I will concur that whole milk certainly tastes better than lower-fat forms, and adds richness and flavor to baked goods... but comparing supermarket whole milk to supermarket low-fat or non-fat milk - well, there's NO health benefit there. If you can find a small dairy which will sell you farm-fresh milk directly, more power to you. (And I'll echo the warnings about "raw" milk - there is NO way to make "raw" milk safe to drink, especially for small children with immature immune systems. Several hundred people fall seriously ill each year in America from Listeria acquired from raw milk, usually from family farms. That number would be several orders of magnitude larger if raw milk were legal to sell.)

Upon re-reading the questions, I think I responded more to Melusine's post than the original question, sorry.

"cook" this way, not "cool" this way, grrrr...

I agree with those above who advise not to say anything to your friends, HOWEVER, I do think that the best thing you could do for them is to cook for them, the way YOU cook. I think over time, the palate (and the rest of the body, mind, and soul) responds to food made from whole, fresh, unprocessed ingredients. It's not just an intellectual idea to those of us who cool this way, it's a whole different feeling, right? You may not be able to cook for them enough to "convert" them, but you can at least give them the opportunity to experience the difference between the two ways of cooking/eating.

I'd like to echo the points made by Melusine, Sam and ChefOno regarding vegetarians and processed foods. I recently began teaching cooking classes in my community. When I was composing the curriculum I looked in the refrigerator and found about seven bottles of salad dressing so that became the initial class. There is a whole spectrum of vegetarians here including a couple of whom are truly militant. There was a moment of irony when, during the class, someone arrived with two bottles of "Light Caesar" dressing for the next night's meal. The timing couldn't have been better. I don't think the vegetarians ever read the labels. There were about fifty ingredients, none of which were eggs and anchovies were buried more than halfway down, which means a pretty small percentage. How can it be a caesar dressing without eggs or anchovies?

I demonstrated three dressings and gave the class recipes for two more. I asked them to remember three things; ratios, salt, and freshness.

ChefOno already knows that I'm on the same team as he when it comes to lard.

My Friend's brother and SIL think whole milk, butter, cream and sugar are too decadent and/or there are perfectly good substitutes. On the other hand, their cupboards are filled with packaged and processed food. I don't know if I changed their minds, but I did get their attention when I responded to their teasing with "yes, but whole milk, butter, etc, are real food." Since I was asked to make creme brûlée the next night for dessert....

While you're at it, try to convince them white sugar doesn't make you fat, lard wasn't invented by the devil and salt won't be the death of everyone.

Personally I too prefer whole milk. But I draw the line at raw milk which some of my neighbors are apostles for. If it's not pasteurized you are risking listeria poisoning which does kill people. One of my neighbors said, with a straight face, "well this is what our ancestors drank." My response was "and your ancestors lived to be fifty years old---if they were lucky." I'm not buying in to the whole paleo food thing.

Honestly, you don't. People sometimes have a almost religious notion of a certain 'demon' in food and just won't be convinced otherwise.

Just enjoy it and don't try to convince them unless they ask you about it - people tend to be more open-minded when motivated by their own curiosity than by your agenda.