Drinking raw milk can cause humans to contract diseases and infections, but the risks may not tell the full story

Maybe raw milk offers something unique.
(Photo by E. Aceron, Unsplash)

Despite raw milk's popularity with some consumers, many dairy experts warn against consuming raw milk products because of bacteria and disease risks. Raw milk proponents believe the benefits of raw milk products outweigh the concerns, reports Moises Velasquez-Manoff of The New York Times. "Should we take them more seriously?"

The U.S. raw milk movement began decades ago in "small, independent health-food stores," Velasquez-Manoff explains. The pandemic heightened interest in raw milk's benefits. "Mark McAfee, who heads Raw Farm in California, told me during the pandemic, people felt abandoned by medical professionals and began researching ways to care for their own immune systems. Many turned to raw milk, which he calls 'the first food of life.'"

Twenty-five years ago, when McAfee started selling raw milk, his customers were mostly "hippie 'nut-and-berry moms' and natural foodies, as he puts it. . . But as his sales have grown — about 30-fold since then, he estimates — his customers have diversified," Velasquez-Manoff explains. Today’s raw milk consumers come from vastly different backgrounds, with reasons for buying raw milk that range from political freedom to nutritional miracles.

American scientists and food nutrition experts have continually warned against drinking unpasteurized dairy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "unpasteurized dairy products are 840 times as likely as their pasteurized counterparts to lead to infection and illness," Velasquez-Manoff reports. The CDC's list of possible adverse health outcomes includes: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter.

But raw milk research isn't all about potential diseases humans could contract. In fact, recent studies suggest some positive preventative health benefits raw milk consumption might offer. Velasquez-Manoff writes, "There is also a wealth of epidemiological research, most of it from Europe, that suggests that drinking raw milk early in life can protect against the development of asthma and allergies later. . . . The basic notion animating the raw-milk movement — that something good and healthful is lost during processing — may have some validity to it."

While the health risks involved in raw milk consumption lead many dairy experts to adamantly push against drinking it, European studies might point the way toward resolving "what is often called the allergy epidemic," Velasquez-Manoff adds. "Scientists think that if they can identify what’s special about raw milk, and preserve it through treatment that makes it safe, maybe they can turn a widely consumed foodstuff into a powerful tool of preventive medicine."

When residents in a small Indiana town discuss an immigrant welcome center, clashing views take center stage

President-elect Donald Trump promised mass deportations of illegal immigrants would begin during his first 30 days in office. For many residents in the small town of Seymour, Indiana, the expulsions "can't start soon enough," reports Arian Campo-Flores of The Wall Street Journal. "Seymour is one of many cities across the U.S. feeling the effects of a historic wave of immigration, where residents seeking to integrate migrants are clashing with others calling for them to be rooted out and sent home."

Historically, most immigrants who came to Seymour settled peacefully until a proposal for an immigrant welcome center circulated in the spring of 2024. The plan incensed residents who feared the center would bring even more immigrants. "Such residents have complained for years that a flood of unauthorized migrants. . . strained schools, hospitals and housing," Campo-Flores explains. "With President-elect Donald Trump promising to conduct mass deportations . . . . They are organizing opposition to illegal immigration."

Location of Seymour, Ind.
(Wikipedia photo)

Seymour has a population of roughly 22,000 people, many of who have voted Republican for decades. Unemployment is low and jobs are plentiful, making it attractive to migrants who "began arriving in significant numbers in the 1990s," Campo-Flores writes. "For most of the period since, the flow of arrivals was manageable and generated few flashpoints, residents say."

But at the March city council meeting the welcome center proposal "proved to be the spark that ignited simmering frustration over illegal immigration," Campo-Flores adds. "At the meeting, speakers fumed about migrants allegedly failing to assimilate, committing crimes and crowding multiple families into small homes. . . . Republican state Rep. Jim Lucas, who is from Seymour, said at the meeting that the city welcomed immigrants who arrive legally and are properly vetted."

Seymour resident Tim Smallwood supports Trump's planned deportations. Campo-Flores writes, "He thinks the Trump administration should first target unauthorized migrants with criminal records and then pressure other migrants to 'self-deport.' He told Campo-Flores, "It’s the only way they’ll solve this problem. You’ve got to make it hard enough on them that they don’t want to come here in the first place.”

Looking back through history, Americans weren't healthier than they are now. 'The past was actually much worse.'

During many decades in U.S. history, rich men smoked and
heavy alcohol consumption was 'the norm.' (Adobe Stock photo)

The American diet was once dominated by vegetables and dried fruits, but also salted pork and heavy alcohol consumption. Lifestyle practices in the United States have never been particularly healthy. Any models that promote "making America healthy again" aren't taking the country's health history into account, reports Gina Kolata of The New York Times. "The word 'again' presumes a time in the country’s past when Americans were in better health. Was there ever really a time when America was healthier?"

Medicine historians have "a short answer," Kolata writes. "'No,' said Nancy Tomes, a historian at Stony Brook University. . . . John Harley Warner, a historian at Yale, said, 'It’s hard for me to think of a time when America, with all the real health disparities that characterize our system, was healthier.'"

