Wyld and Wilder: Saturated fats and dairy and raw milk! (Oh, my!)
/It was Sunday morning and I was up before 6:00 to prepare breakfast for my son before his last hockey camp practice. My mind pulsed with organizational details – get myself caffeinated, the kids fed, our things packed up and be on the road on time. My body reverberated after two days of city life, concrete and chaos – driving back and forth to the hockey rink a whopping 8 times while in Boise, visiting box stores and grocery stores, navigating traffic and timetables. My emotions drained after recurring arguments with my kids, begging me to take them to In-N-Out Burger, knowing I would not. We had to escape the temptations of the city.
I could not, in my right mind, give in to their desires for fast-food. I don’t understand the obsession with In-N-Out. It’s just fast food. My kids’ relentless attempts to sway me – What if they paid? What if I didn’t eat there? What if it’s just this once? – wore me down. They stopped hearing my response to “Why not, mom?” and, instead, started mocking me. “Because it doesn’t meet my vaaluues.”
Thankfully, our friend suggested a burger-and-fry alternative: Wyld Child. Her own teenage son loved it, which was the best argument I needed for my kids to oblige. A sister restaurant to some of my Boise faves – wood fired pizza, sourdough English muffins, a quaint neighborhood market – Wyld Child offers a simple menu of burgers using wagyu beef sourced from Snake River Farms. To my surprise, they also make their own falafel (I wondered whether the beans were northern Idaho-sourced). The French fries had remnants of the skin on them and were 1000 times better than anything a fast-food restaurant boasts. Later, I learned they’re fried in Snake River Farms beef tallow, like in the good old’ days, with vegetarian fries also available.
It took a lot of willpower not to ask more about the sourcing (conventional or organic potatoes?). My kids were already annoyed, slightly closed minded, hungry and I wanted us to have a good time. We did! In fact, they were thrilled with the flavors, portions and simple menu, and I was thrilled to support an establishment that meets many of my values.
Unlike In-N-Out, Wyld child does not offer milkshakes, though I promised they could have handcrafted ice cream across the seating area at The Stil. Amused by the creative, Boise-inspired flavors (Treefort, Camel’s Back Snack…). I’d asked only one important question: From where do they source milk? Reed’s Dairy, a mid-scale operation in Idaho Falls.
We’d driven past Reed’s Creamery dozens of times over the years of hockey and soccer tournaments, though I’ve never stopped. Why? I haven’t yet researched the quality of the milk, the farm’s philosophy for raising their cows, nor visited the farm itself. Assuming the gal behind the counter wouldn’t know details about the cream’s quality, I earmarked Reed’s research and opted for a coconut-based ice cream with figs.
Plus, I knew I’d gather information the next day at an idyllic dairy farm: Wild Spaces Farm in Glenn’s Ferry. I’ve known Wilder Jones peripherally for years and have witnessed his evolution while I’ve supported his father’s farm, King’s Crown Organics. I couldn’t wait to learn Wilder’s perspectives on dairy farms in Idaho, what makes his unique and whether he thinks it’s a good idea to consume saturated fats, dairy and (oh, my!) raw milk.
My years of experience with my own lactose intolerance, nutrition science and working with clients, food research, visiting dairy farms (yes, I do that), and slowly folding dairy back into my diet, I’ve learned a few things about the industry and its effects on human metabolism and chronic disease. Let’s just say, it’s not pretty. Hence, I’m particularly conscious about the quality of dairy I feed myself and my family.
Dairy is a hot topic in my world, often scorned thanks to embarrassing after-effects of lactose intolerance and gut discomfort. Also distrusted due to “the industry” – CAFOs and unnecessary hormones and animal welfare I, too, ate dairy-free for about a decade. Only later did I learn that likely I was nutrient insufficient for the duration of my dairy-free life – as are countless others. Now I understand that dairy contains an incredible amount of nutrients we humans need daily (calcium, vitamin A, zinc), which also are often insufficient in nutrient-poor Western diets, and especially so when eliminating dairy entirely. I also know we lactose intolerant people can consume dairy without discomfort.
Another layer of controversy: raw dairy. Again, I’ve researched this conundrum for years hoping to create clear guidelines about raw dairy and my conclusion is, unfortunately, unclear.
Wilder, a third-generation farmer, never expected to return to the family’s land – nor raise dairy cows or produce raw dairy products. By “raise” I’ll clarify that Wilder lives in harmony with these rather intelligent, hierarchical animals. He knows their names, habits, personalities and how to be intimately responsive to their needs. Rather than milk them three times daily, as with many conventional, large-scale farms, he milks them once daily. He’s raising cows – and cultivating milk products – unadulterated by agricultural or chemical inputs with far better standards than those of the USDA organic label. Importantly, he’s farming with independence, ensuring he remains autonomous in his choices, not locked into systems that defy natural rhythms.
As for producing raw dairy, it’s a slippery slope, Wilder admits. It’s undoubtedly more flavorful and nutritious, despite the conventional dairy industry wanting us to believe otherwise. For safety, Wilder cools the raw milk quickly in a stainless-steel vat, reducing the potential for contamination. This process also increases shelf life. In his Milk Barn, Wilder is experimenting with drinking out of a glass container of raw milk that he leaves out on the counter. He attunes to the changes in smell and flavor. I watched him take a swig of the room temperature, 6-day-old raw milk. “Sour, not spoiled,” he remarked.
Wilder, too, senses a certain zeitgeist about his industry – not necessarily consuming foods raised in natural habitats, but eating a carnivore diet or, at least, more meat and raw dairy. He alluded to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s reveal of the updated Dietary Guidelines for America, with an emphasis on animal-derived foods – real foods – high in nutrients like saturated fats accompanied by images of meat, raw milk and yogurt. These recommendations have created a surge in conversations about saturated fats and a resurgence of interest in the philosophies of the Weston A. Price Foundation, whose homepage speaks of wrongful condemnation of whole foods like meat, dairy and fat.
So, after generations of vilifying fats as the root cause of making us fat, despite ample evidence indicating otherwise, how do we supplant fat falsities and dairy dread to reposition their roles in our minds, create a hospitable environment for digestion in our bodies and merge them mindfully into our meals? I visited a dairy farm. Everyone else? Consider Wilder’s call to action: Take one small step in de-industrializing your life and one small step rooting your life in slow conscious, intention.
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Originally written for and published by 5BGazette.com