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The Untold Story of Milk, Revised and Updated: The History, Politics and Science of Nature's Perfect Food: Raw Milk from Pasture-Fed Cows by Ron Schmid
The Untold Story of Milk chronicles the role of milk in the rise of civilization and in early America, the distillery dairies, compulsory pasteurization, the politics of milk, traditional dairying cultures, the modern dairy industry, the betrayal of public trust by government health officials, the modern myths concerning cholesterol, animal fats and heart disease and the myriad health benefits of raw milk.
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First published November 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
January 24, 2009
Part 1 is a must read for everyone, as the story of milk’s roll in civilization is told. If people aren’t educated, especially in history, than they are easily enslaved. Such is the case with alternative medicine, traditional foods and raw milk. Pasteurization is only as old as late 1800's and early 1900’s, compared to the est. 7000 years of human history. It was truly born out of “evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days”.
We are what we eat, and so are animals. If animals are raised inhumanly, than the food products they produce will be harmful to our health. Not to mention how these products are then prepared for consumption. This goes for meat, eggs and milk. Small, local farms are the key to the health of mankind. The Industrial Age was the start of the decline of quality food. People moved off their farms to the big city. Confinement diaries were born and food was produced for quantity and profit instead of for quality and to give life.
Part 2 was just review for me and it is only recommended for reading if the reader needs a refresher or knows nothing of the corruption and life-threatening information put out by the government.
Part 3 is on milk today and can largely also be skimmed by those familiar with the Weston A Price Foundation. Pages 324-332 are must reading like Part 1. The rest of the book is stories of modern farms and their struggles to keep producing licensed raw milk today.
We are what we eat, and so are animals. If animals are raised inhumanly, than the food products they produce will be harmful to our health. Not to mention how these products are then prepared for consumption. This goes for meat, eggs and milk. Small, local farms are the key to the health of mankind. The Industrial Age was the start of the decline of quality food. People moved off their farms to the big city. Confinement diaries were born and food was produced for quantity and profit instead of for quality and to give life.
Part 2 was just review for me and it is only recommended for reading if the reader needs a refresher or knows nothing of the corruption and life-threatening information put out by the government.
Part 3 is on milk today and can largely also be skimmed by those familiar with the Weston A Price Foundation. Pages 324-332 are must reading like Part 1. The rest of the book is stories of modern farms and their struggles to keep producing licensed raw milk today.
January 15, 2011
Expose' of the corporate greed and government over-reach that turned beloved Bessy into a beast that could only be tamed by Big Dairy.
December 4, 2009
The story of milk is a fascinating one. This book is very comprehensive in its study of milk, its history, and the politics associated with it. Schmid makes a compelling case for consuming only raw milk and byproducts.
One of the most fascinating things about the book is its look at the diets of primitive cultures and the great health they exhibit for varying reasons. It is modern western diets based on industrial agriculture that have degraded the health of its adherents. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, athsma are largely modern phenomenon due to the lack of nutrition we receive from the food we eat.
This book may well change your whole outlook on food. I highly recommend it.
One of the most fascinating things about the book is its look at the diets of primitive cultures and the great health they exhibit for varying reasons. It is modern western diets based on industrial agriculture that have degraded the health of its adherents. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, athsma are largely modern phenomenon due to the lack of nutrition we receive from the food we eat.
This book may well change your whole outlook on food. I highly recommend it.
November 19, 2013
Set against the backdrop of a profit-driven health care industry; a worldwide community dying from preventable and treatable diseases; the historical and perennial suppression of the science of natural, biodynamic, and energy healing; and the unrelenting hegemonism of corporations, Dr. Ron Schmid's, 'The Untold Story of Milk' is an epic and masterful attestation to the timeless healing gift of milk - milk that is, in its raw, whole, unadulterated, unprocessed, and unpoliticized form.
The book is a classic in its field of expertise and, without doubt, undergirds the freedom of food choice movements - in particular, the 'Raw Milk Revolution' - afoot today.
From the shocking and disturbing accounts of 'distillery dairies' in the mid 19th C, to their modern-day 'equivalents', confinement dairies where cows spend their entire (short) lives in concrete stalls on a diet 'scientifically' engineered to maximize their milk production, Schmid charts the path of milk production from free-flowing, freely available, nutrient-dense raw milk, to today's almost exclusive market of dead and sterile milk available in stores today.
For the millions of Americans and Westerners who are nervously conditioned to avoid - at all costs - animal fats and cholesterol-high foods, Schmid unequivocally debunks the modern-day myths (propaganda) on cholesterol / animal fat consumption; lactose intolerance; and the alleged safety and purity of commercial dairy products.