Going back in time, the vision of a more vibrant and healthy America evaporates. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, "rich men smoked cigarettes and cigars, the poor chewed tobacco. Heavy drinking was the norm," Kolata adds. "Fresh fruits and vegetables were in short supply because they were difficult to ship and because growing seasons were so short. As for protein, Americans were relying on salted pork."

Even when beef became part of the U.S. diet, Americans did not get healthier. Many people were underweight and their health suffered because of it. "The start of the 20th century saw public health improvements (cleaner water, for example, and posters advising parents not to give their babies beer), but the disease was rampant," Kolata reports. "When the 1918 flu struck the nation, no one knew the cause — the flu virus had not been discovered."

During the 1950s and 1960s, the "American pharmaceutical industry pumped out new medical advances: antibiotics, antipsychotics, drugs for high blood pressure and vaccines for tetanus, diphtheria, measles and polio," Kolata writes. "Despite that progress, those years were terrible for health," Dr. Jeremy Greene, a historian at Johns Hopkins University, said, "with 'a tremendous amount of heart attacks and strokes.'. . . In part, that was because nearly everyone smoked."

When it comes to optimum health, the United States is nowhere near the promised land, but the number of smokers has steeply declined while treatments for diseases have multiplied. "Researchers are quick to acknowledge that Americans’ health is not as good as it can be. And they bemoan the huge disparities in health care in this country," Kolata adds. "But, historians say, the past was actually much worse."

Opinion: Gleaning facts can be a 'slippery' business. Even when the truth is messy, 'good journalism offers a way.'

Getting the facts right may sound like Journalism 110 class, but gathering and verifying a story can be like walking on shifting sands, writes Fergus McIntosh of The New Yorker. "Journalists put more stress on accuracy than ever before. The problem is, accuracy is a slippery idea."

Like many professions, journalism has a before and after social media story. Before Americans became absorbed in Facebook, Twitch, TikTok and podcasts, they listened to and read mainstream media. But once social media siphoned huge audiences, "people stopped paying attention to the news, or decided that they didn’t believe it anymore," McIntosh adds. "This story is not unsupported. Trust in many institutions has fallen over the years, but in journalism, it has plummeted."

Examining how little journalists are trusted, makes "fake news"and the harm it does to the news-consumer trust equation that much more worrisome. "'Many Americans now register displeasure with inaccurate or unverified information on social media, and a majority now think that somebody . . .should do something about it," McIntosh explains. "Despite endemic skepticism and distraction, there is an enduring thirst for reliable information. The question is, where can it be found, and how can its purveyors make themselves heard amid the noise?"

CBS and BBC have branded themselves as singular "purveyors" of the facts using an "'only we can provide accuracy' model," McIntosh writes. "For the first Presidential debate of 2024, The New York Times tasked 29 staffers with combing through the candidates’ statements in real time." Even with aggressive fact-checking, "the provision of facts does not, in itself, engender trust. . . . What is more certain is that, from time to time, every journalist, no matter how well-meaning, gets something wrong, or misses the point."

"Because The New Yorker, like many publications, trades on its reputation for accuracy, readers can easily feel cheated, even betrayed, when an error slips in," McIntosh explains. "In such circumstances, it becomes difficult to know what is true, and, consequently, to make decisions. Good journalism offers a way through, but only if readers are willing to follow. . . . Gaining and holding that trust is hard. But failure is not inevitable. . . . Any solution must acknowledge the messiness of truth, the requirements of attention, the way we squint to see more clearly. It must tell you to say what you mean, and know that you mean it."

Natural disaster recovery is harder for rural schools. Early preparation and strategies ensure students keep learning.

Early planning is key to  rural school disaster
strategies. (Photo by D. Leon, Unsplash)

When natural disasters strike rural schools, many struggle for months to find and implement recovery resources. "Fortunately, there are solutions," writes Lee Ann Rawlins Williams for The Conversation. "Based on my professional research on emergency preparedness – and my experience working in educational settings – I’ve identified several strategies that may help."

Unlike their urban counterparts, rural schools have "unique disaster challenges," including a "lack of access to temporary sites for classes after a disaster, weaker local funding streams, and student transportation struggles," Williams explains. With those issues in mind, "preparing for a disaster in a rural area should occur earlier and take into account the specific needs of the community."

Developing a practical rural school natural disaster plan can begin with these strategies:

• Plan to teach with learning materials that "do not require internet access," Williams suggests. "I have found that many teachers focus on electronic resources, such as smartphones and Apple watches, and overlook the use of old-fashioned methods."
  
  
• Remember that mobile technology can help bridge learning disruption gaps. "If [cell phone] service is available, students and teachers can communicate by phone," Williams explains. "When internet access is unavailable, schools can use mobile learning hubs. These are vehicles equipped with Wi-Fi, computers and other educational tools. These mobile hubs can travel to rural areas to provide students with access to digital resources."
  
  
• Use an adaptive and flexible school work model. Williams adds, "After Hurricane Helene downed power lines and closed roads in Beaufort County, South Carolina, students who were without power or internet were given five days to complete their work and other considerations. This flexibility helps ensure students do not fall too far behind. It may even help students better manage stress and maintain their mental well-being."
  
  
• Make strengthening rural roads a priority.