Milk - The Harvey Milk Story

The movie Milk came out in 2008. It is a very popular movie and has won several prestigious awards. These include 2 Oscar's for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Dustin Lance Black). This movie has also been nominated for 44 other various awards and has won 30 more on top of that.

The movie takes place in the 1970's. It is a story of a man named Harvey Milk. He gains focus in his life as a gay activist in the city. Gay rights activism turns to political activism as Milk decides he can be a more effective voice for the gay community as a politician, even if he does not get elected into office. He is part of several elections for city seat and state assembly seat, and he losses all of them. It is not until 1977 that he wins an election. He becomes the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected into political office. He wins a San Francisco supervisor seat. From this position, he works and focuses on helping gay rights.

The Face on the Milk Carton

It is difficult for me to remember when this happened, but years ago there used to be faces printed on the cartons of milk. These faces were the faces of people and children who have been missing. The idea of printing these missing people's faces on milk cartons was to make people aware of others who are missing. It was a way for these missing people to be found. THe printing of faces on milk cartons has stopped, but it was a very good way to find missing people.

There was a book written by Caroline B. Cooney called The Face on the Milk Carton. This book is about a girl who's life changes after one affternoon. She takes her friend's carton of milk to drink, and looks at the back and is a picture that startles her. The picture is of someone she knows, herself! It was a picture of her when she was a very young girl. At first she thinks it is some kind of joke, and she trys to put it out of her mind. After a while the curiosity eats away at her and she needs to find out the truth about her past. Before this incident she had never suspected a thing, she thought that the parents she currently has are the ones that gave birth to her. She is so confused and searches for the answers. Read the book to find out what happens!!

Why does Organic Milk have a Longer Shelf Life?

There has been question about why organic milk has a longer shelf life than regular milk, and yes it does last longer. But why is this?? It has to do with how the milk is processed. Organic milk has to travel thousands of miles for it to reach its distributors. For the milk to survive the long journey, it is processed differently. The farmers pasteurize the milk at a high temperature than regular milk.



Now nearly all milk is pasteurized or heat treated to kill off disease causing microbes. Typically milk is heated to 161 degrees Fahrenheit. Organic milk is pasteurized at about 200 degrees, and this destroys more of the organisms responsible for spoiling milk. With those organisms gone, organic milk can last 25 to 40 days longer than conventional milk.



If farmers know this is true, then why don't they do this to all milk? The answer to that is the extra heating is expensive. It can also leave the milk with a cooked or scorched flavor. The other important thing is, once organic milk is opened, it has the same shelf life as regular milk. It can go bad just as quickly, the extra days that it can last only apply to it before it is opened.

What is Organic Milk??

You may be walking through your local gorcery story dairy aisle, and you see a gallon of milk labled Organic Milk. What is this milk and what makes it different from regular milk?? Well the answer lies in how the cows are treated. With regular milk, the cows are fed just regular feed. They are all put in a small pen with little room to move, and they can be given any hormones in oder to make them grow faster. Organic milk is something that gets approved by USDA's standards.

These standards state that....
- the cow has been fed only organic feed
- the cow is kept in a pen with adequate space
- the cow is allowed periodic access to the outdoors and sunlight
- the cow is not treated with synthetic hormones
- and the cow is not given any medications to treat for illnesses

Organic milk is just another option when you are shopping for milk. It has no more nutrients in it than regular milk, nor is it safer to consume. It is just the process that the cow goes through that makes the milk different.

Lactose Intolerance

Some people suffer from what is knows as lactose intolerance. For those who do not know what this is a condition where the body does not produce the enzyme lactase, which is responsible for breaking down the sugar known as lactose. It is not an allergy. It just means that you stomach does not know how to digest lactose. The people who are lactose intolerant, they cannot consume milk and other dairy products without feeling ill afterward. What do these people do if they cannot drink milk?

The answer is simple, lactaid milk. Lactaid milk is milk that has had the lactose, milk sugar, removed. Some people cannot digest lactose so they have to drink milk without lactose if they want to drink milk. You can get pretty much any type of dairy product these days that contain lactaid milk for those people who suffer from lactose intolerance. Hood offers many flavors of lactaid milk as well as lactaid ice cream.

If you are interest in what types of lactaid products that Hood offers, visit
https://www.hoodhomedelivery.com/pageFiles/default.php

How to Keep you Milk Last Longer

Everyone has the problem with milk going bad on them. There is nothing worse then when you reach in the refrigerator, grab the milk, pop the top, and get knocked back by the disgusting smell that comes from the container. Here are a few tips in order to keep you milk as fresh as possible, for as long as possible.

- Only pick your milk from a reputable grocery chain (not a hole in the wall convenience store)
- Choose the gallon with the latest "sell by" date
- Let milk remain in the original container (do not switch containers for easier storage)
- Keep milk on the shelves in the refrigerator
- ***** Do not store milk on the door. The door is too far away from the cooling mechanism and will not allow for proper temperature.
- Freeze milk if you can. Do not freeze whole milk. This can allow for the milk to keep for weeks longer then it would usually keep for. Just remember to shake it once it is thawed before serving.

Here are the ways to keep you milk as fresh as possible for as long as possible!

What Type of Milk do You Perfer??

When it comes to choosing milk, there are 4 basic types that you can pick from. There is whole milk, skim milk, 1% milk, and 2% milk. What is the difference between these types of milk??

Whole milk - This is milk in which no constituent (such as fat) has been removed. Whole milk is 3.7% milk. It contains 155 to 160 calories and 9 grams of fat.

1% milk - This milk contains 88 to 105 calories and has 0.4 to 2.4 grams of fat.

2% milk - This milk contains125 calories and has 4.7 grams of fat.

Skim milk - Skim milk has an extremely low fat percentage. This is a milk that has been allowed to sit long enough for the fat to rise to the top, and then the fat is "skimmed" off the top. What is left is what we know as skim milk.

The fat can be added back to the skim milk and this would increase the fat and the calories that the milk contains. This is how the low fat 1% and 2% milk is made.

My favorite kind of milk is 1%. Growing up that is all I drank. I will basically drink any type of milk except whole milk. I have had whole milk once and I did not like it at all. What is your favorite type of milk??