This book is a compelling and clarion call to support your local dairy farmer in the face of a centralized and self-serving dairy industry - and in a spin-doctoring culture where the food industry operatives gerrymander their sponsored research studies in favor of their sub-quality products.
What is indisputable: raw milk from pasture-based, cleanly managed dairy farms, and its various fermented byproducts like cheese, butter, yogurt, and kefir, are living, nutrient-dense foods overflowing with healthy animal and omega-3 fats, proteins, probiotic bacteria, essential enzymes, minerals and vitamins that nature intended for the healing, protection and sustenance of humanity.
A dairy cow pumps 700 - 800 gallons of blood through its udder to produce one gallon of rich, creamy milk; I think we owe our bovine friend a deep debt of gratitude for this hearty outpouring! And, we lovers of rich, raw dairy, along with the confused and searching among us, owe a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ron Schmid, ND for giving us - in such an erudite, passionate and comprehensive manner - a literary platform from which to launch the next phase of our quest for abundant, affordable, and freely available Real Milk.
The book is a classic in its field of expertise and, without doubt, undergirds the freedom of food choice movements - in particular, the 'Raw Milk Revolution' - afoot today.
From the shocking and disturbing accounts of 'distillery dairies' in the mid 19th C, to their modern-day 'equivalents', confinement dairies where cows spend their entire (short) lives in concrete stalls on a diet 'scientifically' engineered to maximize their milk production, Schmid charts the path of milk production from free-flowing, freely available, nutrient-dense raw milk, to today's almost exclusive market of dead and sterile milk available in stores today.
For the millions of Americans and Westerners who are nervously conditioned to avoid - at all costs - animal fats and cholesterol-high foods, Schmid unequivocally debunks the modern-day myths (propaganda) on cholesterol / animal fat consumption; lactose intolerance; and the alleged safety and purity of commercial dairy products.
This book is a compelling and clarion call to support your local dairy farmer in the face of a centralized and self-serving dairy industry - and in a spin-doctoring culture where the food industry operatives gerrymander their sponsored research studies in favor of their sub-quality products.
What is indisputable: raw milk from pasture-based, cleanly managed dairy farms, and its various fermented byproducts like cheese, butter, yogurt, and kefir, are living, nutrient-dense foods overflowing with healthy animal and omega-3 fats, proteins, probiotic bacteria, essential enzymes, minerals and vitamins that nature intended for the healing, protection and sustenance of humanity.
A dairy cow pumps 700 - 800 gallons of blood through its udder to produce one gallon of rich, creamy milk; I think we owe our bovine friend a deep debt of gratitude for this hearty outpouring! And, we lovers of rich, raw dairy, along with the confused and searching among us, owe a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ron Schmid, ND for giving us - in such an erudite, passionate and comprehensive manner - a literary platform from which to launch the next phase of our quest for abundant, affordable, and freely available Real Milk.
August 19, 2011
This is a passionate book about the value of raw milk and an expose of the forces that keep the public from embracing it. Schmid is an advocate for changing the laws and beliefs that presently support only pasteurized milk products. He examines health effects, illness beliefs, drug company influences, role of government, effect on farms, and more. Well stated, but this is heavy reading, not unlike a textbook. You just might want to buy your own cow after reading this.
April 9, 2025
Extremely thorough. Milk has a fascinating and sorted history; it’s wild how political it is. Grateful for the campaign for real milk for working to legalize raw milk everywhere.
March 25, 2021
In a nutshell, this book covers the history of milk, its controversies and scandals, the health benefits of raw vs pasteurized milk, what actually happens to milk when it is pasteurized and/or homogenized, and the power politics of raw vs pasteurized milk.
July 10, 2013
I work at a dairy farm in Massachusetts that sells raw milk, so I'm clearly biased in my outrageously positive opinion of this book. Thought I should spill the beans.
That said, Schmid does an excellent job of accomplishing precisely what his title advertises: telling an incredibly important (and fascinating!) story that has never succinctly been told. Since I began drinking raw milk a few years ago, I've talked about the choice with dozens of people. Until now, I could only piece together the reasoning: "it has beneficial bacteria"; "it comes straight from the farm"; "it tastes better". Schmid has loaded this book with convincing facts and arguments that will make my life much easier when I have those conversations in the future. (Still, though, the best reason to drink raw milk is that it tastes awesome. If you can't figure that out, then you don't deserve to drink it.)
