Bovine Liberation Front

After spending time in the lovely English countryside, one of my biggest issues about the US is our treatment of dairy. Milk, cream, butter, cheese... you name it. Sure, we can get some decent cheeses in the US, but all of the milk going into the cheese must be pasteurized, which fundamentally affects its flavor. (And why on earth do Americans require cheddar to be orange? And don't EVEN get me started about "American" cheese... anything that has to be labeled as "Food" shouldn't actually qualify.) The English also have double cream, which has a higher butterfat content than heavy whipping cream (and yes, in baking, additional 8% butterfat makes a big difference). And must I even mention the deliciousness of Devonshire cream on a nice scone with locally picked strawberry jam and a pot of tea??

In Salisbury, Hank and I browsed around the local equivalent to a flea market, and because they're so close to the countryside, we saw a lot of locally farmed meats, cheese, butter, eggs, you name it. Local butter - I was stunned! How fantastic to know the person who made your butter, rather just seeing the artist-rendered smiling cow picture on the side of the wax-wrapped sticks from the supermarket.

Americans are afraid of dairy. Or possibly of cows. Our only defense is to tip them over in the middle of the night. But I say we should *cue crescendo music* take back our love of milk! Fight to defend the right to have double cream with 50% butterfat! Taste the butter where you've met the happy cow it came from!! Let the cheese be unpasteurized and not taste like the plastic sheets it was wrapped in!

FREE THE COWS!