History blog posts

A law that will phase out ultraprocessed foods from school lunches was just signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

10,000 years ago bread got a massive upgrade.

Documentary covers how Sysco consolidated regional food supply chains for restaurants into one massive and mostly unchecked enterprise.

Two officials in Florida offer differing opinions on raw milk, which is only available as ‘pet food’ in the state.

Aurochs, predecessor of the cow, were significantly larger than modern bulls.

Six workers succumb to asphyxiation on a big dairy which produces raw milk for pasteurization.

Multiple goats have held public office in the United States.

New lab food that seeks to replace butter and palm oil, without GMOs.

The Colbert Report knocked raw milk and food raids in 2010, curtailing sympathetic journalism and securing the rise of raw milk.

California banned personal-choice exemptions for school entry one decade ago, leaving only medical and religious exemptions.

Overview of cow breeds on a timeline of when they were first introduced.

The FDA’s 1987 ban of interstate raw milk sales was preceded by decades of discourse on how to regulate interstate milk sales.

Jill from Little Red Hen drove the New Hampshire senate to legalize raw milk ice cream in 2022. Now her farm has raw milk ice cream on the menu.

John D Rockefeller lobbied for compulsory milk pasteurization, leading to almost a century of raw milk bans.

Lord Victor Rothschild tries and fails to lobby for milk pasteurization mandates in the United Kingdom.

Louis Pasteur developed the principles behind milk pasteurization, not the methods of industrial gatekeeping or germophobia.

Boar’s Head factory linked to an 18 state listeria outbreak, likely due to Trump era deregulation to boost big food producers.

Raw milk deaths are exceedingly rare, but it’s not impossible. Let’s take a look at some cases where raw milk might have contributed to someone’s death.

Raw milk wasn’t involved in the largest dairy-related outbreak in history.

Rawsome Foods, a private food club, was raided with guns drawn in Venice Beach, CA

Industrial dairyman back-hands a migrant worker for complaining about late pay.

Elizabeth II enjoyed raw milk over pasteurized milk. So much so that she smuggled it into Eton College for her grandsons.

Looking back at Vernon Hershberger’s legal struggles to protect his private food club in Wisconsin from 2010-2013.

Margarine’s dark past of treachery and deceit written from the Irish perspective.

Photo dump of diagrams, blueprints, books, and other materials for producing food on a small plot to get your creativity flowing.

Aajonus Vonderplanitz was a prominent figure in the struggle for food freedom. He met an untimely death after a fall on his property in Thailand. Here’s some photos and content from the time.

The first provincial laws mandating pasteurization (Ontario, 1930s) were introduced not in response to food safety concerns but as a marketplace strategy to eliminate competition from farmers who were selling milk direct to consumers

Like many domesticated animals, the cows of today descend from a wild breed. Let’s take a look at the ancient aurochs, the original wild cow.

Literature about raw milk. Topics include historical and cultural context, recipe books, wellness and nutrition related texts, and helpful books on becoming a raw milk farmer.

Bad business practices by newly industrialized concentrated dairies in the 19th century causes a surge of foodborne illness, and many deaths. Raw milk unfairly caught the blame.