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who cares about their health, their family's health, or the health of our society. Milk has -- or can have -- a central role in all of them. Ron Schmid says it better than me, though, in the last paragraph of his book:
"Raw milk is the key to the health crisis, the farm crisis, the economic crisis, the small town crisis, even the environmental crisis, the political crisis and the educational crisis. Every person in America can take part in this transformation, and so can you, simply by drinking your milk raw."
Well said.
That said, Schmid does an excellent job of accomplishing precisely what his title advertises: telling an incredibly important (and fascinating!) story that has never succinctly been told. Since I began drinking raw milk a few years ago, I've talked about the choice with dozens of people. Until now, I could only piece together the reasoning: "it has beneficial bacteria"; "it comes straight from the farm"; "it tastes better". Schmid has loaded this book with convincing facts and arguments that will make my life much easier when I have those conversations in the future. (Still, though, the best reason to drink raw milk is that it tastes awesome. If you can't figure that out, then you don't deserve to drink it.)
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who cares about their health, their family's health, or the health of our society. Milk has -- or can have -- a central role in all of them. Ron Schmid says it better than me, though, in the last paragraph of his book:
"Raw milk is the key to the health crisis, the farm crisis, the economic crisis, the small town crisis, even the environmental crisis, the political crisis and the educational crisis. Every person in America can take part in this transformation, and so can you, simply by drinking your milk raw."
Well said.
March 10, 2012
This book was very detailed and lengthy. I'd have been just as happy with a very summarised version of this book, but the content really was excellent.
This book presents a very solid argument for why pasturised milk products should all be strictly avoided and should not be considered health foods or whole foods.
I'd have liked some discussion on the possible problems of casein in milk and about A1 vs A2 raw milk, but perhaps these are covered in the updated version, which my library didn't have.
I'm on the waiting list to try some raw milk from a grass-fed dairy in my area. I'm allergic or intolerant of pasturised milk, so will be interested to see if I am one of the many that can tolerate raw milk even if pasturised milk is a real problem. I really hope I am. I've not had dairy products almost at all for well over a decade.
The author has done an excellent job with this book and I thank him for it.
Forget about all the financially motivated scaremongering nonsense you have read about the dangers of raw milk and why we supposedly need milk to be pasturised and listen instead to the real story of milk!
You can find a raw milk dairy in your area, if you decide you want to, by visiting the Weston A. Price website.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.)
This book presents a very solid argument for why pasturised milk products should all be strictly avoided and should not be considered health foods or whole foods.
I'd have liked some discussion on the possible problems of casein in milk and about A1 vs A2 raw milk, but perhaps these are covered in the updated version, which my library didn't have.
I'm on the waiting list to try some raw milk from a grass-fed dairy in my area. I'm allergic or intolerant of pasturised milk, so will be interested to see if I am one of the many that can tolerate raw milk even if pasturised milk is a real problem. I really hope I am. I've not had dairy products almost at all for well over a decade.
The author has done an excellent job with this book and I thank him for it.
Forget about all the financially motivated scaremongering nonsense you have read about the dangers of raw milk and why we supposedly need milk to be pasturised and listen instead to the real story of milk!
You can find a raw milk dairy in your area, if you decide you want to, by visiting the Weston A. Price website.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.)
May 30, 2014
It did milk justice. That is, it gave the liquid, in its unadulterated state, its due praise, and, in its industrial form, its due criticism.
Most of her claims are cited. That's great. Many of her arguments are littered with real-life examples. That's wonderful. What's more, she exhausts milk in every way and that's unbelievable.
I enjoyed the read. Since reading it, I've reconsidered adding milk back into my diet once I decide I can comfortably afford it.
This book did an excellent job of making me feel like I was done wrong. I was. And I'm bothered by it. If there's any petition-based sparked national overturn of current food liberties regarding pasteurization, sign me up. This book almost persuaded me that milk is worth fighting for. While it is something I would like and compulsory pasteurization is an abominable enforcement, I would divert all my attention to it. But I would support it were I joining a great many people.
It caught the eye of my biology teacher to whom I lent it. I should expect his review to be interesting.
Most of her claims are cited. That's great. Many of her arguments are littered with real-life examples. That's wonderful. What's more, she exhausts milk in every way and that's unbelievable.
I enjoyed the read. Since reading it, I've reconsidered adding milk back into my diet once I decide I can comfortably afford it.
This book did an excellent job of making me feel like I was done wrong. I was. And I'm bothered by it. If there's any petition-based sparked national overturn of current food liberties regarding pasteurization, sign me up. This book almost persuaded me that milk is worth fighting for. While it is something I would like and compulsory pasteurization is an abominable enforcement, I would divert all my attention to it. But I would support it were I joining a great many people.
