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Listen, guys, I’m with you—I’m appalled by the mass-scale animal cruelty of factory-farmed dairy, not to mention the poor nutritional quality and foul taste of its resultant product. That said, I don’t have a dog in the raw milk fight; while I can’t muster outrage over it, I also can’t bring myself to care—much like many political issues I’m socially obligated to have a black-and-white opinion on. I find myself torn between my opposition to authoritarian nanny-state control and my inherent distrust of the Amish, the common purveyors of black-market raw milk (it’s fine, they can’t read this unless they’re on Rumspringa—I guess, in which case: welcome, Jebediah). Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that there’s a middle path between factory-farmed slop and forbidden milk straight from the cow’s teat: organic, grass-fed, regeneratively farmed A2 beta-casein milk from heritage cows. A2 beta-casein is easier to digest because it’s the primary protein in human breast milk; cow’s milk originally contained only A2 beta-casein until a sinister genetic mutation introduced A1 beta-casein, now dominant in nearly all commercially available milk. A1 beta-casein is much harder to digest because it doesn’t break down as easily in the body. I love Alexandre Family Farms and Origin; they have great animal welfare standards and their products taste amazing. You can even get A2 beta-casein ice cream from Alec’s brand! See—you can make a cool enlightened alternative choice without being an annoying contrarian about it.
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Feb 23, 2025

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Hi! dairy is such a complex topic! Thank you for writing about it. I find it increasingly difficult to find a source that is truly ethical & am grateful for your commitment The search as well. The atlantic article about Alexander farms focuses on their treatment of cattle and it ultimately made me choose other brands. But it also made me re-think my feeling about the use of antibiotics in farming. Which… I never thought would happen. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/alexandre-farms-treatment-of-animals/677980/
Feb 24, 2025
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Eeeeeeeeemily oh wow it has been a long time since I last looked into this and this information had not come to light then, thank you for sharing and for your thoughtful comment! It’s a very nuanced issue with a lot of gray and my motivation for making this rec was to represent something between extremes
Feb 24, 2025
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No disrespect, but why not a plant based milk if you’re worried about ethics and health here? Ethical dairy farming is an oxymoron so long as you’re forcefully impregnating cows and separating them from their babies (and killing the babies).
Feb 23, 2025
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normal_woman Great question! I’m not claiming that this is a perfect consumer choice and I think we may have a fundamental existential disagreement on this, so I’m not really interested in getting into it at this time, but I appreciate you engaging!
Feb 23, 2025
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taterhole it’s ok I’ll say it, plant based “milk” is GROSS 😂
Feb 24, 2025
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bilalbikile LMFAOOO actually I usually use shelf-stable unsweetened almond milk because I rarely have a need for it which is the funniest part about me making this rec
Feb 24, 2025

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Origin is my favorite but it’s only available in three states it is so fresh and rich. Alexandre Farms is really good too… if I had to drink nondairy it would be homemade cashew milk or canned coconut milk. We discuss the milk question at length in Toxic Slop, the first episode of Best Regards Podcast (Spotify | Apple)
Apr 16, 2024
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I drink dairy milk, and I prefer to buy organic whole milk or half and half (mostly for my coffee and the occasional ovalatine). Organic A2 milk is a game changer because of the proteins: the A1 proteins) are absent and the A2 proteins are present, causing far less discomfort if you are sensitive to dairy. After about 3 years since i’ve stopped drinking oat milk, my life has been so much better. I was so depressed drinking oat milk, and you are fooling yourself if you genuinely believe it to be better.
Nov 15, 2023
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At this point 70% of my personality is raw milk - procuring it, drinking it, taking photos of it with pithy little captions like “night cap!”,  talking about it to other people against their will, like on dates or to like trapped baristas at Starbucks. As someone of formerly lactose intolerant experience, I am not exaggerating when I say raw milk has VITALLY improved my existence. Besides the fact that it has something like 70% more available vitamins in it than pasteurized milk (I keep an infographic of this on my phone because I’m a girl and can’t be expected to remember numbers and science) it has all its natural enzymes for digestion which means not only can I party on as much raw milk and cheese as I want, the enzymes in those also digest regular bootleg ass milk, cheese, ice cream etc. I love you so much raw milk!!!
Oct 20, 2023

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“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.” — Anaïs Nin This is uncharacteristically raw and personal, even for me, and pretty heavy! I know many of you have seen me posting through it and I feel safe to talk about it openly now that I’ve safely landed at the start of my new life. It’s honestly even a little bit embarrassing but I think it’s important to share. I’ve never publicly mentioned it on here, but I have a husband; as of Friday, we’d have been together for 11 years, and we’ve been married for 3 years as of 2/22. I realize now that I wanted to explore what I looked like outside of my relationship with him because I had lost that. This is why PI.FYI has been so meaningful to me as a space to express myself and connect with people—to rediscover my voice. I had been living a lie this entire time, to others but worst of all to myself. He’s been verbally and emotionally abusive, physically but without touching me, to the point that every day I spent with him I was in danger. I’ve been shrinking myself and walking on eggshells to avoid making him insecure and provoking his casual put-downs and fits of rage, while hanging on for dear life to the threads of good I could see. I’ve wanted so badly to leave, more than anything, but I felt like there was no way out and that this was just something I would need to endure indefinitely—but someone who is so very dear to me helped me see that I have wings to fly, not by acting as my savior but by reminding me of my own power. The emotional safety they built and the gentle care they showed me made me feel like I could open up to them. With their encouragement I was brave enough to tell the truth to my friends, my family, my boss, and they have received me with warm, loving and open arms and rallied to support and protect me. The financial and  logistical aspects were the most intimidating to me and it’s going to be tough for a while but I’m going to be better than okay! Now I’m opening up to you. This isn’t the only abuse I’ve suffered in my life, and my old therapist told me she believed it was my mission to share my strength and light with others to inspire them and show them that change is possible. I hope that by sharing this, I can reach even just one person who is going through something similar and show that they are not alone, and they are not weak. People with certain backgrounds may be more vulnerable to abuse, but it can happen to anyone. It thrives in darkness, shame, and isolation—and breaking that silence is the first step toward freedom. Leaving is the scariest thing I have ever done but I have so many angels around me, and I am endlessly grateful. Thank you for being here with me 💌
Mar 16, 2025
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My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌
Feb 23, 2025
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Schedule sent my resignation email for the morning, effective immediately ✅💅
Feb 27, 2025