The Raw Milk Party just left Tucson!

[Guest guest]

I have written a short account of the last three days we spent with

Max Kane from the Raw Milk Party Bike-A-Thon. Here goes:

Late last year, we received emails from at the Raw Milk Party,

asking chapter leaders for support as Max biked his way through the US

to Malibu. I saw that he was coming through our area, so I swapped

emails with and added us as one of his potential stops. I said

I made a mean raw cream ice cream. I guess they really liked that idea.

Earlier this month they emailed and said Max would most probably be

stopping by for a day or so and that a warm bed and shower would do

him well. I have to admit, I was more excited than my husband since

he mostly gets dragged into all the crazy ideas I get. Right? Yes,

it was all I could do not to squeal with delight that I was going to

meet Max Kane.

So, this last Thursday afternoon we had been waiting for the call. At

around 1:00pm the phone rang and it was Max, 20 miles away and I

wondered how he was feeling as I looked out the picture window at the

drizzle and fog. It was nippy too (for Arizona), around 50. I

offered to pick him up and he said, " do you have a washer? " and I

said, " yes, a big one with homemade soap. " He said, " I'd like to try

and make it the rest of the way. "

About an hour later, he arrived. Soakin' wet and almost

popsicle-like, I showed him to his room. I knew he was hungry. Yet,

I knew I would be limited with my culinary skills on this one. Max is

a Raw Foodie. In the few days before, I had prepped a quart of

cultured cream and some raw cheese balls, made from OPs Really Raw

Cheese, crispy pecans, organic spring onion, cilantro and fresh

chipotle (just to let you know you're alive). This was ALL I had for

him, besides a few gallons of milk from Benson. It was still pretty

unclear *what* exactly his diet was going to be, but I was soon to

find out it was much more than dairy. By the time Max had reached our

house, he was pretty much in the last stretches of his cross country

excursion. I suspect he had already ridden over 2,000 miles. Soon I

understood the urgency of protein. Raw, clean, not previously frozen

protein. Our quarter steer is still hanging in Wilcox. And even if

it had been stuffed in our freezer - it would have been frozen. Max

only eats fresh, raw meat. How 'bout them apples?

He wolfed the cheese balls and cultured cream, grilling me about the

ingredients. Then he grilled me about the dish detergent I used. I

had him smell my dishes and jars - nothing - just how he likes it.

Soon, we headed for Whole Foods, where they confirmed the meat arrives

fresh, not frozen and everything in the case was only limited to the

size the eyes think the tummy is.

That night, while he was eating his 6oz. sirloin and 5oz. of ahi tuna,

he told me he could taste the soy in our milk. We discussed this for

quite some time and it started to seriously sink in that not all raw

milk is created equal. The cow we get our milk from is fed mostly

non-sprayed alfalfa - but since the last few months have been cooler,

her stash is no longer lushy green - it's golden and looks like hay.

She also gets a mystery " feed mix, " which there is no mystery that it

is mostly corn and soy (yes, GMO). From our group in Tucson, she gets

beet pulp, salt, barley and kelp from Azure Standard - stuff to cut

the corn and soy. I suspect it does not cut enough, as Max would not

drink the milk his entire stay here.

Friday morning, we took his bike to a shop near the university. The

tiny welds that hold the widgets that hold the heavy rack broke. The

bike shop told us to see their welder and he did everything for free.

At the same time we were at the welders, there were two other people

getting bikes made to tour the world. We invited them to come over

and talk about all the things that were happening in our lives.

After the welder's, we went to our local HFS, where they carry the

other raw milk that comes from the one and only raw dairy in Arizona.

Max had me film him, going in and purchasing a gallon of raw milk.

Arizona is one of the few states where one can buy/sell raw dairy. He

interviewed the store manager, who told a story of when the FDA used

to force raw diaries to put black ink in milk so they couldn't sell it

for human consumption.

On his travels, Max met Albert from Lubbock, TX. Albert runs Pereira

Pastures Dairy in Abernathy, TX. Since Albert is a big supporter of

the bike-a-thon, he donated time, money and diary for Max. They

talked on the phone and Albert agreed to drive, from his home in Texas

to Tucson to deliver milk and cream and talk to us about starting a

share or something for the people of Tucson in need of high quality

dairy. Max kept saying to me, " just wait till you taste this milk,

you won't believe your taste buds. " I was like ... " oh, mommy. "

Friday night, we had some WAP friends, who are also raw foodies, over

and one brought his Green Star. Max juiced and juiced. It was a

juicing party. I sliced pieces of beef and tuna from WF and had some

really nice raw cheeses. We polished off the cultured cream and and

we tested our entire house for EMF activity using our friend's

EMFsmogfinder thinger - that was interesting. Max didn't interview

our friends, but they talked about Jordan, Aajanus and Mercola.

We talked about the Vitamin D/Cod Liver Oil debacle while stuffing

ourselves with raw meats and cheeses. I did not eat the raw beef, but

my hubby had a big bite of it.