It caught the eye of my biology teacher to whom I lent it. I should expect his review to be interesting.
August 4, 2011
I didn't read this book in detail, but from the limited understanding of the book, I think it is important to refute the modern science myth about industrial farming practice and establish a more sensible and nature-friendly postmodern agriculture practice.
Even if the claimed health benefit of "raw milk" is not completely true, I would just use raw milk product on the basis of environmental concerns, animal well-fare and small farmer's right to there livelihood.
I take a pledge never to use any industrial diary product from now on. I'm a vegetarian, and that's the least I can do to help farmers, cows as well as our environment by voting with my dollars for food.
In this case, personal is political. Together, we could make the world a better place for all.
Even if the claimed health benefit of "raw milk" is not completely true, I would just use raw milk product on the basis of environmental concerns, animal well-fare and small farmer's right to there livelihood.
I take a pledge never to use any industrial diary product from now on. I'm a vegetarian, and that's the least I can do to help farmers, cows as well as our environment by voting with my dollars for food.
In this case, personal is political. Together, we could make the world a better place for all.
September 19, 2010
This is one of the few books I'm not finishing. While the actual history is interesting, I am finding the good parts too sparse in the midst of the standard polemics of the Weston Price Foundation's followers, who pretty much say everything short of cancer would be cured if we only returned to eating organ meats, raw milk, and fermented food. I'm not saying they're entirely wrong, but they base such a widespread doctrine on the scientific work of only a few nutritionists (all affiliated with the Foundation), and they argue their point so repetitiously and drably. A colorful, informative, and well-balanced book this is not, though I admit it probably has some redeeming qualities for those who stick with it.
December 14, 2012
Great bit of history on raw milk, it's employment as a medical treatment, where in history it was misconstrued as a cause for disease, the impacts of industrialization, the biology of raw milk and compared to pasteurized milk. Some additional info about raw milk politics that which does get a little repetitive. Felt like a nail that had already got the idea, but the hammer wouldn't let up, hence the 4 stars as opposed to 5.
September 24, 2011
Ron is the expert on the subject and here he gives a well-researched history of the “whole” raw milk debate. Of course the argument is for the consumption of this whole food. You can find additional info on the subject, including an overview of current lawsuits at the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund website.
July 20, 2014
As a tool for my 11th grade raw milk research paper, this is FANTASTIC! This is a tool for those who wonder the "why" and the "how" all throughout their life! I am persuaded by cited evidence, and logical experiments, and this book sums them all up into one book that I can't get enough of! This is a school book, and I still read ahead!
August 13, 2016
This book was one my husband and I read before we decided to do raw milk for our family. It is so well researched and the historical information about milk and it's part in our society is so interesting. Great book, fabulous resource.
January 30, 2008
Very in depth analysis of the pasteurization process of milk: how and why it started and what is does to our milk.
November 9, 2008
the history of milk, if you ever wanted to know why exactly we started drinking pasteurized milk in the first place and so much more....
January 29, 2012
Great research and info regarding the deception casted by industry and journalists onto the history of disease and raw or unpasteurized milk and other foods.
May 19, 2011
This was a really informative book - I really enjoyed the history and research (that seemed pretty balanced) - it really helped me to learn a great deal as I consider the whole raw milk idea.
January 11, 2013
Um, wow!
February 2, 2012
Full of information and not difficult to read. Fantastic book - took over half a year to get it from my library as it was requested so much. I'll buy my own copy someday...
January 30, 2024
While I was already convinced of the benefits of raw milk and exclusively drink it, this book helped me see even more benefits.
Raw milk has been part of every civilization in history and dairy a part of the normal human diet. Only recently has pasteurization been widespread which is only needed because of the horrible treatment of dairy cows.
This books included many studies to show the benefits of raw milk and the ill effects of drinking pasteurized. Raw milk has been used to treat a wide variety of illnesses from cancer, to digestive issues, to asthma.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is considering raw milk. This was a dense book to get through but one could easily read only the chapters that interest them.
Raw milk has been part of every civilization in history and dairy a part of the normal human diet. Only recently has pasteurization been widespread which is only needed because of the horrible treatment of dairy cows.
This books included many studies to show the benefits of raw milk and the ill effects of drinking pasteurized. Raw milk has been used to treat a wide variety of illnesses from cancer, to digestive issues, to asthma.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is considering raw milk. This was a dense book to get through but one could easily read only the chapters that interest them.
August 31, 2025
Wow! Took me a long time to trudge through this because, well, you have to verify the claims the author makes. The more I learn, the less inclined I am to consume pasteurized products. The choice seems clear. Fresh healthy nutrient dense milk products from healthy, happy, pasture living cows, or pus and bacteria laden milk from sick cows with the nutrients and beneficial enzymes cooked out so we won’t become ill from drinking dangerous milk.
