Lifelong Raw Milk Drinker “Would Never Touch that Pasteurized Stuff”

Chester Ice, now 75 years old and still going strong, has been drinking raw milk all his life. Born in rural West Virginia, Chester and his two brothers grew up drinking fresh milk that their father milked from his three Jersey cows every morning and every evening.

“I was raised on raw milk from the time I was taken off my mother’s breast milk. I am 75 years old now. So, raw milk can’t be all that dangerous,” Chester concludes.

Chester, who now resides in Pennsylvania where it is legal for consumers to purchase raw milk directly from the farm, continued to drink raw milk even after leaving his childhood home and becoming a self-described “city slicker.” Chester found a nearby farm that milks over 800 Jersey cows in clean and sanitary conditions, got to know the owner and has become a regular customer. He fervently believes that raw milk is not dangerous so long as the cows are kept under sanitary conditions and fed the right foods.

“I would never touch that pasteurized stuff,” he says. “It’s no good after it’s been pasteurized; it’s worthless.”

Chester credits his consumption of raw milk with giving him the strong bones and good health to get through numerous back surgeries. After his most recent operation, Chester spent two weeks recovering in the hospital and says the most difficult part about his stay was being unable to get raw milk.

“Every day, the nurses brought me those little cartons of pasteurized milk. They would come in and say, ‘You didn’t drink your milk’ and I would respond, ‘You didn’t bring me any!’” he says with a laugh.

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation. Donate to help fund research into the benefits of nutrient dense foods.  http://www.westonaprice.org/lab