The Trouble in the Food Chain (video)

The Holy Qur'an teaches:
O men, eat of the lawful and good things from what is in the earth,
and follow not the footsteps of the devil.
Surely he is an open enemy to you.
Sura 2:168

The Fat Tax

A 'Fat Tax' on junk food?

Sounds like a good idea - until you actually read the article and think about what it may really mean. Over many years the idea has been propagandized to the general public that the problem in the diet is fat. Along with this came a heavy dose of anxiety and fear that somehow fat in the diet made you fat, caused heart disease, high blood pressure and everything bad. Cholesterol, a natural fatty substance which the body produces in abundance, in fact the most abundant single substance in the body, was pointed out as being particularly bad, and almost everybody was in need of drug therapy for it.

The health issues around fat are very complex to a degree, but are simplified once we include whole natural foods in the diet in the proper amounts. When we do that then the fat balance in the body is corrected and health is restored.

But most people don't know that. And whole natural foods are not all that easy to find if you don't know where to look. But refined food products loaded down with all the wrong fats, especially the artificial ones, and some of the right ones too, but in the wrong ratios.

So now into this confused mess comes the idea of a 'Fat Tax' which would penalize people for consuming foods rich in 'fat' regardless of whether the food itself is healthy or not. From this moronic point of view there would be no difference between the wonderfully healthy fat ratios in raw whole milk and the completely artificially concocted fats in a highly refined processed food product such as Snack Wells.

'Fat tax' could be levied on junk food
A "fat tax" could be levied on junk food and sugary drinks in a bid to reduce obesity and reduce the deficit.

The Food Standards Agency is planning to consult on whether taxing such foods would encourage people to make healthier choices.
In much the same way as tax is applied to alcohol and tobacco the most processed food are likely to be targeted.

It is possible however that 17.5 per cent tax could be levied on high fat food such as butter and cheese.
All food is currently exempt from VAT.
The FSA fears that the nations excessive consumption of saturated fat is leading to increased numbers of deaths through clogged arteries and heart disease.
The scheme has met with opposition from consumer groups.
Julian Hunt, of the Food and Drink Federation told the Daily Mail: "It may be a perfectly sensible issue to debate but such a regressive policy would nothing more than create lighter wallets for consumers."
However some research has claimed a fat tax could save up to 3,000 lives per year.
Last year the British Medical Association only narrowly voted against putting a fat tax on chocolate.
However, research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that any fat tax would have a negative affect on poorer families and have a greater impact on their food budget than on richer families.

Raw Milk Safety (video)

Here is a major presentation on Raw Milk by Sally Fallon who heads up the Weston A Price Foundation here in Washington DC. The Weston A Price Foundation is a prominent proponent of whole food nutrition and is a strong advocate for making raw whole pure milk available everywhere. Sally Fallon was generous enough to donate thousands of raw milk pamphlets for distribution at Saviour's Day 2009. Much of the information I have promoted on raw milk is from the Weston A Price Foundation. Check out these videos and bookmark the Weston A Price Foundation website for future references.

Enjoy. Learn. Share.

The Battle for Raw Milk

The article below is about a government police raid in the middle of the night - not on a drug den or a terrorist cell- but on a peaceful Amish family's farm. The reason: the suspicion that raw milk from that farm had crossed interstate lines. As you read you will see numerous violations of Constitutional rights not to mention the basic violation of a family's right to be at peace. At the root of it is the devil's desire that no human being have access to the pure good food that God intended Man to live on. So, like it or not, the Raw Milk Movement had better go on a war footing to protect our right to eat God's pure good food.

Raw Milk Crackdown

By Mike Riggs | Published: 04/26/10 at 1:46 PM | Updated: 04/26/10 at 2:22 PM

“They came in the dark, shining bright flashlights while my family was asleep, keeping me from milking my cows, from my family, from breakfast with my family and from our morning devotions, and alarming my children enough so that the first question they asked my wife was, ‘Is Daddy going to jail?’”

That’s how Amish farmer Dan Allgyer described an early morning visit last week from two FDA agents, two U.S. Marshals, and a Pennsylvania state trooper. Apparently, investigating a single farmer for possibly trafficking raw milk across state lines requires a show of force.

“I became aware of the cars as soon as I walked out on the sidewalk as part of my morning routine around 4:30 a.m. and immediately said to myself something is going on,” Allgyer wrote in a statement for the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association. “I was watching and noticed three cars were cruising down right behind each other, and immediately thought, hey, that looks like trouble. I watched and pretty soon one car came back and parked on my neighbor’s farm, on private property.”

After tooling around, the cars showed up Allgyer’s property. “They all got out of their vehicles – five men all together–with big bright flashlights they were shining all around. My wife and family were still asleep. When they couldn’t find anybody, they prepared to knock on the door of my darkened house. Just before they got to the house I stepped out of the barn and hollered at them, then they came up to me and introduced themselves.”

Without telling him what is was, one of the agents handed Allgyer an FDA warrant that allowed the agents to inspect Allgyer’s farm. The warrant read: “You are authorized to take all necessary actions, including, but not limited to, the use of reasonable force, to effectuate entry to the above-named premises, the land and buildings located there, at reasonable times during ordinary business hours and to remain thereon to inspect within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner all portions” of Allgyer’s farm.

Allgyer isn’t the criminal that the FDA is making him out to be. “When Americans first began pasteurizing milk at the turn of the last century, testing was rudimentary and farms were far less hygienic,” Katherine Mangu-Ward wrote in February, the first time inspectors showed up to raid Allgyer’s farm. “Today, the situation is different. Testing for the presence of such pathogens is much more precise, and farms are far cleaner. While processing milk remains a good choice for milk shipped to the population as a whole, there are a group of food rebels who would rather drink their milk straight from the cow.”

When Allgyer asked why the agents wanted to inspect his farm, FDA investigator Joshua C. Shafer said, “We have credible evidence that you are involved in interstate commerce.”

“I went to go talk to my wife,” Allgyer said in his statement. “As I walked away, they held a quick excited conversation and I heard one of them say, ‘I’ll take care of him.’ At that point, apparently, they had designated one of the marshals to stick close to me and dog my footsteps. He followed me as I walked toward the house. I went in the house quickly and told my wife a few words to let her know the situation, then immediately came back out of the house before the marshal had time to follow me in. When I came back out, they were inspecting all the coolers sitting out. They spent about a half hour digging through the packed coolers filled with milk and other food – all private property – taking pictures.”

After watching the agents root through his barn, open his freezers, and dig through his dumpster, Allgyer set about milking the cows, hours behind schedule.

“When I was just about done milking, Schafer and the other agent came in the barn and wanted me to answer some more questions. I told them I would not. The second agent said, ‘Are you gong to deliver those coolers to Bethesda and Bowie Maryland?’ I just looked at him. Then Schafer made a gesture and said, ‘The stickers with those towns names are on the coolers,’ as through to say, you might as well tell me.”

Allgyer refused to say anything and the agents left. Several days later, Allgyer received a letter from the Food and Drug Administration that read, “An investigation by the u.s. Food and Drug Administration has determined that you are causing to be delivered into interstate commerce, selling, or otherwise distributing raw milk in final package form for human consumption.”

The letter does not list the evidence against Allgyer, nor does it name specific violations. In fact, the letter from the FDA says exactly the opposite: “This letter is not intended to provide an all-inclusive list of violations.” Two paragraphs later, the letter instructs Allgyer to report within 15 days “the specific steps you have taken to correct the noted violations.”