I’ll drive that hour every week to ensure my family has healthy unprocessed food.
I’ll drive that hour every week to ensure my family has healthy unprocessed food.
October 13, 2025
Very valuable insight into the story behind pasteurization and the way we treat milk in our society. Could be a little bit more condensed or even separated into different books but nevertheless a highly recommended read.
April 15, 2022
Interesting book, kinda all over the place. Good info.
February 19, 2024
A massive read. Tons of information, well written. It's crazy to think hard drugs are decriminalized, but raw milk is illegal.
March 20, 2017
I will be doing further research. This was a real eye opener for me as a Nutrition professional and goes against everything taught in university.
January 5, 2015
I've been drinking raw milk for over a decade and making my own kefir for three years. I knew it was good for me since I could actually drink it, but I had no idea just how good it was for me. (I spent most of my life thinking I was lactose intolerant as milk gave me gastrointestinal issues when I drank it, but then someone told me to try raw milk and voila no more issues. Ditto for my husband except pasteurized milk gave him dandruff not stomach aches.) Super cool to have more information on exactly why raw milk is so beneficial.
Hopeful that all the raw milk my son drinks will give him better teeth than I have.
Super stoked that raw milk and kefir provide strong immunity against e-coli, typhoid, and salmonella. Living on a farm in Nicaragua at the moment and in constant fear of those three things. No one at the farm gets sick (we drink raw milk daily that we get from our neighbors) but a couple people (including myself) have gotten sick when they leave and eat off the farm.
I knew that the politics of raw milk would be a horror story of corruption and full-on government lies, but it was still sad to read. Schmid feels extremely "betrayed" by the government and the corruption he uncovered and that was also sad to me. Americans are such adolescents when it comes to their government, always so "shocked" it would do anything evil. What?! I live under fascist rule and not democracy??!! They lied to me!!!!? Seriously folks, pay attention.
In a different book I read about Holstein cows being one of the main reasons for all the government trickery and this book didn't talk about that at all. That was the only real issue I had with this book, we get a picture of the government evilness that has happened, and the power and scariness of the milk lobby but the why is missing. Do they do all of that just for business? Because they want to force the 3% of Americans who drink raw milk to drink pasteurized milk? It doesn't make sense. I won't touch pasteurized milk. Even if they make raw milk illegal I wouldn't go back to drinking pasteurized milk. The Holstein story, about the brother of the government official who put his life's work into factory farms and how the milk was undrinkable and made people sick and passing pasteurization laws would make him rich and not passing those laws would make him bankrupt--that makes sense. But now I have to track down where I read that because this book didn't talk about it at all.
To summarize: informative, well-researched book. Made me want to get my own milk cow. Which, since I live on a farm in Nicaragua will be very easy to do.
Hopeful that all the raw milk my son drinks will give him better teeth than I have.
Super stoked that raw milk and kefir provide strong immunity against e-coli, typhoid, and salmonella. Living on a farm in Nicaragua at the moment and in constant fear of those three things. No one at the farm gets sick (we drink raw milk daily that we get from our neighbors) but a couple people (including myself) have gotten sick when they leave and eat off the farm.
I knew that the politics of raw milk would be a horror story of corruption and full-on government lies, but it was still sad to read. Schmid feels extremely "betrayed" by the government and the corruption he uncovered and that was also sad to me. Americans are such adolescents when it comes to their government, always so "shocked" it would do anything evil. What?! I live under fascist rule and not democracy??!! They lied to me!!!!? Seriously folks, pay attention.
In a different book I read about Holstein cows being one of the main reasons for all the government trickery and this book didn't talk about that at all. That was the only real issue I had with this book, we get a picture of the government evilness that has happened, and the power and scariness of the milk lobby but the why is missing. Do they do all of that just for business? Because they want to force the 3% of Americans who drink raw milk to drink pasteurized milk? It doesn't make sense. I won't touch pasteurized milk. Even if they make raw milk illegal I wouldn't go back to drinking pasteurized milk. The Holstein story, about the brother of the government official who put his life's work into factory farms and how the milk was undrinkable and made people sick and passing pasteurization laws would make him rich and not passing those laws would make him bankrupt--that makes sense. But now I have to track down where I read that because this book didn't talk about it at all.
To summarize: informative, well-researched book. Made me want to get my own milk cow. Which, since I live on a farm in Nicaragua will be very easy to do.
January 31, 2025
Life Changing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews