Slovenian raw milk automat. Keeping health care costs manageable!
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist: “….In several columns, I’ve noted indignantly that we have worse health statistics than Slovenia. For example, I noted that an American child is twice as likely to die in its first year as a Slovenian child. The tone — worse than Slovenia! — gravely offended Slovenians. They resent having their fine universal health coverage compared with the notoriously dysfunctional American system.
As far as I can tell, every Slovenian has written to me. Twice. So, to all you Slovenians, I apologize profusely for the invidious comparison of our health systems. Yet I still don’t see anything wrong with us Americans aspiring for health care every bit as good as yours.” Read the whole column here.
Photo of Slovenian raw milk automat is from Kimberly Hartke’s blog — which Cathy Raymond calls “The Huffington Post of Real Foods”! Here’s an excerpt from the story that goes with the picture. See Kimberly’s blog for the full report with video and more photos:
“New Technology in the Old World Offers Fresh Milk Straight from Farm
by Sylvia P. Onusic, Guest Blogger
Photo Credit: Lidija Slana of Ljubljana
Slovenia, on the “Sunny Side of the Alps” is a small country of about two million people located directly east of Italy, south of Austria, and north of Croatia. Slovenia successfully fought a short war for independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, and held the Presidency of the EU in 2008.
The capital city, Ljubljana, is a very charming Austro-Hungarian style Old World town, where almost everyone speaks English. The downtown old city hosts a large farmers market (trznica) every weekday and Saturday during the entire year where green grocers, farmers, flower vendors, and local townspeople sell their wares. Whatever is blooming, budding or for picking in the forests shows up at the market. Living in Slovenia for 6 years, I learned a lot about quality of life and a big part of that involves the availability of home made and local foods. Slovenes are also no strangers to raw and fermented foods. They are traditional and honored food. In the market during the fall, raw lacto fermented sauerkraut and its juice, and pickled turnips, have been available for years.
A Traditional Culture Embraces Technological Innovation
A recent addition to the market is a “mlekomat” – an automatic raw milk machine which dispenses non homogenized, non pasteurized milk from cows on Alpine pasture, which are not ever treated with antibiotics. This summer I visited Slovenia and had the opportunity to use the machine and drink the milk. The machine dispenses milk in a variety of quantities, and bottles can be purchased to transport the milk. Patrons also can bring their own containers….”
Get the whole story, video and more pictures from Kimberly Hartke’s blog.