“Failure to make prompt corrections could result in regulatory action without further notice. Possible actions include seizure and injunction.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/04/26/raw-milk-crackdown/#ixzz0mmZzLp4W

Raw Milk Interveiw: Mercola and McAfee (video)

Organic Pastures is perhaps the largest producer of raw milk in the country. Here is a very informative interview by Dr Mercola with Organic Pastures dairy farmer Mark McAfee. Check it out. You will learn a lot. Let's duplicate what Organic Pastures is doing.

The Miracle of Milk, parts 5 - 8

Here are parts 5 through 8 of the series,

The Miracle of Milk.

Previous parts are available by scrolling through the archives of this blog and in the Final Call Newspaper.

Enjoy. Learn. Share.

The Miracle of Milk, part 5

By Abdul Alim Muhammad

We saw in our last installment that Almighty God Allah in the creation Man in His image and after His likeness, simultaneously created that which would be the satisfaction of the physical needs of Man. He created the cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and cows, all of which are rich sources of nourishment for Man. If Man stayed in his place, the Garden planted by God Himself, then the needs of Man would all be met, and his condition would be heavenly. In that state Man would be able to obey the divine commands to “…be fruitful and multiply, have power and dominion…” Fallen from that state, Man would be in a state of perpetual disobedience, want, poverty, dissatisfaction, ill health, disease, discontent, disorder, disunity and depravity. In other words: Man’s condition would be Hell.

Man’s work – to keep and dress the Garden – would automatically produce fruitfulness, abundance and the geometrical and logarithmic multiplication of himself and all that was within the Garden. Each year, a cow produces a calf; therefore each year is a doubling. One cow becomes 2, two becomes 4, four becomes 8, eight becomes 16, sixteen becomes 32, thirty-two becomes 64 – so on and so forth. In the case of seed produce like corn, one planted kernel produces 7 ears of corn, with 100 kernels on each ear! The multiplication factor is an astounding 700! The Beneficence and Mercy of God is made manifest in the fruitfulness and multiplication of His creation, and is inherent in the nature made by Allah in which He has created all things. The creation reflects perfectly the Beneficence and the Mercy of God and fulfills His promise of Abundance:

The devil threatens you with poverty and enjoins you to be niggardly,

And Allah promises you forgiveness from Himself and abundance.

And Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing.

Holy Qur’an 2:268

We are not given the actual starting dimensions of God’s garden. Some scholars have literally tried to locate it on the earth in what is modern day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Even if the Garden was originally the size of a postage stamp, the proper cultivation of it would lead in time to a Garden, the extensiveness of which would be equal to the extensiveness of the Earth. The whole earth would have become God’s Garden of Paradise.

The cultivation of the Garden is the cultivation of Man. Man is cultivated by what he cultivates. Man is made fruitful by the fruit that he produces and Man is multiplied by the natural creative multiplication of the Garden. Man’s skill, knowledge, wisdom and technology keep pace with the natural growth of his Garden. In his struggle to manage increasing abundance is the granting of Allah’s wisdom:

He grants wisdom to whom He pleases. And whoever is granted wisdom,

he indeed has been granted a great good…

Holy Qur’an 2:269

When Man gives up the cultivation his Garden, he brings a halt to his own cultivation. Any improvement that Man makes in what is produced in his Garden produces an improvement in Man. If through the acquisition of scientific knowledge and technology, Man is able to produce better food for himself, that better food makes a better Man. On the other hand, if Man through laziness, ignorance, disobedience or oppression neglects his work in the Garden, or flies the Garden altogether, then an inferior quality food is produced. This inferior quality food degrades Man and he becomes less capable of performing the Work of Man which is to keep and dress the Garden. He falls from Grace and enters into Perdition.

Therefore we see that Man grows as his Garden grows. Everything that grows in Man is directly connected to the growing things of the Garden. A tree grows in the Garden which is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and it represents a possibility of growth in the consciousness of Man. Like a tree, Man’s consciousness is rooted in the soil and puts forth its branches on which may be fruit of it own kind. Apparently God did not want Man’s consciousness to be rooted in Evil mixed with Good. The fruit of such a tree, the fruit of such consciousness, would be a mixture of Good and Evil. A mixture of Good and Evil, is of course, not Good. Only that which is entirely of the Good can produce that which is entirely Good. Apparently, the Will of God was that Man was to follow the example of God in the way of Creation: Create that which is Good. Cultivate in the Garden that which is Good. Cultivate within yourself only that which is Good.

But, you say, What does all of this have to do with milk? It has everything to do with the value of milk to us today, because it is the cultivation in people of a desire for the pure milk of God’s own miraculous design that leads us back to the Heavenly Garden of Allah. Through the milk we have a genuine taste of Paradise. Through the agency of God’ wonderfully created quadrupeds- especially the cow- we have a reliable and capable ally in our struggle against the evil of the Evil One, who has led Man astray. With the help of the cattle through their cultivation, we can recover the boundless and limitless potential that is Man in the image and likeness of God!

(more to follow)

The Miracle of Milk, part 6

By Abdul Alim Muhammad

Of what use would owning an automobile be if there were no gasoline or diesel fuels to make it go? Those inventors of the automobile and other mechanical devices would have been poor planners and miserable failures had they not, at the same time that they were inventing what they invented, also worked out the means to power their invention. Imagine if each car owner had been given no fuel for his vehicle, and then resorted to pouring into the tank, anything he could come up with, as though it did not matter, as though everything was the equal to every other thing. What would have been the result if anything at all could have been called ‘fuel’ and then poured in, with no thought what so ever of the engineered specifications of the car? Under such circumstances would the performance of the car on the road equal the intention of the inventor?

Think of the bitterly disappointed motorist, broken down on the side of the road, cursing what seemed to them to be bad luck and misfortune, and kicking viciously at a deeply flawed and inadequate piece of junk called an automobile. The anger toward the manufacturer would be fierce, and the mind would tend toward thoughts such as, “We were better off before all these new fangled gadgets!”

Wouldn’t the automotive engineer also be upset and angry at the bad reputation of his supreme invention? He designed it to be swift, efficient and reliable, to carry its passengers safely and in comfort to any destination, without breaking down, creating trouble, frustration and disappointment. Even from a distance the engineer would know that the operator of the car did not understand its workings properly and therefore did not give the car what the car was designed to run on – gasoline of the right grade and type. Such an engineer might even consider the motorist to be an idiot of the worst kind who deserves to be broken down in the middle of nowhere for being so stupid.

Wouldn’t the disgusted motorist be surprised and elated to learn from someone who happened to stop by to render aid, that the whole problem was solved just by putting the right type of fuel in the tank! And suddenly that which was broken down and useless is roaring down the road performing exactly to the engineering specifications of its inventor. Of course, any common sense person would not be amazed, because, any common sense person knows that you cannot expect a car or any mechanical devise to function properly to specifications if you do not fuel it as it should be fueled, as per the owner’s manual.

The above example, applied to Man, shows that Man was created by the greatest of Creators, the Originator of the Heavens and the Earth. He created Man in His own image and likeness. These are the engineering specifications. Man is like God, Man is a god, and has the same specifications as God Himself. Talk about high performance!

