I have a Google alert for raw milk. In my Gmail inbox, I get articles about the debate over raw milk, along with lots of economic-related articles about the prices of raw milk (which are still going up, by the way). However, a recent, market-related blog post caught my eye, because it confirmed something that I thought would happen.
When I first started drinking unpasteurized milk, I had a half-gallon of unopened organic milk in my refrigerator. Instead of using it to make yogurt or cooking with it, I called my neighbor and offered it to her. I just didn't want it. I was finished with ultra-pasteurized, homogenized liquid from cows that I couldn't see every week. As I made this choice, I had a feeling that many educated organic consumers would be following this same trend. We're shifting from buying "organic" at the grocery store to searching out local farmers and asking the farmer, himself, how he raises his produce or his cows.
And when I read that Dean Foods' "Supply of organic milk far exceeded demand for the product, driving down prices," I wasn't too surprised. As usual, they were trying to follow the money, and their greed turned on them. I've been watching Target lower their organic milk prices week by week-- as I breeze past the milk cooler on my way to the dairy farm.
I don't know if I'm a libertarian at heart, or if I'm just a little rebellious against "the establishment." But, I do know that I feel great about our choice to eat as locally as we can. It's a meeting of philosophy and nutrition, and our bodies are the beneficiaries. And, I hope, our local farmers are benefiting, too. They deserve it.
When I first started drinking unpasteurized milk, I had a half-gallon of unopened organic milk in my refrigerator. Instead of using it to make yogurt or cooking with it, I called my neighbor and offered it to her. I just didn't want it. I was finished with ultra-pasteurized, homogenized liquid from cows that I couldn't see every week. As I made this choice, I had a feeling that many educated organic consumers would be following this same trend. We're shifting from buying "organic" at the grocery store to searching out local farmers and asking the farmer, himself, how he raises his produce or his cows.
And when I read that Dean Foods' "Supply of organic milk far exceeded demand for the product, driving down prices," I wasn't too surprised. As usual, they were trying to follow the money, and their greed turned on them. I've been watching Target lower their organic milk prices week by week-- as I breeze past the milk cooler on my way to the dairy farm.
I don't know if I'm a libertarian at heart, or if I'm just a little rebellious against "the establishment." But, I do know that I feel great about our choice to eat as locally as we can. It's a meeting of philosophy and nutrition, and our bodies are the beneficiaries. And, I hope, our local farmers are benefiting, too. They deserve it.
Comments
Up here, they have bumber stickers that say "Local Food" put out by the Appalachian Sustained Agriculture Project. I got mine free. If I run across any more, I'll get you a couple and drop in the mail.