You keep your Western food science. I've got an immune system. Thanks.

This is such a dumb take. I don't trust raw milk, but those that do aren't arguing it won't spoil at room temperature. Like, I support buying local, free-range chicken meat. But if someone came up to me and said "Oh yea? Well if you like chicken without antibiotics and preservatives, why do you still refrigerate it?!" I'd look at them like a fucking idiot.

Maybe the joke isn't particularly fair, maybe it doesn't really need to be.

You have logical reasons to avoid antibiotics and preservatives. Someone might not agree, but whatever the case, you made that decision based on some amount of evidence.

Raw milk though... I think the meme is correct to equate anger with pasteurization as a denial of germ theory. We pasteurize and refrigerate for the same reason: to keep bacteria from growing. It is a fair question: if pasteurization is unnecessary, why is refrigeration necessary? Avoiding preservatives doesn't beg the same question.

Tuberculosis has entered the chat.

And Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella, Salmonella.. It's the Macy's parade equivalent of preventable diseases by UHT and y'all been invited!

On the other hand, unrefrigerated raw milk is a fantastic way of meeting who's who of the bacterial world.
- But it's natural! And natural always means it's good for you, because I'm scared of chemicals despite not knowing what a chemical is because I can't pronounce their names!
- For some people it's the only culture they'll ever have.
- Yup
  
  This post is stupid

There's a reason the milk man used to deliver every day

To bang my mom?
- Why do you automatically discount your dad from being banged by the milk man as well?
I like the milk man to deliver my milk in the morning or when I'm yawning.

I think there is confusion between raw milk, pasteurized milk and UHT milk. Only UHT milk doesn't need to be refrigerated but it tastes horrible.

Only UHT milk doesn't need to be refrigerated…

While it’s still sealed. Once opened, it needs to be refrigerated.
I’m that weird guy who prefers the cooked taste of UHT pasteurized milk.
- Another weird UHT enjoyer here. If it weren't so expensive where I'm at then I'd be having it more often
- If I want that cooked flavor I open a can of evaporated (not condensed which has a lot of added sugar) milk. It's yummy in coffee and any cooking/baking use.
There is decent UHT milk but it's by no means the majority of the market.

I don't get it. Isnt all milk to be refrigerated?

the post is highlighting the hypocrisy in refrigerating milk while also being against milk pasteurization, since both of those practices have been done for around a hundred years and serve to make milk last longer and be safer to drink.
- Just about every dairy product (butter, cheese, whey, buttermilk) was made as a way to keep milk safe for consumption. Rejecting pasteurization, which is just slightly warming up milk is incredibly obtuse and reeks of deliberate ignorance
- This feels like a straw man. I don't remember them making any arguments against using a refrigerator.
  
  I mean fuck them, but fuck them on topic otherwise we are just huffing out own smug cloud and that doesn't convince anyone.
- Pasteurization aka boiling
- The reason for avoiding pasteurization is to maintain nutrients.
  
  It’s got nothing to do with whatever ethic might require a person to purposefully invite infection, as this post seems to presuppose.
A lot of continental Europeans drink UHT which only needs refrigerating once opened.
- UHT is the opposite of raw milk.
- Or well-pasturised. UHT is what I call "baking milk," because UHT adds a rather unpleasant note which results from heating, which is fine in baked goods but not nice to drink.

Doesn't raw milk have an even shorter shelf life?

Depends on how you look at it. Raw milk spoils at the same pace as [Edit: ultra-]pasteurized milk. Only for raw milk the counter starts ticking once the milk leaves the cow, whereas [Edit: ultra-]pasteurized milk remains sterile until you open the package.
- Pasteurised doesn't equal sterilised. Not sure ofcourse where you live since apparently that matters for this term since some places used pasteurised for what is double pasteurization and thermized for single pasteurization.
  
  I know the pasteurised milk I buy will spoil in a matter of days, even if unopened. The only milk that will stay good unopened for months us UHT.
in a way, no, because raw milk is already unsafe to drink by the time it's packaged
- +1 for this: I have very personal experience with an E.Coli outbreak in a small town in southern Utah in 2017. Although the infections did not come from raw milk directly, the infections were traced to the area where the milk was packaged - and albeit anecdotally, there were several related deaths over the years that I was aware of, that were never reported due to the...uh...unique religious background of the place.
  
  so yeah, I mean...don't let your children play in manure but also...don't drink milk that you sanitize less than you sanitize your hands.

Do you guys really drink milk? I don't think I've had a glass of milk since I was like 14.

I will have milk with things like cookies or chocolate cake. And milk is mandatory for Oreos.
- I hate dipping cookies in milk. It doesn't coat the cookie it just makes it sloppy. It might as well be water.
My family used to drink milk for dinner. We probably went through ten liters of milk in a week. The top third of the fridge was always reserved for milk.

When i moved out i continued doing this for a while or eating cornflakes in milk, but eventually stopped because my adult body is not that fond of digesting milk. I eat crazy amounts of cheese though, but the well cured one that are low on lactose.
- I have 4 kids between 16 and 6. I buy 6x 3L bottles of milk at a time and it barely lasts a week.
About 0,5L per day, yes

I like milk

It also goes into some of the food
- I had oatmilk once at a vegan diner 6 years ago, and that was the end of me buying milk to drink. I only buy it now for baking/cooking.
I think it's used in a lot of ways that isn't "drinking a glass of milk". I suspect most milk is poured over cereal. It's also used a lot in cooking, but insisting on raw milk to bake with seems especially weird.
It's a national drink in the Netherlands
- karnemelk. shudder
I'll have carton of almond milk maybe a few times a year. A glass of cow milk maybe once every few years and it will probably be chocolate
Some do, some don't. I don't even have any idea how many people pour themselves a glass of milk.

I buy super small cartons when needed for baking or making ice cream.
Normally in tea and stuff, and with cereal
Yes.
Same. It's been at least 35 years since I drank a glass of cow juice.
I always drink plenty of Malk, I don't know why my bones are so brittle

So it doesn't turn into yogurt?

My fridge isn't full of raw milk or anything, but I think this goose is a better fit for the oven than guard duty.

Not sure if you're joking but to make safe to eat yogurt, you'll need to first kill the bad ones by heat, then cool it and once it is barren, you should invite the cool guys in like Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus or Bifidobacterium lactis, they'll need to be kept cosy and warm, and that will give you yogurt.
It's a bit like making alcohol—it's made through fermentation, but you want it to be very controlled.

Normally you'd want to sterilize the starting mix first to kill any undesired molds and bacteria, add the fermenting agent that you want (lactic acid producing bacteria in this case) and age it in a sealed container until ready.

If it starts with any contaminants or if any are introduced during fermentation, it'd spoil the batch and make you very sick if ingested.