Milk.

I have always loved cows. Like, I want a cow for a pet, not to eat or sell or anything, but I want it to be my pet forever. I know with the husband I have, this dream might never come true..(he is a farm boy, and extreme meat enthusiast)  I simply just adore these sweet beings. I love them at the fair in the barns, I slow my car down and say hi to them when I am driving out to my parents house...That being said, I have taken them for granted.  I have eaten their products, gulped down latte after latte..not thinking about the being that gives us the milk that makes up 99% of coffee lover's morning start. I don't think about where they are living, who is caring for them, farming them, and producing their by products. Until a couple of months ago I was able to just buy my jug of milk, lattes, steaks, burgers, etc. with little to no thought. Yes I knew grass fed was better for ME, organic was better for ME- but what about them?

One fateful night we decided that Food, INC was the movie of choice. I am a freak for documentaries..I love them.  This one however was different. I have never watched one where I was made starkly aware that every choice I make pertaining to my food, clothing, habits, etc..truly affects someone or something else either positively or adversely. You think it is just a jug of milk..nice fresh lovely milk you are giving your kiddos. And maybe it is..but in our conventional American dairies, and feedlots, these animals are suffering. And truly, our health is too, right along with them. No, most of the time we get off easy, we have no ill effects immediately.  But the rude truth is that it is not going to get better unless we demand better quality, and better treatment of these animals that truly we need to survive.

Ok enough soapbox for now, I am not here to rant. Well not really rant...I just loved this place and want to tell all of you about it..

One dismal Wednesday afternoon, My friend Dawn and I decided to scout out any and every "organic" or free range farm within driving distance and we were so thrilled to discover that yes, here in Central Washington we do have an alternative. There is a wonderful farm really close by, called "Pride and Joy Farm" that is under  the larger corporation Organic Valley. We made the trek down to see what it was all about...is this place really as amazing as their website said? Are the cows truly happy, and unstressed? Grazing all day to their hearts content? Well let me tell you. Yes they are. You see the bales of hay just ready for them, and the expansive green pastures spread out in every direction, dotted with hundreds of blissful meandering beasts, allowed to stroll leisurely (not pushed or jerked) out of the milking barn at their own pace. Back out to the emerald green pastures to graze.

We each purchased our Gallon of milk.. (we couldn't buy meats that day because the guy in the barn didn't have the key to the freezer- it was Veterans day) Yes it is unpasteurized, raw milk. Don't be scared... you only have to worry about milk being pasteurized when e-coli is even a FACTOR which it is not when milk is produced in this method. These cows are not grain or corn fed, they are raised the way cows are meant to be raised. And it is $9 a gallon. You say yikes- I say ok, well so we aren't going to guzzle down milk, and have a bunch of half drunk cups of milk.

So I gave my kids what they needed for cereal, and a little to drink- it lasted 5 days. A normal gallon in our house survives only about 1.5 days.  Humans do not need LOADS of cows milk. But it was absolutely wonderful, creamy, full of enzymes and probiotics, the things that pasteurization kills. Apparently this company is now on the Yakima food Co-op list..I encourage you to visit the site- I will link it. I am also posting some fun pics of our trip there. So much fun and such a responsible, healthy business. Support these when you can...they are amazing, and worth saving. Stay tuned for my next pictorial on Chickens.. (chicken coops are one of my deep seeded obsessions... so prepare yourselves )

Links are below!!

                                               Yakima Food Cooperative

Pride and Joy Dairy

 

 

These guys had a blast..