Friday 3 February 2012

Moo-nshine

After my delightful experience drinking raw milk at Quigley and Jean's house, I decided to start buying it for myself, and as we're now in Byron Bay again, with it's rather alternative and health-food-loving population, I was pretty confident it would be commonplace. Then I had a tip-off that you're not allowed to drink it, really, and to get around it, people have been selling it as 'Pet Milk.' Not for human consumption. Gosh. Ok.
The whole raw milk issue is apparently creating quite a stir all over the place. Mums of toddlers are asking each other for sources on forums. In Brooklyn, US, people queue up shiftily in the early morning waiting for a secretivly-organised dropoff (http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/living-green/article.aspx?cp-documentid=18708415), meanwhile Campylobacter Blog (...really?) announces to its horrified followers:
'Milk "For Pet Use Only" Equals Raw Milk In Florida; Latest Scam To Sell Dangerous Product.'

I wandered round today and couldn't find any pet milk, and eventually sidled up to the guy on the till of one of the organic food shops and asked him if he had any of the contraband white substance I was looking for. He told me that the law people had gotten cross about the way people were buying pet milk for themselves, and so now they had to sell it as 'Bath Milk.' To bathe in. DEFINITELY not for human consumption.

'I would like some bath milk please,' I said.



I don't get it. Surely drinking raw milk and risking getting some sort of bacterial diarrhoea is the same sort of thing as eating raw chicken and risking getting salmonella (only much more appetising)? As long as, in the health and safety era we're in, you can show the consumer was informed of the risks? You should read that article I put a link to, the lengths people in the US are going to to get the stuff is hilarious.

Anyway like I say we are back in Byron while Jenny and Ray go to Sydney to be around their daughter Rosie whose first baby was due yesterday! Exciting. And we have FINALLY seen some sunshine for the first time after weeks of heavy rain!

Brahman-cross cattle by the huge fig tree, on a sunny evening.

Zap's not feeling too good so he's very frustrated about not being able to go surfing yet after being stuck inside for so long. But hopefully soon we'll be back on it with a vengenace.

1 comment:

  1. Is that ANOTHER Ficus?? It looks heavenly there...about tostart off for Cornwall in thickly falling snow!! Hmmm.
    x

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