NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

Occasionally, I see an ad for raw milk at a farmer's market in Charlotte.

I sometimes cruise through the comments.

"I hope the absolute worst for the idiots who drink this stuff."

"Realtime Darwin awards right here, folks."

"Gross. You may as well eat raw chicken."

"This loophole needs to be closed before people get hurt!"

In all fairness, it is a loophole. Right there on the label of any raw milk you buy in North Carolina, you'll see that it's NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

Where I get mine, it's labeled as a Pet Treat. You'll see it that way, too, at supermarkets, even in states like South Carolina, where it's legal to sell.

Mostly, I read the comments, chuckle, and move on.

But sometimes, I get drawn in.

Not so much because I want to argue, but because I want to understand.

Humans have been drinking raw bovine milk for thousands of years. I'm talking way back before Christ was born.

We've been pasteurizing it for only about a hundred years, and it's only been "illegal" since 1987.

So why the fear?

Are the "I wish the worst upon these idiots" crowd chaste in consuming other foodstuffs?

Do they always cook their pork well done? After all, it's safer that way.

How about beef? I'll take my burger medium, thank you very much, but are these folks always opting for the USDA-recommended 160 degrees?

And do they ever eat sushi and sashimi? Do they know that stuff is made from raw fish?

It's funny, too, that milk is even regulated.

Why is that?

With other foods - eggs, chicken, pork - Uncle Sam trusts us to buy it raw (mostly from enormous and often contaminated factory farms) and consume it as we see fit.

But not milk!

No, sir! That stuff is dangerous.

Dangerous, I tell you!

And that's not tongue-in-cheek; raw milk is indeed dangerous. According to the CDC, three people died from drinking raw milk over twenty years.

Terrifying, huh?

By the way, also according to the CDC, there have been at least 57 hospitalizations and nine deaths across 18 states in the last two weeks from contaminated Boars Head meat - and that investigation is just getting started.

And therein lies the problem.

On the one hand, we willfully participate in many dangerous activities for one reason or another (driving, crossing a busy intersection, skiing, biking, using chemical sunscreens, drinking tap water, etc.) without giving it a second thought.

No fear.

On the other, we avoid shit that's not nearly so dangerous because we're afraid of it.

Making a cold call.

Asking for a first date.

Demanding a pay raise or starting a new career.

Opening the business we've always dreamed of.

No, no. We're afraid of all that, but we'll gladly eat that turkey and cheese on rye and hope for the best.

But look, if folks want to live in fear of certain things, so be it.

I'm not here to judge.

But I will say this.

I've found most of the best things in my life (including the elimination of severe medical symptoms that would otherwise be treated with steroids by drinking raw milk) right on the other side of a door labeled FEAR.