Saturday morning, I had to meet the truck from A Bar H to get our

chicken order. Our buying club arranges the whole thing and we can

order anything from pastured beef, lamb, chicken and eggs. This was

the second order I've gotten from them since I usually get those

things from other sources. These particular chicken and eggs come

from a place in Wilcox and are considered the best you can find in

these here parts. Two of our other WAP families/friends showed up

while we were there, getting goodies too. Max interviewed both the

dads. As I was doing my transaction with the chicken/egg guy, I asked

him " so .. do the chickens get anything other than pasture? " He said,

" yeah, they get some grain. " I said, " grain? " He said, " yeah, they

get some corn. " I said, " do they get soy? " He looked down and said,

" yeah, they get some soy. " I said, " is the corn organic? " He said,

" nah, the corn isn't organic. "

Those eggs are $3.95/dozen through our buying club. Now, I might

regret saying this in public, but I'm sorry - for $2.79, I can get the

exact same egg, organic even, fed the same soy, shipped from

California to our Trader Joe's. During this transaction, I watched

two of my friends buy 24 dozen of these eggs, between the two of them,

to feed their families for the next month. I think I got a migraine

after that.

Max and I lamented on how sometimes dealing with vendors who claim

they have the most ultimate of nutritious, healthy goodness on the

face of the planet, can have a hard time looking at you when they tell

you that they feed their animals corn and soy ...

.... or how they treat their honey to 125 and slap a big label that

says " UNHEATED " and " RAW " because the pasteurization standard is to

160. Pfft.

When we came home, it was getting close to the time for us to be at

another interview on the other side of town. We quickly unloaded our

goods, chugged milk, munched berries and cheese. Usually, I make

squishee eggs for breakfast, so this was new. I drank two pints of

milk since Max wasn't drinking any. The interview that happened next

should show up in the documentary concerning someone who ... yep,

drinks raw milk. For lunch we stopped at AJ's and had yellowtail and

albacore sashimi. That stuff I could eat all day. Max bought a giant

piece of albacore for his dinner that night. Our friends we met at

the bike welder and our new dairy friend from Lubbock were coming over

that night. I whipped up pork and pinto beans and a giant tamale pie

made from grassfed things and organic southwest ingredients.

Since our guests were mostly vegetarian they didn't eat the things I

cooked, but drank the milk. One of them had a bowl of beans sprinkled

with cheese. They'd never had raw milk before. They talked about

their impending world excursion and when Albert, the dairyman arrived,

we listened to stories of how factory dairies do business and conduct

their animal husbandry practices. Albert explained how he was once in

that business with his father; how he'd observed things and did not

want to feed his new baby daughter that milk. He and his wife started

their own 100% grassfed milk farm and are looking to expand. We

talked about a loop he could potentially make each week through

Arizona and New Mexico. This was very exciting news for my husband

and I. Albert brought 5 gallons of his milk and a quart of cream.

This milk was so unbelievably rich and good, tasted so clean and

sweet, it was like creme anglais without the sugar. His cream - I'm

fairly certain each one of us got a buzz from just a small amount. It

was pure heaven on a spoon. So thick, just like mousse. We all

rolled our eyes in delight. It was like no other party I'd been to.

That day, I think I drank 6 pints of milk and cream.

Everyone exchanged emails and phone numbers. Albert didn't want to

stay the night, so he left after a two hour visit to drive back to

Albuquerque. Angels come in all forms, including in pickup trucks

bearing gallons of sweet milk in large coolers. <oh yeah!>

At one point, Max and I had a conversation about our eating styles.

He said, " I noticed you really plowed away that yellowtail yesterday. "

I say, " yeah, I could eat that all day long and any other

sashimi-like fishy goodness. " Then he looked at me like ... 'well,

why don't you eat the other things that way then?' and I said, " other

raw meat is not appealing or appetizing to me, and if something is not

appetizing, I won't eat it and I won't expect my family to either. "

Later, I was discussing with my husband the theory of nutrition behind

a raw (not vegan, but raw) diet, like the one Aajunus talks about and

he said, " I got one word. Prometheus. "

" In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Ancient Greek: " forethought " )[1] is a

Titan known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and

gave it to mortals for their use. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus

Then I was telling him about how it might make sense that in the

circle of nutrition, must first come the element of appeal. Even wild

animals won't eat it if it's funky.

Max left yesterday morning, Sunday. He's headed to PC Greens in

Malibu, which is supposed to be the largest retail store for raw milk

in California. Apparently there is a significantly large celebration

planned for the end of Max's tour, complete with all the celebs who

drink raw milk in CA and real live press. How exciting is that?

Max is a genuinely dedicated, passionate person when it comes to

whole, unfangled, clean food. It was truly refreshing to soak in some

of his knowledge, stories and experiences. My husband and I were

instantly drawn to him and in the way he confirmed our suspicions that

we are not the only ones who seek out this way of life, that we are

not alone in the battles and that there are people out there, doing

things and making differences, fighting for our right to choose our

own food and the right to evolve as a species, the way we evolved when

the climate changed and we had to come out of the trees. This is now

the time for us to flex our evolutionary rights, because science *has

changed* and we are getting smarter about our food and our nutrition

and what we need to do to nourish our bodies.

<stepping off soapbox>

If I could fund this entire project, I would. Max has enough

compelling evidence to really bring some people to start examining

this and stop turning away from simple truths.

If you are anywhere near Gila Bend, Yuma, El Centro, contact me to

contact Max because he's going to run out of cream and food in the

next two nights and by the time he gets to Gila Bend. He's broke and

has no where to stay until San Diego, and that is at least another

three or four nights for him out there.

If you are in California, show up for the final approach in Malibu on

Feb. 4th. Go to his website therawmilkparty.com and support all you

can for the making of this documentary.

There are so many people I know who's lives could be totally changed

if they just had the awareness, if they had some positive, truthful

media in their face, if they had more exposure to the holistic

approaches that are really not that difficult to acquire. That's what

Max is trying to do.

Go Team Raw Milk!

-, Tucson, AZ Chapter