And all that Man needs to achieve high performance is within the Garden! So therefore the problem with Man today is now obvious. He is broken down on the side of the road to Heavenly Life in Abundance precisely because he has been lured out of the Garden, away from that which can satisfy his needs. He has been following in “the footsteps of the devil” and is far away, broken down in the middle of nowhere. He finds himself far removed from what he needs to get back in motion towards the Goal. If he does not realize what has happened to him, and then take the needed steps in the right direction to correct the problem, Man will die in his broken down state by the side of the road.

(more to follow)

The Miracle of Milk, part 7

When Man took his exit from the Garden none of the seed bearing plants could follow him. But the cattle could and did. They followed Man wherever Man wandered under the enchantment of the rebellious devil. The cow and the other cattle mentioned constitute something of a “movable feast” from the Garden - food to go, if you will.

Even if the rest of the Garden is lost and inaccessible from where we happen to be broken down at the moment, the cow and the other cattle created for the satisfaction of Man’s needs has traveled the road of history with us all the way. While some would give the credit to the dog, in actuality it is the cow that is Man’s best friend, created to be that for Man by the Creator.

Where ever Man has cultivated cattle, civilization has sprung up in that place. Wherever Man did not cultivate cattle, Man remained in a savage, wild state. With the cultivation of cattle came peace, stability and wealth. Cattle brought the possibility of permanent settlement and the establishment of cities and a stable society, well organized to meet the needs of a population that was growing. The increase in cattle means an increase in human population as well. As a hunter and a gatherer, the population of Man was strictly limited, and the life of Man was harsh, brutish and short. Only through cattle raising is it possible for Man to fulfill the divine commandment: Be fruitful and multiply.

With increasing herds of cattle, wealth and abundance also increased. With no shortage of food the number of humans who could dwell on the Earth multiplied in natural obedience to the Divine command. Where no such cultivation of cattle occurred life was fraught with hunger, poverty, war and violence. There could be no stability and life was characterized by feast or famine based on the luck of the hunt. Insecurity and unpredictability led to fear and anxiety ridden populations who could be ruled by superstition and manipulated by the threat of scarcity into acts of violence and crime.

The cultivation of cattle gave birth to civilization. The cow is the necessary companion for Man in the image and likeness of God. Without the cow, the image of Man is the image of a beast, out to kill and devour whatever he can track down and subdue by force and violence. Not only is the number of cows possessed by a people the measure of their wealth, it is also a measure of their health and degree of civilization.

Encounter an individual Man with no cattle, or a society of Men who have not embraced the cultivation of the cow and you are looking at hunter-predators with a propensity for violence and war. Only in settled communities established upon the herding of cattle can the higher attributes of God and Man be made manifest in society. The hunter-predator can never know security, for he never knows when his prey will disappear, and he becomes the prey of hunger and starvation. For such a man, the hunt and the spoils of war are synonymous. One eats what one can catch and kill. For such a one, there is no such thing as equality. It is either dominate or be dominated. The peaceful parables of the prophets have little or no meaning. His is the law of nature – tooth and claw- not the law of God. His ethic is the ethic of the hunt: One must die in order for another to live. A higher ethic, in which all can live, is unimaginable.

In many cultures, wealth and social status are measured in terms of cattle. In some cultures a man with no cattle can not marry. A man with cattle has demonstrated an ability to cultivate, manage and take responsibility. In so doing, he has demonstrated his ability to maintain a wife and family. With cattle they will not starve. The bride’s family can rest assured that a man with cattle to tend will not run off and abandon his wife any more than he will abandon his cattle.

In the founding of the colonies of America, it was the cow that was the margin of survival for newly established settlements along the East coast. Many colonies perished in the hard winters of North America, with widespread starvation, disease and death. Those were the colonies established by the ‘get rich quick’ fortune hunters who were interested in finding treasures of gold and who did not have the time or the inclination to tend cattle. These fortune hunters died in the harsh wilderness conditions for which they were ill prepared.

The colonies that survived and prospered were those where cattle were raised. It was the milk, butter and cheese from these animals that made the crucial difference in survival. One cow could provide the daily sustenance for 8 to 10 people, and with proper breeding a natural yearly increase could be counted on. Colonies with growing dairy herds prospered and grew rich, and soon were in trade with other such colonies. The soldiers of fortune perished.

During these pioneering days in the American wilderness, it was said that a man needed but three things: a piece of land, a cow and a wife. But the wife was considered optional.

(More later)

The Miracle of Milk, part 8

In the founding and building of the great nation, the United States of America, the domestication of cattle was an absolute necessity and was the foundation of national wealth and food security. The American bison, or buffalo, was wild and not amenable to domestication and was therefore replaced by its more civilized cousin who had a long established relationship with human kind. The fearsome lethal force of cattlemen decimated the unruly herds of wild and untamable bison, carving out more territory for both men and cattle. The civilizing power generated out of the synergistic relationship of man and cow was overwhelming and irresistible.

The wild Native American tribes had no domesticated cattle and eked out a precarious survival by chasing the great herds of bison across the vast plains of the West. These hunter gathers and their prey were no match for the ranchers and their domesticated cattle. Both the hunter and the prey were obliterated almost to extinction to make way for those who were more competent to survive: man and his cattle.

Wild men, noble savages to some, and wild animals, though in innumerable thundering herds have virtually disappeared in the competition for survival. Romantic notions aside, a cattle culture is superior in power and resources to one based on the restless vagaries of the hunt. The meat eaters who raised no corn or cattle could not sustain themselves in the face of the tillers of the soil with their herds of cattle. The fragile relationship between the hunter and his prey was easily disrupted by the herder and his cattle. The future survival of the people of the plains depends upon how quickly they adopt the culture of the cow.

When one flies over the vast, mostly empty stretches of Africa in the 21rst century, one knows that there is hunger and poverty among the human populations below, because one does not see herds of cattle roaming the land. Huge herds of zebra, wildebeest, Cape buffalo and antelope may be great for attracting tourists, but contribute nothing to the building of a great and rich nation state. The rich tourists who arrive by the plane-load to admire the wild herds of undomesticated ‘cattle’ have the means to travel globally precisely because they come from prosperous well-fed nations whose wealth is based on the cultivation of cattle.

Africa can never sufficiently feed herself and grow rich and prosperous until she learns the lessons demonstrated in story of ‘How the West Was Won’ in America. Environmentalism and animal preservation movements can thus be viewed as Romantic interventions that are counter to the scientific, reality based natural development of the African nation. If the Western environmentalists and nature worshippers love the wilderness so much, and then let them convert England, Europe and America back to a savage state. Of course, it is true, some of them are insane enough to want to do just that and thereby reduce the human populations from the present 6.5 billions to no more than 1 to 2 billion.

The root of evil, its definition and image, is Man’s refusal to ‘keep and dress’ the Garden, blocking the commanded fruitfulness and multiplication desired by God. When Man knows cultivation and yet refuses to practice it and teach it to others, he is committing an act of evil and earns the wrath of God. To not cultivate the Garden is to invite infanticide, abortion, genocide, slavery, war, oppression and all the other evil depravities of which Man in his fallen state is capable. These evils are justified on the basis of alleged scarcity: “There’s not enough to go around”.

Man’s divinely mandated destiny is to leave his wild uncultivated state behind, and move to a cultivated progressive civilized future. He does this by understanding that his duty is the transformation of his environment into the Garden, the cultivation of which will cultivate that which is best in Man. This is the Heaven of which Man is capable of attaining, through his own efforts and the Guidance of Allah. This is how we fulfill the divine command given to us today: Set yourself in Heaven!

(More later)

The Miracle of Milk Workshop

Happy Saviour's’ Day!
On Saturday February 27, 2010, please plan to attend
“The Miracle of Milk”
A Special Workshop hosted by

Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad
Featured Presentations by

Patrice Muhammad PA and Karriem Muhamamad
4:00-5:30 pm in Room 400 in the Opera Room of the Rosemont Hotel
Special Invited Guests include:
Attorney Pete Kennedy of Farm to Consumer
The Atlee Family, operators of an Amish Dairy Farm
Be well informed and updated on the latest research

about the benefits of Raw Milk
, You will leave the workshop well informed and inspired!
We look forward to seeing you there.

WHERE THE FOOD IS

People need to know a lot in order to survive. But of all the things a person needs to know -

WHERE THE FOOD IS

is perhaps the most important.

The right answer is not -the supermarket.

Below is a listing of different sources of REAL food to feed your REAL body and mind. Check through the list and make contact with the food source best for you.

Don't be lazy when it comes to food. Put out some effort and spend the time - and money (real food costs more than factory food).

Enjoy. Learn. Share.

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture
Consumers are paying a high cost for substandard, cheap factory food. The following links are working on different areas but all have the same goal - to support sustainable agriculture. There are far too many groups to mention here (apologies to those we missed). Be sure to find local sustainable agricultural groups in your area as many of them hold extremely informative annual meetings where you can meet local farmers. Depending upon your area of interest, familiarize yourself with any or all of the following links.
If you are concerned about the quality of the food you are buying at the grocery store, some of the following links will help guide to healthier more humane choices through local farms.
If you are interested in stopping factory farming, some of the following links will help show you how to get involved.
If you are a farmer who is interested in producing food for consumers, there are links below that will help show you how.
Some of the following links will also be able to provide scientific literature supporting the benefits of sustainable agriculture.
It is important to understand the impact you have when you spend your money on factory food. Changing your shopping patterns by supporting local agriculture will not only help improve your health, it will also help improve the environment and bring back our rural communities. Price-Pottenger FoundationThe Price-Pottenger Foundation has supported sustainable agriculture for over 50 years. They have preserved a collection of over 10,000 books and publications, spanning over 200 years of research from most of the great nutrition pioneers of our time, including that of William A. Albrecht, MS, PhD. The foundation is currently working on posting their archives online, and deveoping an education program available for people world-wide.
Weston A. Price FoundationThe Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies.
Slow FoodThe association's activities seek to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread the education of taste, and link producers of excellent foods to consumers through events and initiatives.
Farm and Ranch Freedom AllianceThe Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance is an advocate for the many thousands of independent farmers, ranchers, livestock owners, and homesteaders in this country.
Eat WildEatwild.com is an excellent source for safe, healthy, natural and nutritious grass-fed beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork and dairy products.
The MeatrixAn excellent flash presentation about factory farming and links about what you can do about it.
Food RoutesThe FoodRoutes Find Good Food map can help you connect with local farmers and start eating the freshest, tastiest food around. Find your local food on their interactive map, listing farmers, CSAs, and local markets near you.
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
Grace Factory Farm ProjectThe GRACE Factory Farm Project (GFFP) works to create a sustainable food production system that is healthful and humane, economically viable, and environmentally sound.
Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy AnimalsThe Eat Well Guide is a free, online directory of sustainably-raised meat, poultry, dairy and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns and hotels, and online outlets in the US and Canada.
Sustainable TableHelping consumers make healthy food choices to create a sustainable system.
Sustainable Food In SchoolsIf you don't like the food being served in your or your child's cafeteria, do something to change it! Includes guidelines on what to do, how to do it, and examples of successful initiatives underway around the country.
Local HarvestThis website will help you find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably-grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
Farmers MarketsNational listing of farmers markets.
Kerr Center for Sustainable AgricultureThe Kerr Center was established to provide farmers and ranchers in the area with free technical assistance and information on how to improve their operations. Wise stewardship was emphasized.
National Farm to SchoolFarm to School programs are popping up all over the U.S. These programs connect schools with local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing health and nutrition education opportunities that will last a lifetime, and supporting local small farmers.
Farm to CollegeThis site presents information about farm-to-college programs in the U.S. and Canada collected by the Community Food Security Coalition.

Center for Food and Justice: Farm to HospitalThe CFJ has a program Farm to Hospital: Promoting Health and Supporting Local Agriculture.
Farm to Cafeteria: Community Food Security CoalitionPutting Local Food on the Table: Farms and Food Service in PartnershipFarm to school programs have been addressing the dual issues of improving children's health and providing new marketing options for family farmers.
Food Security CoalitionThe Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) is a North American organization dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times
The True Food NetworkThe goal of the True Food Network Working is to create a socially just, democratic and sustainable food system.
Acres USAAcres U.S.A. is the only national magazine that offers a comprehensive guide to sustainable agriculture. Drawing on knowledge accumulated in more than 35 years of continuous publication, we bring our readers the latest techniques for growing bountiful, nutritious crops and healthy, vibrant livestock. Acres U.S.A. has helped thousands of farmers feed the nation's growing appetite for clean, delicious food.
Ecological Farming AssociationEco-Farm supports a vision for our food system where strengthening soils, protecting air and water, encouraging diverse ecosystems and economies, and honoring rural life are all part of producing healthful food.
National Family Farm CoalitionThe National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) provides a voice for grassroots groups on farm, food, trade and rural economic issues to ensure fair prices for family farmers, safe and healthy food, and vibrant, environmentally sound rural communities here and around the world.
Rural CoalitionThe Rural Coalition is an alliance of regionally and culturally diverse organizations working to build a more just and sustainable food system which: brings fair returns to minority and other small farmers and rural communities, ensures just and fair working conditions for farm workers, protects the environment, delivers safe and healthy food to consumers
Institute for Agriculture and Trade PolicyThe Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.
GrainGRAIN is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) which promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on people's control over genetic resources and local knowledge.
Leopold Center for Sustainable AgricultureThe Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture explores and cultivates alternatives that secure healthier people and landscapes in Iowa and the nation.
Rodale Institute The Rodale Institute works with people worldwide to achieve a regenerative food system that renews environmental and human health working with the philosophy that "Healthy Soil = Healthy Food = Healthy People ®
New Farm (Rodale Institute)Helping consumers, brokers, restaurateurs and other farmers find the farm services they're looking for.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and EducationThe Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program.
National Campaign for Sustainable AgricultureThe National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture is a diverse nationwide partnership of individuals and organizations cultivating grass roots efforts to engage in policy development processes that result in food and agricultural systems and rural communities that are healthy, environmentally sound, profitable, humane and just.
National Sustainable Agriculture Information ServiceATTRA provides information and other technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, Extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States.
Family Farm DefendersThe FFD mission is to create a farmer-controlled and consumer-oriented food and fiber system, based upon democratically controlled institutions that empower farmers to speak for and respect themselves in their quest for social and economic justice.
The Center for Food SafetyThe Center for Food Safety (CFS) is an interest and environmental advocacy membership organization established in 1997 by its sister organization, International Center for Technology Assessment, for the purpose of challenging harmful food production technologies and promoting sustainable alternatives.
ETC GroupETC group is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights.
Environmental Working GroupEWG specializes in environmental investigations. They have a team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers who pore over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and our own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions.
WorldWatch InstituteWorldWatch is an independent research group working for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society. An excellent book published by WorldWatch institute is by Brian Halweil, Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket, 2004.
Union of Concerned ScientistsUCS is an independent nonprofit alliance of more than 100,000 concerned citizens and scientists. We augment rigorous scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world.
Institute of Science in SocietyISIS promotes science responsible to civil society and the public good, independent of commercial and other special interests, or of government control and a science that can help make the world sustainable, equitable and life-enhancing for all its inhabitants.
Organic Consumers AssociationOCA is building a national network of consumers promoting food safety, organic agriculture, fair trade and sustainability.
Organic Center for Education and PromotionOCEP generates credible, peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society.
Food and Water WatchFWW is working on issues such as food and water safety, mad cow, sustainable agriculture, irradiation. Also has a factory farm campaign which aims to change government policies that promote factory farms, fight corporate control that forces farmers "to get big or get out," and encourage sustainably raised meat.
United Poultry Concerns, Inc UPC is dedicated to the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.
Sierra Club(Including a toolkit for Factory Farm Pollution Activists)The Sierra Club's mission is to explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth. Practice and promote the responsible us of the earth's ecosystems and resources. Educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment. Use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
Beyond Factory FarmingBeyond Factory Farming is a coalition of citizen's organizations from all across Canada that share a vision of livestock production for health and social justice. Their mission is to promote livestock production that supports food sovereignty, ecological, human and animal health, as well as sustainability and community viability and informed citizen/consumer choice.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Wegmans Cruelty Video showing what goes on inside a factory chicken farm. Includes news and events.
Humane Society of the USThe Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has worked since 1954 to promote the protection of all animals.
Humane Farming AssociationHFA is an animal protection organization. Campaigns against factory farming and slaughterhouse abuse. Also home to the world's largest farm animal refuge.
Compassionate ConsumersCompassionate Consumers was founded in 2003 by a small group of people concerned about animal welfare in the food industry.

