins can get into food from farming. Here are some ways that farms can decrease toxins in the final food:
Here's a few notable things we do (among the many):
We'd love to supply you with clean foods and hope you join the movement!
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us ?
-----
References:
*Originally published 5/20/22. Updated 5/27/25.
Is it a healthy nutrient-dense “cure-all” for nourishing your body, or is it a dangerous vector for spreading life-threatening disease? The two camps are split. It is a complicated issue with mixed battles of bad science vs. personal testimony, morals vs. politics, education vs. advertising, and big agri-business vs. small farms.
Let's dive in...
I mean, humans started drinking it thousands of years ago. It just made sense. It was a part of agriculture, but it looked a lot different then than it does today. In the beginning, a family or community would share a dairy cow. The cow would live outside and eat the pasture that was naturally present.
Over time, farmers specializing in dairy became a thing. They would keep the cows, do the milking, and provide milk for the greater community. They would hand milk, cool it in fresh spring water, and transport it with horse-drawn carts.
Raw milk was nourishing, providing moisture, protein, and nutrients. It would help people have food through cold winters. And the milk could be preserved into cheese for long trips and to build up food storage.
During the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, whisky and milk were the two most popular beverages. A cutthroat entrepreneur came up with the revolutionary idea to confine cows in a factory-like setting, make them stand still, and force feed them the hot grain byproduct from making whiskey, which is called "swill". Definitely not natural for a cow!
This fresh raw milk was accessible to people in cities. Remember, cars weren't the norm then, so getting milk from farms outside the cities and keeping it cool was a major operation. This milk was also cheap to produce. I mean, the feed was a by-product that was basically free. Milk "farmed" like this was popular, but...
Produced in these unclean and unnatural conditions, this blue-tinted “swill milk” made many people sick and led to many deaths. This was a true public health issue, resulting in many infant deaths and a rise in life threatening illness.
This historical pinpoint is the origin of raw milk getting its bad reputation.
Can you guess which choice big business made?
The swill milk industry chose to mask the symptoms of swill milk by using additives like plaster, chalk, sugar, eggs, starch, flour, and pigments. These “bad” distillery dairies gave “good” small clean dairies a bad name.
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a scientist who promoted pasteurization as a way to make milk safe for consumption. Philanthropist Nathan Strauss (1848-1931), co-owner of Macy’s, jumped on the pasteurization bandwagon and created milk factories that sterilized diseased milk. He, along with other big dairy owners, used his wealth to influence government agencies and advertise pasteurized milk to the public, including scary fake news articles in popular magazines.
The Certified Milk Movement was led by Dr. Henry Coit (1854-1917). Dr. Coit believed in milk as a necessary healthy food. He influenced and created the Medical Milk Commission and its standards to ensure production of clean, healthy raw milk from small farms.
However, this milk cost 4x more than the unclean kind. Given the advertising efforts of the pasteurized milk businesses, can you guess which milk the public latched onto? Yup, pasteurized milk.
Big agri-business advertises and lobbies for pasteurized milk (Got Milk?), which can be produced more cheaply. Small farms and families fight for their right to choose what foods are healthy to consume.
Goodbye, free market. This devastated (and continues to devastate) small farmers and the families that choose to consume raw milk.
The 35-year-old ban means that, even though a farm like ours can be legally certified by the State of Pennsylvania for raw milk production for humans, we can sell that milk in Pennsylvania only.
For example, New Jersey’s laws do not allow raw dairy for humans at all. We cannot legally deliver raw milk for human consumption to NJ. However, a person from NJ can drive to PA, buy or pick up milk, and then drive back to their home and consume it. That’s perfectly legal.
No US farm is permitted to sell these foods for human consumption (with some “gray area” exception for herd shares in some states).
And I mean, it’s kind of ridiculous. If a state allows raw milk for humans. Why not cream? It’s the same thing!
Miller’s Bio Farm believes in raw. That’s why we offer a huge selection of raw A2/A2 dairy for cats & dogs. Even if we can only sell it and support the health of your furry family members, we’ll do it. We believe that it’s a step, albeit small, in the right direction.
And gee, if we could get all of our raw dairy certified for humans, we sure would!
This law is based on scientific evidence showing that aging cheese for 60 days under proper conditions produces chemical activity in the cheese that kills harmful bacteria.
Side Note: The cottage laws in Pennsylvania allow someone to get certified to prepare food in their home kitchen (beef jerky, cookies, jams, salsa, etc) and legally sell it across state lines. It makes me think: Is certified raw milk potentially more dangerous than this?
1. There are many proven health benefits.
2. The food landscape has changed. With the rise of eCommerce and delivery services, our food world is expanding. State by state laws don’t make as much sense anymore.
3. Modern technology allows us to produce an ultra low risk raw product. We have meticulous safety standards and test every batch of milk on site. You can learn more about our milk safety standards and view our test results here. We’re meeting the requirements for pasteurized dairy plus some. We follow these standards for both human and pet dairy products.
4. People who want raw dairy will get it no matter what. If raw milk is not legalized, then the government is ultimately supporting black market milk (just like marijuana, folks). Now, that’s really not good and could be potentially dangerous.
Even if we cannot provide raw dairy products for everyone everywhere now, we have hope for a better food future. A future filled with honesty, transparency, safety, and choice.
It is undoubtedly true that unpasteurized milk produced in unclean conditions can be very dangerous. However, it is also true that clean raw milk can be a completely safe and nutritious food choice, especially with modern refrigeration, transportation, and testing technology.
I would hope there is a way for both points of view to co-exist, to agree to disagree, and create policies that allow for basic human choice to consume what they view as healthy.
The CDC estimates that there are about 3,000 deaths from food-borne illnesses every year. About 46% percent come from produce (mostly leafy greens), 22% from meat or poultry, and 14% from dairy.
From 1993-2006, there have been 3 deaths attributed to raw dairy. That's 0.23 deaths per year, which means raw dairy accounts for 0.008% of all deaths attributed to food-borne illnesses.
There are 35,000+ deaths from automobile accidents every year. You tell me. What should be our biggest concern?
I’d love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required) or contact us.
If you are interested in learning more about raw milk history and laws, I recommend the very informative videos created by Nourishing Liberty or perusing the realmilk.com website.
PS: Miller’s Bio Farm believes in raw. But, more than that, we believe in choice. That’s why we offer raw dairy as well as lightly pasteurized and minimally processed A2/A2 dairy. We make the best of both, and the choice is yours!
Why is maple syrup is advertised as "pure" anyway? Well, it's because it's being compared to the Aunt Jemima kind of syrup, which doesn't even have maple syrup in it! It's fake maple syrup made with corn syrup with colors, flavors, thickeners, and preservatives. It mimics maple syrup, but it's definitely not maple syrup.
So... for companies that are selling actual maple syrup (you know, the kind that's cooked down from the sweet sap from a maple tree), they like to differentiate their syrup from fake syrups. They do this by calling it "pure". I've even seen it as "100% pure".
But, that's not really true either. The dictionary definition of "pure" is "not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material." Well, in order to make real maple syrup, you kinda need to do just that.
First, you harvest the sap from the trees. This happens at a specific time of year. In early spring, as the weather starts to warm up, the sap starts flowing. Here are the lines that run through the maple forest in Vermont that our syrup comes from:
Then, the sap (which tastes like sweet water), is pumped into a big stainless steel tank:
After that, it goes into another big stainless steel pot in the sugar shack (yup, that's what an old fashioned place that makes maple syrup is called). And then, the heat is turned on. Our maple syrup is cooked over a wood stove!
As the maple sap cooks down, it bubbles. Like a lot.
To prevent the pot from overflowing with maple lava, not only making a mess but also creating a dangerous situation, syrup makers use a little defoamer. A defoamer is a fat that breaks the surface tension on the bubbles. Only a little bit is needed.
*There are all kinds of defoamers, natural and absolutely not natural. But first, let's finish making the syrup. Keep scrolling to learn more about defoamers.
Here's what those bubbles look like as a defoamer is added:
When the bubbles are smaller and the syrup has cooked down to the perfect thickness and specific gravity, it's done! It's drained into another stainless steel pot.
Final thickness and color testing is done before it's bottled. The Virkler family is serious about color distinctions. They always keep some super dark and super light syrup around to make it just right.
Why is maple syrup different shades anyway? It's a natural thing! It has to do with the changes in the sugars within the sap as the season changes.
As the temperature warms up, naturally occurring bacteria become active and break down the sugar into glucose and fructose. These simpler sugars caramelize more easily during boiling, making a darker syrup. That's why lighter syrup is generally made at the beginning of the season when it's colder. But, just like the weather, the color varies throughout the maple syrup season.
The Virkler family documents this every year. In the pic below, the first sap of the season is in the bottom left. And then every harvest after that goes to the right and then up to the next row. Pretty neat!
And voila! That's how maple syrup is made!
A defoamer is a fat. It disrupts surface tension, breaking those syrupy bubbles down, because it contains non-polar molecules that are attracted to water.
Conventional Defoamers
Conventional defoamers are a blend of who knows what kind of cheap oils. They can be mineral oils, silicone oils, vegetable oils (canola, soy, olive, etc), or other hydrophobic oils. Some contain up to 10% silicone. Did you know "pure" maple syrup can have that in it!?
Conventional defoamers are a lab and factory made thing. And you know what that means - the actual ingredients are proprietary. That's 100% allowed, especially since the defoamer ingredients don't need to be listed on the label. It's less than 1% and considered a trace ingredient.
Natural Defoamers
More natural defoamers are straight oils. For example, our old maple syrup used sunflower oil. I've seen other maple syrup makers use canola oil. But, the most common defoaming oils are seed oils, and that means PUFAs.
Natural No PUFA Defoamers
In an effort to reduce PUFAs whenever possible, we have a new no PUFA maple syrup! Virkler Farm & Forest uses organic coconut oil as their defoamer. We're so proud to offer it to you!
*It's important to note that a really tiny amount of defoamer is used. Whatever is left in the final syrup is a trace amount. But, as I say again and again, if there's a trace amount of something bad in everything you eat, is it a trace amount anymore?
For the most natural maple syrup, you can look for a few things:
Our maple syrup checks all those boxes!
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or send us a message.
-----
PS: Did you know that the maple syrup we sell is also used in a bunch of our products? That includes our ice cream, egg custard, maple sausages, chocolate and strawberry syrups, and more!
Here are the links that usually make up the food chain. Mega feed mills and fertilizer plants --> mega factory farms --> mega processing plants --> mega distributors --> mega supermarkets. And in between all of those things are mega supplies and transportation companies.
When one link breaks, the whole chain goes down! Sure, it's made food more affordable. But, it's also made our food system fragile.
The current salmonella outbreak has sickened at least 89 people to date. It's affected 1.7 million cartons of eggs in 9 states, starting in March. Hundreds of thousands of people have eaten contaminated eggs.
Wow, I mean, that's awful on such a big scale.
But, here's what's interesting to me - there are 29 different products affected. How could that be? How could they be related? Well, those products come from 10 different egg brands who all have their eggs packed at 2 facilities. Talk about mega ag!
Now, I don't know this for sure, but I would bet that all of those millions of eggs come from one mega-farm that has a salmonella outbreak inside one of its mega buildings.
Keep in mind that a CAFO (confined animal feeding operation) is defined as having a minimum of 82,000 laying hens. In other words, it's plausible for those millions of eggs to come from one "farm".
And the saddest part? All of those hens were likely culled to stop the outbreak quickly.
One last note here -- the egg recall example is actually a small one. It's even worse with beef. Did you know that 85% of all grain finished beef is processed by just 4 companies? Geez! And, I mean, we all saw the food chain break during COVID.
They are all independent, and each has an important role in getting your food to you.
When one intersection in the web breaks, it's fairly easy to repair it and find someone else to fill in. It's a resilient way to produce food. The downside to a food web is that the food does cost more.
They all get their feed and cartons from the same place. They all follow the same farming practices. But, other than that, they work independently in "pods". Right now, we have 2 egg pods.
A "pod" consists of 1-5 family farmers with small flocks (no more than 3,000 birds each). And that group of farmers has their eggs packed at one small family egg packer.
If we need more eggs, then we need to start another pod. If one pod (or a part of a pod) goes down, another can likely fill in.
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required) or contact us ?
-----
PS: Did I mention we have plenty pastured, honest yolk, corn & soy free eggs right now? There's no outbreak or shortage for us!
-----
Sources
This address must match the selected delivery ZIP.
Select when this item should be added.
Select which order should receive this item.
A2/A2 Dairy
Meat & Seafood
