Oh, holy cow! I just picked up my first half gallon of local, Grade A 100% grass fed cow's milk from Pure Eire Dairy. The container claims that they have certified organic cows and pastures. They are one of the few "grass only" dairies in the United States.Here are some stats from their website for you to drool over:
- 100% Grass-Fed
- The herd has been hand-selected to be free of A1 positive cows
- Antibiotic and Hormone Free
- Free of chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides
- Their milk is not combined with milk from any other dairy
- All jersey herd for better grazing and a rich, creamy milk
- Minimally processed milk utilizing vat pasteurization and no homogenization
Who cares if the cows are grass fed?
When cows eat grass, they ingest Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), which is a beneficial fatty acid that has been shown to have cancer-fighting properties and helps to inhibit the formation of body fat and helps to reduce food allergies. When the cows eat the CLA, they pass that along in their milk to you, the drinker. If a cow is grass-fed (rather than grain fed) she has 3 to 5 times as much CLA in her milk, and (more importantly) doesn't suffer from eating grain she isn't evolved to digest.
Americans mainly get CLA from dairy and beef fat, with milk being our primary source, since we can't produce it ourselves. Since CLA is a fat, you need to get products with fat in them - in other words, non-fat milk won't provide this. And CLA is not affected by pasteurization or storage.
Does it taste different?
In true Napoleon Dynamite style, we did a taste testing.
How does it compare to our other local dairy, Fresh Breeze, (the cows are pastured in season, April to October, weather permitting) that sells organic, vat pasteurized, but homogenized milk? Well, for starters, the color of the 100% grass fed milk is a lot different - it's more yellow, probably from the additional CLA. So, if you expect your milk to be bright white, don't freak out if you buy grass fed milk.
As for the taste, I wasn't suspecting that I'd be able to taste too much of a difference since the Fresh Breeze cows are fed grass 6 months of the year and grass silage, long-stem hay, and a small amount of grain throughout the off season. It was hard to do a comparison because of the difference in mouth feel from the lack of homogenization. My husband and I both decided we prefer homogenized milk. I don't like my milk to have chunks in it.
Otherwise, the grass fed milk had a little more flavor to it, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the Fresh Breeze tasted "brighter". Is it worth the extra $2 per half gallon? No, not since we can get an almost equivalent product from Fresh Breeze.
Pure Aire also sells raw milk and heavy cream for those in the Washington area who are interested. I, for one, would love to try to make some butter from their non-homogenized cream. Yum!
12 Crunchy Thoughts:
I don't think I will be switching from my non-fat smith bros. Milk. And yes I could buy cert. organic from them (just noticed they have it) but no. And in ND Style I must say Your mom drinks milk.
I was buying fresh grass fed cows milk from Whole Foods for a while. it was good but twice the price. I loved the fact that it was in glass and could be reused. But it went bad faster and again twice the price. I'm back now to the organic milk in the plastic tub...I KNOW! It works for us. Just don't see myself running to the store 2 times a week for milk because you cannot stock up on it. We go through milk super fast.
Thanks for the honesty!
I think it's time you squidged your own cow into your yard, Crunchy! ;-)
Nothing to do with this post, but it suddenly occurred to me that I haven't seen anything from you about whether or not you found a way to keep cats out of your garden.
This spring we put a layer of chicken wire down over the soil and then poke seeds through the holes into the soil. It seems to be working - our neighbourhood is full of outdoor cats, and for the first time, no cat turds in the veggies!
so why exactly does it seem so hard for American dairy giants to go grass-only??
Grass-fed cows are the norm here in NZ. Actually I think all our milk is from grass-fed cows. tasty stuff it is too.
Madz
Crunchy,
Does the non-pastuerized mean that you can make butter or cheese from it? If you let it sit - does the cream rise to the top (for breakfast or over strawberries, making whipping cream, etc.)?
Part of the color difference likely is the Jersey cows and higher fat content. I know I was disappointed working in Greeneville, TN, when a woman I worked with commented her husband got sent home from the local creamery one day - the city had over-chlorinated the water, so they couldn't "make" whole milk that day. It seems "whole" milk, according to the USDA, has to be watered down if it contains too much butterfat. You might be comparing apples (actual, unadulterated milk) and oranges (USDA-approved strength).
Madz -
In the USA, corn is subsidized to encourage farmers to grow it. That makes corn meal cheaper than maintaining a healthy grass field for cattle because you don't have to have the land space to get a cow that's still considered productive.
Economics = grain fed cows.
@ flutter,
Scary, isn't it, when you consider we are on the cusp of the ending of the age of cheap energy? Saudi Arabia 10 years ago needed $10/barrel to break even, bringing oil out of the ground. Last year they broke even at $68 a barrel.
With the expected impacts of droughts and floods on food supply around the world, I expect grain prices to rise - challenging the economic sense of graining cattle for milk or meat. Plus, if there are food riots again, also expected, the US may find itself exporting grain past what we keep in reserve, again like Obama did last year - resulting in the US running short of grain for livestock and for people, regardless of price.
Also, reports of increased pasture productivity by rotating grazers on a timely fashion seem to be pretty well accepted. MatronOfHusbandry has taken that to a nearly-radical extreme, rotating pastures daily - and establishing pastures that weather droughts better than her neighbors. The problem, as you mention, is economics. Modern agriculture is geared up to throw money and energy at situations instead of applying people. Feeding, insuring, unionizing, and paying taxes on people make human-power uneconomical for commercial (what John Michael Greer calls "extensive") farming.
We have a few cows that we milk for our family's use, and not only can I tell the difference between milk from grass vs. milk from hay (and we definately know when the cows find a certain weed!), I can taste the milk and tell you which cow it's from!
Our vet and her husband raise 100%grass fed cattle, no feed lot finishing at all. The difference between their beef and feed lot beef is significant and the health benefits,they tell, me are considerable. Grass fed tastes better.
Thanks for the tip; I've been looking for non-homogenized milk to try making clotted cream.
I also have to say that Fresh Breeze makes the best eggnog ever! It's the only store bought stuff I actually like.
Hello all.
Cow milk is for baby cows. Humans are not supposed to drink milk past childhood or our mother's would provide it.
Cows do not magically produce milk. They are forced into labor, have their newborn taken away and forced to produce milk. The cycle continues.
If you crave milk choose hemp, almond, rice or soy and leave end the suffering of billions of cows.
Don't believe the cows suffer - look it up there are plenty of videos.
Again, cow milk is not for humans it is for baby cows.
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