PRK On The Air: The Colorful History Of Milk

Photo: Flickr/State Library of Australia

For most of us, it’s our first food.

In Massachusetts, milk has been the stuff of debate for quite some time: whether it’s keeping local dairy farms alive or tackling the issue of raw milk.  The Massachusetts Raw Milk Network has been advocating for the right to deliver raw (unpasteurized) milk straight to consumers.  A hearing on the matter was held in early June.

Why stop there? The endless questions surrounding the broader history of milk is the subject of On Point’s second hour.

Tom Gjelten (in for Tom Ashbrook this week at On Point) welcomes Barnard College professor of history Deborah Valenze who recently penned “Milk: A Local and Global History.”  (Find an excerpt of the book HERE). Also on tap is Heather Paxson, a professor of anthropology at MIT and Karl Klessig, the owner and farmer of Saxon Homestead Farm and Creamery in Wisconsin.

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About

Associate Producer, Here & Now Most recently, Jessica worked as an associate producer at WBUR's daily local program, Radio Boston. Jessica moved to Boston in 2008 and has lived many places since leaving her native Texas. After graduating from college, Jessica worked as a federal employee, documentary film festival producer, oral historian, university teaching assistant, traveling saleswoman and klezmer musician. Her work and projects have appeared in The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Bust, Barnard Magazine, National Public Radio, Public Radio International (PRI), and the BBC. Jessica's freelance radio work has received various awards including accolades from the Religion Newswriters Association and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. As a Fulbright Scholar in El Salvador, Jessica collected and studied oral histories from the Jewish Community based in San Salvador. Jessica received her B.A. in political science from Columbia University’s Barnard College and her M.A. in history from Indiana University. She learned how to make radio from the phenomenal folks at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Jessica lives in Somerville with her husband, twin son and daughter, and two cats. To learn more about Jessica’s projects, both current and past, please visit www.jessicaalpert.com.