Got Milk?

I love milk... now.  As a child, I wasn't a big fan of milk and so when I grew older I choose not to drink it except for in my coffee (...ummm... coffee! ).  I didn't understand how the BF could possibly have drank a gallon of milk over the course of a day in the 'time before me'.  He told me he would buy milk by the gallon fulls and finish it off without it going bad.  And, here I am having a 1/2 pint go bad over a two week period.  LOL.   I just didn't get it.

Then I had real milk.  OK... not REAL milk, which is non-pasteurized and non-homogenized (http://www.realmilk.com/).  But, it was my first experience with milk not from a grocery store.  Where the cow is pasture raised and the milk is low-heat vat pasteurized and non-homogenized.

Blue Marble Farms was providing samples at the green city market. And, well, everyone loves free samples, right?  So, into the queue I go.  Thinking, yeah, yeah, it's milk... but .. the line is only a few people versus the 10 or 20 there earlier ... so... what the heck.  OMG. It was so good!

Blue Marble was forced to close. And, I haven't found another farmer since, who has meet my expectations of milk and cream.  However, these guys are my current vendors for milk products:

• Traders Point Creamery for yogurt and chocolate milk (they don't sell cream because they keep it all for their ice cream)
• Kilgus Farms for cream.  And while I would prefer to buy Kilgus farm's chocolate milk, they only make 2%.  Why?  oh, why?  Fat is good for you! Just not on you. :)
• Castle Rock - but they aren't sold at the local store or at the farmer's market, so it is only when we go to Green Grocer that I am able to buy their products 

So here are some stats on milk and why grass fed is SO much better for you, the environment, and the cows. You choose what you want to buy - but for me - it's grass fed all the way.

for you:

• tastes better
• better omega 6: omega 3 fatty acids as you can see from the graph below which I got from here 
• you are trying to get more omega 3 than 6, as omega 6 is fairly easy to get in our high-processed food world.  the ideal ratio is 2:1, most Americans are getting 15:1 as a best case scenario. here is a pretty good on line ref:  Omega-6 / Omega-3 essential fatty acid ratio  or University of Maryland Medical center 
• omega-3 have been proven to:
• reduce inflammation 
• help prevent chronic diseases, such as 
• heart disease 
• arthritis
• high blood pressure
• asthma
• IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease)
• It may also help with cognitive and behavioral health. And with normal growth and development, as there are such high concentrations of omega-3 found in the brain. 

• less likely-hood of antibiotics (most grass fed animals do not need antibiotics, all grain fed cows need antibiotics because cows are not suppose to eat grain)
• higher amounts of:
• conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) - enhances immune function and possibly reduces body fat
• Vitamin E - an antioxidant, helps with immune functions, help prevent heart disease, cancer, eye disorders
• Beta Carotene - immune functions, reproductive health, antioxidant

Cows:

• grass fed cows have a life expectancy of 10 to 12 years, versus 2-3 yrs for conventionally (usually CAFO's - Confined animal feedlot operations) *
• healthier animals
• no hormones or antibiotics

* life expectancy info: Garnsworthy, P.C., The environmental impact of fertility in dairy cows: a modeling approach to predict methane and ammonia emissions, Animal Feed Science & Technology, 2004. 112: 211-223.

Environment:

• since the cows are eating grass, you do not have the issues that are involved with grain fed
• no run-offs of pesticides or fertilizers into the water
• no need to ship food to the animals
• decreased soil erosion and increased soil fertility (all that manure is left on the pasture to fertilize the grass - unlike CAFO's where the manure is collected (one hopes) and shipped - although from what I have read, it appears that most CAFO's just leave the cows in the muck. yuck!)