Chicago's Green City Market
Chicago's only sustainable market with the highest quality locally farmed products.

Raw Milk - Purest Source of Water

So study after study is showing the same thing - America's water supply is contaminated. Bottled water is a scam and before long water may be completely privatized and available only to those with the money to buy it at prices that are astronomical. My wife's favorite water sells for no less than $1.39 per liter, and has been known to go as high as $1.89 per liter. That's around $5.60 a gallon! Water is almost twice the price of gasoline with no guarantee that it is safe and pure! What about filters? Some of the ultra filters may be good, but they are also expensive and may be prone to failure over time. Even if you have your own well or spring that does not mean that chemicals and pathogens have not leached into your well from surrounding areas. The government is useless and can be counted on to do just what they are doing - nothing. If Obama really wanted to get people back to work, he could announce a campaign to re-build the water infra-structure throughout the country rather than bailing out the banks. How can the country survive without adequate safe water?

Here's one solution that is very helpful. As a person increases the percentage of the diet that comes from raw milk, the need for water goes down. Raw milk is 89% water! So someone who drinks a quart or more of raw milk is getting most of the water needed for a day. Milk drinkers need less water to begin with because most of the water used everyday by the body is to help dilute food in the intestinal tract and to produce the digestive juices so that what we eat can be broken down and assimilated. Milk is already dilute and basically digests itself. You don't need extra water to do that.

Not only that, but the water that is contained in milk is very pure. The water in milk is the water that was in the grass eaten by the cow. Rainwater falls from the clouds in a very pure distilled form to water the grass. This already pure water is further filtered and purified through the soil and the root system of the growing green grass. After the cow eats the grass the water in the grass undergoes further purification and highly significant energetic enhancement and restructuring as it is processed through the body of the cow and emerges as an ultra-filtrate in the udder as pure milk!

How could Allah in the Holy Qur'an refer to milk as a pure drink unless every component of it is purified, the largest component being its water?

So drink up. Once again milk proves over and over again

that it really is one of God's greatest miracles.

Enjoy. Learn. Share.

What's inside dirty U.S. drinking water?

By WC Douglas MD

A New York Times investigation found that more than 62 million Americans have been exposed to substandard drinking water since 2004. There are hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of dangerous contaminants in our water, yet only 91 of them are regulated by the government. During the past decade, there hasn't been a single addition to the list of chemicals regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act -- and much of this law has been unchanged since the 1980s. Regulators aren't just asleep at the wheel -- they've driven us off the road, over a cliff and into a filthy reservoir. In one city, the local water department had to abandon 40 percent of all municipal wells in one area because of contamination. This didn't happen in some backwater town, or next door to a single big factory. Nope... according to the Times, this happened in Los Angeles -- our second -- largest city. If these same contaminants were turning up in food, there would be outrage... and probably a Congressional investigation. But since the problems were CAUSED by our own listless government and its big industry pals, you rarely hear a peep about it. Any attempt to cut down on the chemicals in our water is met with aggressive lobbying from powerful industries. The best thing you can do is to buy yourself a reverse-osmosis water filter and install it not at the sink, but where the water enters your home -- because believe me, you don't even want to shower in this stuff. I didn't need the stunning new report in the New York Times to tell me how bad the problem is -- I've been warning my readers about this for years. If you want to read more of the nauseating truth, read my special report on the dangers found in your drinking water.

The RAW MILK WAR

Get ready to fight! The Big Dairy Lobby is coming full force to twist Congress' arm to outlaw raw milk. It is already a difficult proposition now to secure a supply of raw milk for yourself and family. The campaign for raw milk has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. While our efforts may seem meager, Big Dairy sees the writing on the wall - and they ain't pleased. Here's the deal. Big Dairy is founded on the abuse of dairy cows and dairy farmers! The cows are confined for life in what for all intents and purposes is a penitentiary for cows, standing all day and night on concrete slabs in tiny stalls (cells) with no room to move around, up to their knees in manure! Those cows die an early miserable death after a tortuous miserable life. Under such conditions you can easily see why drugs like steroids, antibiotics, growth hormone, etc are 'necessary' and why pasteurization is also 'necessary'. Contrast that to the life of a cow on a raw milk farm: in a grass pasture eating grass and herbs, fresh air, sunshine, freedom to move at will, the chance to settle down and grab an afternoon nap, the natural mating and birthing of calves, and dairy farmers who love cows and know each one by name! The confined cows are constantly sick and in pain and die at 15 to 18 months of age. The pastured cows are happy and contented and live 15 to 18 years! The milk from the pasture fed cows is clean and pure and does not need to be pasteurized for safety. It is already the safest thing on the planet. The so-called 'milk' from the industrialized cows is not fit to drink, even if it is pasteurized, homogenized and fortified. It really isn't good enough to bear the high name: MILK!

When you as a consumer, participate in a raw milk program, not only are you doing the very best thing for the health of yourself and family, you are also part of a liberation movement for the liberation of cows and dairy farmers who are right now enslaved and on the brink of extinction due to the evil business model employed by Big Dairy. When we deal directly with the dairy farmer and buy his milk raw, we cut out the wicked middle man who only pays the lowest possible price for the farmer's milk - sometimes the price is below cost, causing bankruptcy and hardship. When we create an increased demand for raw milk and raw milk products we are offering the dairy farmer an alternative to the slavish exploitation of Big Dairy. Well, wouldn't you know it, Big Dairy don't like what we are doing and means to put a stop to it by making Congress outlaw raw milk everywhere. So let us do all in our power assert our right to the highest quality food which is raw milk, as well as the right of dairy farmers to make a decent living, and the right of dairy cows to enjoy a happy healthy life.

