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 All Thumbs Book Reviews
Keeping a Family Cow
By Joann S. Grohman, Coburn Press, 2002
Review by Sally Fallon
This is a practical guide to keeping a family milk cow, including
instructions for milking, feeding and dealing with health problems.
But even if you are not interested or able to keep a family cow, Grohman's
book is worth the price of admission for the first two chapters alone,
in which she describes the position of the cow in history and vents
on the decline in quality of the modern food supply.
To those who insist that a plant-based food system is the way to a
better world, Grohman begs to differ: "To produce grain in useful quantities
requires rich flat land such as flood plains. It requires a huge amount
of energy, available in antiquity only where complex cultures had developed.
This energy was provided by slaves. The more slaves you had, the more
grain you could grow. And the more grain you could grow, the more slaves
you could afford, thus giving rise to a wealthy class able to afford
monumental tombs and other durable artifacts of civilization. . .
". . . To herd animals requires only the availability of shepherds
and can be done on any kind of land from rocky mountain sides to kelp
strewn beaches. Wherever herbivores have been herded, their milk as
well as their meat became important parts of the diet. Herbivores form
grass, bushes and weeds into high-grade, readily available food. They
do this with enormous efficiency, whether in captivity or not. But when
herded, they free up a great deal of human time for other pursuits.
Humans with extra time and energy tend to engage in commerce, the arts,
invention and war, not necessarily in that order. Dairying has played
its part in these pursuits."
Unlike other domestic animals who readily revert to feral conditions
(pigs, goats and sheep), the cow requires humans for her survival. In
return, cows provide humans with the basis of wealth. "Cattle are the
original stock in stockmarket. Ownership of cattle has always been a
mark of wealth." People who create wealth with a cow are "hard working
and reliable," which are not necessarily the characteristics of those
in ancient times who created wealth through the cultivation of grains.
The cow ". . . can support a family. She not only turns grass into
milk in quantities sufficient to feed a family but also provides extra
to sell and she contributes yearly a calf to rear or fatten. The by-products
from cheesemaking (whey) and from butter (buttermilk) will support a
pig or two. Her manure improves her pasture and when dug into the garden,
results in plant growth that cannot be surpassed by other growth mediums.
The family that takes good care of its cow is well off.
"The over-arching truth about the cow is that she drives the domestic
or small farm economy. By living on a constantly renewing resource,
grass, she is able to support not just herself and her calf, but your
pig and your chickens (neither of which can live on grass) and still
provide milk for the house. The reverse is never true. No pigs or chickens
or any other non grazing animals can live on grass or support another
animal."
Grohman's description of the milk commerce in the later part of the
19th century--an emphasis on cleanliness at the farm, milk trains from
rural areas to the cities, blocks of ice to keep the milk cool--contains
a fascinating tidbit. In the winter of 1886, the lakes didn't freeze.
Without fresh ice, dairy farmers were forced to sell their milk to middlemen.
"They have never been able to regain control over their own product,"
says Grohman, (at least not until recently with the advent of direct
farm sales and cow share programs). This loss of control helped usher
in the era of pasteurization, a necessary step when fresh milk is pooled
and transported great distances. Pasteurization, says Grohman, was instituted
for the benefit of distributors.
Is the family cow an anachronism? Can there be any economic benefit
to keeping a family cow? For a family with small children and a little
bit of land, the answer is yes. Instead of joining the rat race and
paying for childcare, Mom can stay home with the children. The cow provides
a good portion of the family food, the children will need minimal health
care, the orthodontist budget will be zero, and with a bit of enterprise
a value-added product like butter or cheese can provide some supplemental
income. The family may even come out ahead financially, and Mom will
maintain her health so that she can join the job market, should she
choose to do so, at a later time.
And if you decide to keep a family cow, Grohman's provides a highly
readable how-to manual.
About the Reviewer
 Sally
Fallon is the author of
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct
Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched,
thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal
fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary
for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection
from disease and optimum energy levels. She joined forces with Enig again to
write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the
subject of diet and health. The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation
and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk,
Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community
activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter,
cream, eggs and meat.
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