My buddy Howard Kahn spent $3500 on a marketing seminar. He found that there are three reasons why anybody buys anything, 1) For pleasure, or 2) To avoid pain, or 3) To eliminate pain. People think farm fresh milk and cheese tastes better than the stuff you buy in stores. But are they willing to drive 60 miles outside the city and pay $8 to $12/gal? Meyenberg label milk in the store costs $12/gal for pasteurized goat's milk. So it's not the money but the drive to go get it that's the stumper. The chemicals in processed foods and pasteurization kill the digestive enzymes (complex proteins that help the body assimilate nutrients) and leave the body asking where's the food? But unless you are in real agony you are not going to come visit us.

 Currently it is illegal to sell raw milk in the store so those wanting to avoid pain  still must drive out to the farm, how many are willing to go to that much effort to avoid enzyme killing food products?. But those folks who are already in pain, from Crohn's disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Autism, Leaky Gut Syndrome, Fiber-something-or-other and/or any breakdown of the immune system are willing to go the distance and pay any price for relief. We needed to find a pleasure reason to attract mainstream consumers to our farm. Is there one? There is! 

A change in the American Diet. Dr. Atkins started the revolution. I joined that revolution by losing 45 pounds, 15 pounds less than I weighed in the Marine Corps thirty years ago. In addition to Atkins I gained an understanding of the importance of Protein in the diet by feeding our cats, dogs, calves, goats and horses for the past six years. Protein is the prime and most expensive ingredient in animal feeds. TDN (Total Digestive Nutrients) is the measurement of the digestibility of any feed ration with 100% meaning no body waste. We are what we assimilate, if we can't digest it we can't use it for growth or maintenance. Alfalfa at 20-25% protein is at least 55% and up to 75% digestible by ruminants e.g. Sheep, Goats, Cattle, Deer and Antelope. When I discovered that raw meat, raw eggs and raw goat's milk were 95%, 90% and 85% digestible, I knew why the Atkins diet worked so well. Sears in his "Zone Diet" talks about the enzymes but tries to balance protein, carbs and fats. Our dogs eat better than we do, 87% TDN 'Diamond Premium' dog food and raw goat's milk on occasion. Humans are the only mammals that cook their food and when they do that they degrade the intake of available nutrients. A raw egg is better than an over-easy egg. A rare steak is better than burned beyond recognition one. Ever since Teddy Roosevelt made it a Federal case to sell non-pasteurized milk to the public, we have cooked the living daylights out of milk. 

Good digestion equates to a healthy immune system. I didn't buy Dr. Atkins book or try his diet because I was worried about my immune system. Our animals look great, are not fat and eat all they want because their stomachs know a nutrient when they see one. Americans are the most obese people on earth because they pasteurized, homogenized, and hydrogenated the life out of all their dairy products the main source of animal fats.

Yes FATS. Even Atkins says don't drink the milk because it will make you fat. Farmers discovered long ago that raw potatoes don't make animals e.g. pigs fat, cooked potatoes do.We used to buy three 50 pound bags of 27% protein dog food compared to the one 40lb. bag of 21% Diamond. The 40lbs. of Diamond is 87% digested as 34.8lbs of nutrients, while our dogs had to consume 150lbs.of the other to maybe get that same amount of nutrients. We were doing a poor job of feeding our dogs and manufacturing expensive fertilizer. The lesson for humans and animals is digestible protein, what percentage of the crude protein is retained. Americans can go a whole year without eating a single carbohydrate gram, we have that much stored fat. I know, because 45lbs. later I am still fat, body-fat wise.

I read where Ghandi survived his fasts on raw goat's milk, so I tried it for a week. One and a half quarts or less than a 1000 calories a day was all I could drink. I lost 11 pounds and craved steak the whole time. It is the digestibility of the food product, not the quantity of Carbs, Fats, and Protein that make Americans fat. That is why Vegans, Vegetarians, Frutorians and Eskimos can differ in their diets but maintain a healthy and appropriate body weight.

Agriculture in the US, Europe and just about everywhere is subsidized. The livestock people will tell you that they are not and it's just the row crop farmers that are the beneficiaries of the $10 billion farm bill. If the cattlemen had to pay the real cost of feed they would soon forfeit the $35 per head, they make now. The dairy cattle farmer is so entwined in government regulations and price quotas he fails to see that $12 net per cow per year, does not even make economic sense under Communism. Our solution is to sell raw milk and raw dairy products e.g. cheese, Kefir, yogurt, whey and butter to subscription customers to earn an urban income from our farm. The real cost of feeding, milking and caring for one mature nanny goat is $500 per year. Double that to include the expense of a mortgage, trucks and utilities. That makes the breakeven price $3.50/gallon. Double that to $7/gal on the farm and you have the historic 'bootleg' supply and demand pricing structure.

Texas lets us legally sell the raw milk on the farm because our herd has been tested for tuberculosis, the number one health reason for pasteurization. By limiting the sale to on-premises the shelf life issue is contained. Ultra-pasteurized dairy products are heated at 280 degrees for two seconds enabling them to remain un-refrigerated until opened. General coliforms, E. Coli, and Enterococcus bacteria are the "indicator" organisms generally measured to assess microbiological quality of water and in our case milk.. However, these aren't generally what get people sick. Other bacteria, viruses, and parasites are what we are actually worried about. But to test for specific pathogens would be very costly, so pasteurization, like boiling water after a flood, kills the good and the bad, but it is safe. The Texas Department of Health tests our entire herd annually (a $1500 charge), our bacteria count monthly and specific pathogens quarterly. The end result if you want real milk and dairy products you have to buy your own goat or come visit us down on the farm.