We must be their protectors against those whose only wish is to exploit and degrade them.

Raw Milk Drinkers of the World - Rise and Fight Back!

Enjoy. Learn. Think. Act. Share.

Behind the push for pasteurization
If you love your milk so fresh you can still hear the moo, watch out: Big Dairy is coming after you – again.
Two lobbying groups backed by untold piles of dirty dairy dollars are urging lawmakers to put raw milk out to pasture, calling it a "significant food safety hazard."
But as long as we're talking farm, let's call that what it really is: hogwash (yeah, another farm word came to mind first... but I try to keep this family-friendly).
The International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation want all unpasteurized products to follow the same standards as other milk products – in other words, they want everything pasteurized.
But the problem with raw milk isn't that it's dangerous – because it isn't. I've been drinking this stuff for years, and I'm just one member of a small-but-devoted army of raw-milk lovers. And believe me, we're healthier than most people.
No, the problem is that it's harder for Big Dairy to turn a profit on raw milk, and harder to tax.
Think about it – legal raw milk would mean small farmers everywhere could sell it at market price direct to consumers from roadside stands... the way many of them now sell peach pies.
Big Dairy wouldn't earn a dime off that. And Uncle Sam gets nervous because it would be difficult to keep tabs on all these small operations at tax time.
So instead, farmers are essentially forced to sell their milk to Big Dairy for a fraction of its value.
But the dairy barons can't ever tell you that... so they pretend it's about safety instead.
I'll say it again: Hogwash!
Pasteurization sucks many of the nutrients out of the milk, including vitamins C, B6 and B12. It even sucks the calcium out – any calcium you find in store-bought milk is usually added during fortification.
All that, and it's still not guaranteed to be perfectly safe. People still get sick and even die from bacteria in pasteurized milk – bacteria that, in theory, shouldn't be there.
One study found that between 1982 and 1997, 220,000 people were sickened by salmonella in pasteurized milk. During that same period, not a single person reported getting sick from raw milk.
Raw milk should be celebrated... instead, we're forced to hide and sneak and find creative ways around laws designed to stop us from getting our milk... like buying shares in cows the same way some people buy partial ownership of vacation homes.
If you're interested in all the benefits of raw milk, visit a local dairy farmer and see what he can do for you.
Not only does the real stuff taste far better than that milk-colored store-bought junk, but it contains more essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin D and a natural antibiotic called lactoferrin. Raw milk drinkers will tell you the benefits include weight loss, better immunity from colds and even pain relief.
One warning: Drinking raw milk means you may be treated like an outlaw... when all you really want is a chance to do your body good.

Raw Milk Drinkers' Protocol

21 December 2009

Raw Milk Drinkers Protocol
By Abdul Alim Muhammad MD

Over the last couple of years, many individuals have approached me with questions about how to properly consume raw milk, a new food experience for many. As a major advocate of the consumption of raw milk, I have a great responsibility to respond to these questions and attempt to bring some clarity to an issue burdened by an enormous amount of confusion and misunderstanding. Some of the questions and concerns are undoubtedly borne of a lack of information on the one hand and the influence of disinformation on the other. This essay is an attempt to counter the negative influence of those who have made a career out of demonizing milk. This campaign to denigrate milk is more than a century old and is deep-seated and pervasive. A fuller presentation on the topic of milk is available in the on-going series of articles published in the Final Call Newspaper entitled, The Miracle of Milk.

The word milk has been misused and abused so much that I must make it clear that when I use the word milk, I mean ‘whole raw milk’ - milk from a healthy grass Pasture fed cow, that has not been pasteurize or homogenized, or skimmed of its natural amount of cream. I do not mean pasteurized milk and I certainly do not mean soy ‘milk’, almond or rice ‘milk’ for the simple reason: Only milk is milk.

Obviously if one heats or boils the milk, the milk is no longer raw and loses its medicinal value and may become problematic in those individuals who are lactase deficient. The myth that raw milk is dangerous and needs to be sterilized must be exposed for what it is: a false belief, based on a misunderstanding of historical and biological facts.

For the complete nutritional value of milk, please visit my blog Life Abundantly at www.lifeabundantly-alim.blogspot.com In the list of archived articles you will find on entitled: “What’s so great about milk, any way?” Suffice it to say here that raw milk is the best food there is on the whole planet and has the longest history of consumption starting from the first human who suckled at its mother’s breast. Milk has the greatest food value of any food and has the unique ability to completely build and maintain a human body by itself alone.

Therefore, milk should be the first food consumed when one starts a meal. The principle is an ancient one: The Highest First. As the highest value food the daily quota of milk is ingested first, before the ingestion of any other food. Autonomic response testing, also called Nutritional Response Testing, can determine exactly the amount of milk the body is asking for on a daily basis.

In some individuals, this may be 1 to 2 quarts (32oz. to 64 oz.) each day, representing the total caloric need of that person for the day. A quart of high-grade milk from a Jersey or Guernsey cow is approximately 1500 calories. 1500 calories is a substantial portion of the total calories needed per day to maintain body weight.

For example, the average sedentary man may need 2600 to 2800 calories per day, and the average sedentary woman may need 2100 to 2400 calories each day. Any one needing to lose excess weight (fat) can rest assured that a quart of raw milk will provide all of the necessary nutrients for the healthy support of life, but in a relatively low calorie form. A person on a milk diet who is “under eating’ calories by 1,000 a day, will lose weight – approximately 1 pound every 4 days. A very easy, convenient, no gimmick diet for healthy weight loss.

Get the milk in first, then, if there is a taste for some other food, add that on top of the milk. In many cases there is not true desire to eat some other food item. If there is the amount will be much less than otherwise would be the case, since the milk is so ‘filling’ and uniquely satisfies the hunger like no other food.

If you do it the other way around, and consume the milk after other, inferior foods, then there may be some reactions that some of the time may be a little unpleasant. Milk has a rapid transit time through the system of the body. It only takes around 6 hours for it to be ready for elimination. Other foods, especially heavy processed foods like pasta have a very prolonged transit time – maybe 36 to 48 hours. This is slow moving traffic that will be forcefully pushed ahead at a rapid pace by the action of the milk on the digestion system. The laxative effect is actually a good cleansing that is beneficial to the body, but it may have unpleasant and unpredictable social consequences. You could say that the milk is a big help in the proper reform of the diet; because it will quickly remove any ‘junk’ that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Remember, raw milk is never harmful. Even when the milk ferments or sours it never becomes harmful to the health. Left alone, sour milk, sometimes called buttermilk, can become yogurt, curds and whey, and eventually cheese. Cheese therefore is just milk that has been fermented in a certain way to produce a certain flavor sometimes over years! But it never goes ‘bad’. Milk, by its very nature, keeps indefinitely.
(To be continued)

Raw Milk, the Key to Swine Flu Immunity?

