Cheaper Milk Continued 7/15/16 View report

Hello SMALL Farm Enthusiasts!
New products - from Chicken feed for your backyard flock to spicy raw mustard plus sour cream and buttermilk! More products to come soon from a new Amish supplier: unsweetened bologna, beef jerky and more. Stay tuned!

In our last farm report we asked about the interest level in offering cheaper milk from another farm. Several folks asked if it was going to be pasteurized as that is what goes together, certified organic milk and pasteurization (when shopping at a store). Our “elite” and educated customers will not drink pasteurized milk; you know better, you know that cooking milk does not make it better for you so you do not want it. But people who still shop in stores for milk I guess do not know or care. Interesting?! So here is the inside scoop with these farmers, the whole story or the rest of the story………… A large chain store wants to offer certified organic milk and is recruiting dairies to make it. Of course they pay more to the farmer for it and with commodity milk prices extremely low right now this is attractive. The dairies that are being recruited were already doing things more naturally than most. Really? What dairy farmer goes 100% grass fed? Well I will tell you which one, it is the one to whom I loaned the Sally Fally dvd set to and after watching it (several years ago) he said “it ruined him” meaning he cannot go back to the same old, same old. Watching the Sally dvd’s means he now had to live in the knowledge he was given. He then connected to Jimmy (https://www.facebook.com/Regengraze/) and changed a LOT of things. NOW all he needs is more money for his milk as his production is lower so price must go up or he will die (well not him but his dairy). This is a super guy. He is 2 years into transitioning into organic. The problem with the organic transition is that he already sees that it is a complete sham. He told me several stories but one was when he bought hay he asked if he has to test it for chemicals and the reply was akin to, “don’t ask don’t tell.” That is not good enough for him. He wants to produce a 100% organic product if it is going to be sold that way. He is too honest for “The Big Box Store” who only cares about their image. We would like to see him prosper. I believe people want what he has and we are willing to get involved to see him thrive instead of die. For this to work we need coops and buying clubs with lots of people.

Jayshree, proprietor of Living Breads, who makes the old-world style sourdough breads that we offer on our website has this interesting news to share:
I am very honored and excited to have recently had Peter Reinhart taste & review my Rye Sourdough Living Bread. Peter is considered one of the world's leading authorities on breads Here’s the link to my review.
https://www.facebook.com/Sourdough.Living.Breads/
Peter is the author of six books on bread baking, including the 2008 James Beard Award-winning "Whole Grain Breads"; the 2002 James Beard and IACP Cookbook of the Year, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" and the 1999 James Beard Award-winning "Crust and Crumb". He is a full-time Chef on Assignment at Johnson and Wales University and the owner of Pie Town restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A year or 2 ago we recommended Rooney’s U-pick Blueberry Farm in White Springs, FL. He has since admitted they use Roundup. So, we are taking back the recommendation. I cannot, in good faith, recommend any farm that uses round up as it is highly toxic.

Locally grown Alfalfa?? Who woulda thunk?? Here it is in the producers own words: Our alfalfa hay was grown on our land in O’Brien FL that has always been chemical free, only organic fertilizers such as kelp, sea minerals, manure. Cut this spring and summer and never rained on. Nice hay. Around 40lb bales for $18 bale. Contact info is Jim call or txt 352-232-4602

Dennis and Alicia and the family of farms we market for.