Here are two articles that report on a 'new' finding about how our immune systems protect us from viruses. What is new is the accidenal discovery of a protein, IFITM3, that seems to be the key to immunity against the swine flu and other influenza viruses. This helps us to understand why alpha-interferon protects and even cures viral illnesses like HIV. Remember Kemron that was discovered in Kenya to cure AIDS? That's alpha-interferon, and IFITM3 is the protein that is induced by alpha and beta interferon and make it work. Remember too, that both alpha and beta interferon are present in raw milk, so drink up and stay healthy!

Enjoy. Learn. Share.
Natural swine flu defence found
A previously unknown natural defence against swine flu and other viruses has been discovered which could lead to new treatments.

By Rebecca Smith,

18 Dec 2009
Scientists found that the virus-fighting proteins protected against swine flu when levels were increased.
When the proteins were removed the swine flu virus was able to multiply in the body unchecked.
The accidental discovery may help to explain why some people develop serious symptoms when they contract flu and others do not.
The protein, IFITM3, and although it appeared to be connected to the functioning of the immune system, how it worked and what it did had never been understood.
Professor Stephen Elledge, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, who led the research, said: "We've uncovered the first-line defence in how our bodies fight the flu virus.
"The protein is there to stop the flu. Every cell has a constitutive immune response that is ready for the virus. If we get rid of that, the virus has a heyday."
The findings, reported in the journal Cell, could pave the way to new kinds of antiviral treatment, say the scientists. However, it remains to be seen what the long-term side effects of boosting levels of the proteins might be.
The news comes as Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, announced the latest swine flu figures showing a further drop in cases with an estimated 9,000 new diagnoses last week.
It is thought over 800,000 people have suffered symptoms of swine flu since it first emerged in England in April.
It appears that the second wave of the disease is coming to an end but he warned that it is not know what will happen in the New Year.
Sir Liam said the NHS had coped 'brilliantly' with swine flu this year.
The vaccination programme is also progressing with three million people out of the nine million in the first priority groups already immunised.
More than 100,000 pregnant women have so far been vaccinated, Prof David Salisbury, head of immunisation said, out of around 550,000 women who are pregnant at any one time in England.
Two thirds of local NHS organisations have now reached agreements with GPs to start vaccinating children aged between six months and five years.


INTERFERON-INDUCED TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEIN 3; IFITM3
Gene map locus Chr.11
TEXT
The 1-8 gene family, which includes IFITM1 (604456), IFITM2 (605578), and IFITM3, is highly inducible by both type I (IFNA (147660)/IFNB (147640)) and type II (IFNG; 147570) interferons.
By screening a lymphoid cell cosmid library with a probe corresponding to the 3-prime untranslated region of IFITM1, Lewin et al. (1991) isolated a cosmid containing the IFITM1, IFITM2, and IFITM3 genes, which they termed 9-27, 1-8D, and 1-8U, respectively, within a single 18-kb fragment. Northern blot analysis of cells expressing the IFITM genes showed that IFITM2 is not as responsive to IFNA treatment as IFITM3 or IFITM1. Genomic sequence analysis determined that all 3 IFITMs contain 2 exons, with the interferon-stimulable response elements (ISREs) in the immediately 5-prime flanking sequence of the promoter/enhancer region. Unlike IFITM1, which has an ISRE and 2 CCAAT boxes but lacks a TATA box, IFITM2 and IFITM3 have 2 ISREs and no TATA or CCAAT boxes. Sequence analysis predicted that the 133-amino acid IFITM3 protein, which is approximately 90% identical to IFITM2, has an N-terminal signal sequence, 3 potential phosphorylation sites, and a C-terminal leucine zipper. Sequence variability is greatest at the C terminus. Immunoblot analysis showed that in response to IFNA, all 3 IFITMs were expressed as 14-kD proteins that could be further resolved by isoelectric focusing.
The International Radiation Hybrid Mapping Consortium mapped the IFITM3 gene to chromosome 11 (stSG13140

The Miracle of Milk

Life Abundantly
Abdul Alim Muhammad MD

The Miracle of Milk

[During the recent Saviour’s Day 2009 the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan engaged me in some lively discussion at the dinner table at the National House about the benefits of raw milk. There were a lot of questions and answers all around and many anecdotes about the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and raw milk. How he used to get the milk in big 10 gallon dairy cans, and how he would serve raw milk at every meal, etc. The interest in this topic was so great that the two part workshop at Saviour’s Day entitled, The Miracle of Milk and How to Get It, had over-flow crowds on both days. A recent survey conducted among NOI members revealed that over 50% consume raw milk. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan suggested that I write a newspaper column on the subject, so here it is. I hope to cover as much of this important topic as possible over the next several weeks. Other topics will be taken up on a regular basis under the title Life Abundantly-AAM]

[Part one]

The Miracle of Milk is closely intertwined with the miracle of life. Nothing else in the whole world is fit for food to nourish new life when it is born, nothing else will do at all. When new life is born into the large World from the microcosm of the womb, milk replaces the nourishing blood of mother that was filtered through the placenta directly into the blood of the fetus. The first and most primitive survival instinct of the new born baby is to suckle at the breast of the new mother, to feed upon another filtrate of blood, mother’s milk.
In a general sense, breast milk, sometimes called ‘white blood’ is, in fact, quite similar to the nourishing placental blood, except it contains no red blood cells which are no longer necessary, because the baby is filling its own lungs with air to oxygenate its own red blood cells. Like blood, the flowing milk not only supports life, but, is alive.

Milk is the best and only food at this stage of life. Its perfect proportion of protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals makes it perfect to promote rapid growth and development. The milk flow is stimulated by the sucking action of the infant on its mother’s breast. In addition to this vital nutrition, also present in the pure white milk is the active immunity of the mother as a protection to the highly vulnerable life of the baby.

The new born is faced with surviving the onslaught of the swarming micro-organisms present in the big World- viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. The milk contains highly specific anti-bodies to every micro-organism that had ever been encountered by mother and highly lethal immune-effector cells: macrophages, natural killer lymphocytes, and neutrophils. These are the protectors of mother’s life, her personal defense force that is now being deployed on a special mission to safe-guard the delicate life of the newborn flowing into the body of the baby in a stream of milk from the mother’s breast. These same immune factors it should be pointed out were the same ones circulating in the mother’s blood stream that kept her and the contents of her womb safe. Now they are doing the same thing as they flow directly from her body into the body of the baby in her milk. The milk is preparing the new life to survive in a living World full of living things, some of which is anything but friendly. Without milk the new life may perish.

In addition, the digestive enzymes necessary to digest and assimilate the nutrients in the milk are also available in the milk itself since the immature digestive system of the infant may be lacking. Thus, the miracle of life is protected by the miracle of milk.

The baby doesn’t know it yet, but it has been born into a World, a planet, that circles a Star called the Sun at a distance of 93,000,000 miles. The Sun is one of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy and is located in one of its spiral arms at a distance of 26,000 light-years from the galactic center. The Sun, with the Earth in tow, circles the galactic center once every 220,000 years traveling at a rate of 485,000 miles per hour. The Milky Way Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter and contains so many stars- maybe 400 billion- that from the Earth, it appears as though the stars are a stream of flowing milk! Even the English word galaxy is derived from the Greek galakt which also means milk! The Universe is composed of billions upon billions of galaxies. We are thus awestruck by the fact that milk is a miracle at every scale of existence- macrocosmic and microcosmic.

And not just in the outer universe, but the inner one as well. For example, in the ancient Puranas of India, an Ocean of Milk is churned by warring gods and demons. This is no less than a metaphor for human consciousness itself and is said to contain 13 treasures, among which is the nectar of life. Shakespeare speaks of “…the milk of human kindness…” as a metaphor for compassion, the greatest of all virtues and the apex of spiritual attainment. Heaven is typically described as a land flowing with “milk and honey”.

The Indo-European word, melg, meaning to wipe or to stroke, gave rise to the modern English term, milk. The action (verb) needed to produce the milk is also its name (noun).

The power of the word milk is so great and so deeply resonates in the human psyche, that commercial food marketers have misappropriated it to mislead consumers. Think of it. Who would ever consider drinking a completely artificial, industrialized product refined from genetically engineered soy beans and blended with toxic chemicals and additives of uncertain origin, unless it is presented as soy milk? Or, how about almond milk, or some other nut milk? Well maybe it is milk for nuts! But of course only milk is milk and nothing else even comes close. There are no substitutes.

Milk is milk and Almighty God Allah made it for his creatures to drink. I used to say that only God knows how to make food. Now we must modify that: God and the Woman He created are the only ones who know how to make food. And the best food of all is pure milk, flowing in the image and likeness of the Universe and the Mind of Man!

Milk is the material manifestation of the immaterial maternal love, the actual substantive flow of connectivity that binds mother and baby together as the unit of tender human love. The image of compassion and divine love is the image of Madonna and Child, Isis and Horus, Mary and Jesus. The act of nursing (verb) is the actual state (noun) of divine peace, love and grace. The flow of milk from Mother to Child is the physical manifestation of the flow of Beneficence and Mercy from the Divine Creator to that which has been created.
[Part two]
The state of Heavenly bliss is at the breast of mother, for in that state, both mother and child are pleased and well pleasing. As such, it is the producer of a template that is deeply embedded in the consciousness of both: the possibility of perfect human love and harmony in a state of grace and satisfaction of all needs, physical, mental and spiritual. It is the imprint of Heaven in the Mind of Man that shows that Heaven is possible on this earth and is worthy to be striven for. This is the necessary psychological well-being of the original social unit and hence is the ultimate super glue that alone can hold society together.

Where breast feeding of infants is weak or out of fashion, the psycho-social bonds of family and society at large are also weak. The physical or biological immunity conferred to the infant by milk, sublimates into the social immunities that protect communities and nations from the forces of disintegration and chaos.

In a very real and potent sense, the future of human civilization is dependent upon the interaction of mother and baby at the interface of the breast during feeding. The dissatisfaction of unsuccessful breast feeding becomes the force of disruption and even revolution in society. A contented satisfied infant at the breast portends a peaceful and happy society in the future. The whining, complaining malcontents of society are the grown-up infants who never fed satisfactorily at mother’s breast. They become those who can never find satisfaction in life and play a destructive and disruptive role in society. So, Mothers, please feed the babies as they should be fed: from yourself and yourself alone. That way you are producing a good pleasant society that will in due coarse of time take care of you and others in a gentle compassionate way.

The role of the nourishing mother is therefore paramount in the establishment of community and national life. The importance of ensuring that mothers nurse their babies successfully can not be over-estimated. The harm to society from bottle feeding, formula feeding, etc is cataclysmic and leads ultimately to the fall and break down of civilization. That is because individuals in society will be incapable of giving for the benefit of society that which they themselves were deprived of. So the needs of society go lacking producing overwhelming dissatisfaction and failure.

The greatest long-term benefit to society for a viable future is to make women secure within the framework of marriage so that they may become the willing and capable nourishers of their babies. Men must secure and maintain their wives for this purpose. The unprotected insecure woman can never fulfill her true role as the nurturer of civilization. Women must be healthy, well-nourished, stress-free and happy in order to fulfill their infinitely important role as mother to an individual as well as mother of civilization itself. To the degree that a culture or society is unfriendly to the nursing of babies, to that same degree that society or culture is dooming itself. Where women are elevated and honored and respected and well taken care of, there is a society that will flourish and prosper and endure.

It is not only milk that flows during the feeding of an infant or child at the breast. It is also the culture and wisdom of the society in which the women lives that also flows to the young life suckling at her breast. If she sings lovingly to her baby, or speaks soft words of encouragement and calmness, she is inculcating the values and cultural principles of her society into the baby. If she recounts the history and legends of her people then she is extending national life, the life of her people and creating one who will pick up the baton and continue the dramatic historical action of her people in their struggle to survive. If the baby can find sustenance enough to thrive and survive with abundance in the first stages of life at its mother’s breast then that becomes the first chapter of a life that will be characterized by vibrant health, happy optimism, keen intelligence, personal power, psychological security and boundless success.

The enemy of God must discourage and distract the woman from performing her primary duty to her child. The enemy will engage in lying propaganda that will cause the woman to feel a mixture of shame and disgust at the prospect of being a mother, to make her feel that motherhood is a second or third class activity that should be ranked second or third to career and other pursuits. Feminist views will cause her to seek competitive roles with men, instead of finding the high ground of true feminine power: the creation and nurturing of new human life in the image and likeness of God.

The enemy will construct society in such a way, that the woman will find no place for her maternal instincts and needs. She will find no nursing station in public spaces, or any support for her special maternity needs and post partum needs as a nursing mother. In fact, she is liable to be abused both at home and abroad and made to feel that she needs to “…get back into the swing of things…” as fast as possible. Just like in slavery days, this modern working woman is back on the ‘plantation’ almost immediately, the baby dropped off for care and feeding from strangers, while she focuses her time and attention on more important things.

Often times, even when the mother is willing to breast feed, the ambient stress of modern life is so overwhelming that the delicate bio-feedback mechanisms upon which successful breast feeding depends are disrupted and breast feeding must be abandoned prematurely. This forces the unnatural and harmful advancement of the baby’s diet that sets the stage for all manner of medical and psychological/behavioral problems, such as eczema, asthma, allergies, rickets, weak immunity with frequent colds, fevers and infections, not to mention social maladaptation, insecurity, resentment, hatred and distrust.

The consequent gap that develops between mother and child can never after that be closed and becomes the stark cold alienation so commonly noted in today’s society especially among youth. They experience problems in forming and maintaining relationships. Deprived of the primary source of love and affection themselves, they haven’t got a clue about how to show it to others. Hence, a life characterized by the wreckage of troubled and disastrous relationships of all sorts including the sky-rocketing rate of divorce, the root cause of which seems mysterious and unaccounted for. There is the pervasive feeling that something is missing, but just what it is- the individual hasn’t got a clue. That is because it isn’t something that was done to the child, but what never took place that is beyond the knowing of the child. The child does not realize what should have happened and can only attempt to understand what did occur. This nagging sense of ‘something wrong’ often leads to depression and a sense of despair that can have very evil consequences. Or it can simply lead to a life that seems pointless and going no where. The search for the missing essence can lead to alcoholism, drugs and all kinds of unsavory and even anti-social behaviors in vain attempts to compensate. As the song goes,” Looking for love in all the wrong places..”

Listed above are pretty much the ills of current society. These ills can be directly traced to the diminution of the role of women as home makers and mothers who breast fed and raised their own children and forced by exceedingly evil forces to become cogs in the corporate wheels of commerce. The majority of women today have become wage slaves just like the men. In this degraded state things fall apart. The miracle of milk, the milk that flows from the breast of a healthy loving mother is the panacea that can literally save our world.

[more to come]
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