Old-fashioned milk delivery!

[DogwoodMama]

I'm so excited. I was getting "straight from the farm" (i.e raw milk, so yummy) but can't afford it anymore at $6.25/gallon, especially considering we can only use about 1/2 gallon a week. Then I heard about a local dairy, Calder Dairy (http://www.calderdairy.com/), that does weekly home deliveries (glass bottles & all!) It's local milk, & they vat pasteurize it but do have an unhomogenized line of milk (I prefer this.) So even though it's not raw, it's local and not overly processed. And it's only $2.49 1/2 gallon- an amount I can use! They also have reasonably priced half & half ($2.09/pint), and "local" eggs (about 1.5 hours away) for $1.69. There is a $1.25 delivery fee, but we will still be coming out cheaper.

I'm excited b/c it'll be nice not to have to drag the girls out this winter, to be able to get the delivery. (We used to go every Friday morning to pick it up, it was inconvenient in a way.) Plus I just think it's cool- I'm looking forward to seeing the milk truck pull up in front of my house! :grin

[Mama Calidad]

Oh, that's neat!!!

I agree that raw milk tastes better. :yes I can't stand store-bought milk. :sick It's a lot cheaper here, though. Less than a gallon of the store bought stuff...at least before gas to drive out there and back. :giggle

[Blue Aurora]

Thats awesome! I hope we live somewhere that has a place delivering milk someday.

[Punkie]

That's so cool! We had milk delivery here until we found out about Matt's allergy. The chocolate milk was AMAZING. I dislike milk, but fresh milk tastes pretty good...

[Garnet]

I can't remember what raw milk tastes like, but I've had it before. Suprisingly there are two dairys here that deliver but I can't think of both their names. One is Oberweiss.

[DogwoodMama]

They also have yummy chocolate milk too, and strawberry, and drinkable yogurts... I'll have to check out the ingredients though. They have a store that I keep meaning to visit. It's SOOOOO much cheaper to get it delivered--- at our local grocery store, they sell the brand for $2.99 a PINT, but delivery is only $2.49/half gallon. Talk about mark-up! :jawdrop

[2sunshines]

That is so cool!!! I so wish that we could have home milk delivery. I wonder how I go about finding out if there is one locally -- though I doubt that there is...

[Mamatoto]

:rockon That's great!! :-)

[AmyDoll]

Yup we get our milk delivered too. I just love supporting local agriculture :heart and the old-fashionedness of it.

[kris10s]

:highfive very cool!

[RealLifeMama]

That is wonderful!!!
Let us know how you wind up liking it!

[The Tickle Momster]

We get our milk delivered too. It is so wonderful! And, if I need something he has in his truck at the last minute. .. So wonderful to not have to go the store for 1 item. It is not organic or rawbut they are as close as I can get with out going to the store. $2.20/half gallon.

[Blue Aurora]

Here's an interesting artice I found..

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--milkdelivery1004oct04,0,1407561.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia

Oh, and since we're talking about prices I pay 4.98 for a half-gallon of organic whole milk here in hawaii. :jawdrop

[2sunshines]

Wow, that's expensive milk. :jawdrop

We pay $3.29 for a half gallon of organic milk. Fortunately Meijer's (our grocery store) has their own store brand of organic milk. Otherwise we'd have to pay $3.99 for a half gallon.

[Mamatoto]

Our raw milk is $4.00 a gallon...I pick it up with our glass bottles at the farm or get their plastic ones there if I don't have them along. I would love if they did delivery...but it would take them all day to drive their horse and buggy to my house. :giggle

[DogwoodMama]

Our raw milk is $4.00 a gallon...I pick it up with our glass bottles at the farm or get their plastic ones there if I don't have them along. I would love if they did delivery...but it would take them all day to drive their horse and buggy to my house. :giggle


Oh my, I'm jealous!!! $4/gallon is a great price! :jawdrop I am so sad about giving up the raw milk, but we just don't consume enough to justify it. :(

I met an Amish farmer recently (who is about my age, very odd)... he had about 40 milk cows, but sells all his milk to a local dairy company. He's also raising turkeys for Thanksgiving- I really wish I could get one of those!

[Mamatoto]

Did you ask him if he would sell you the milk raw if you provide the container? :think Before I knew about the raw milk farm at our HFS, I just drove up to an Amish dairy farm one day and asked if he would sell me some milk and he was happy to. :-)

[Mama Calidad]

:yes Ours comes from a family that is in the cheese making business. All of their milk was going to making cheese, but they're fine with setting aside a gallon for us if we drop off the container the night before.

[DogwoodMama]

Did you ask him if he would sell you the milk raw if you provide the container? :think Before I knew about the raw milk farm at our HFS, I just drove up to an Amish dairy farm one day and asked if he would sell me some milk and he was happy to. :-)


He's 8 hours away in Illinois. :(

[Mama Calidad]

That wouldn't hardly work. :rolleyes2 :hug2

[AmyDoll]

'www.southmountaindairy.com this is our dairy. they have thanksgiving turkeys too but $$$$ ($3/lb)

[herbalwriter]

I pay $4.79 a half gallon for organic, lactose-free milk. Needless to say, we don't drink a lot of milk around here!! Your all's home delivered raw milk sounds cheap!!!
But it's 1% and I use it to satisfy "ice cream" cravings - I mix it half with vanilla rice milk and add a small swirl of homemade chocolate syrup, or I make low-fat, low-sugar custard. It's worth it to keep me form bingeing on ice cream. :shifty

Once, it was marked at the store as $1.79. I assume it was a mistake. I didn't ask...I bought a whole gallon then. :P

I wish we had milk delivery here...but mine has to be lactose free. :shrug

[2sunshines]

:think We live close to a large amish community. I wonder if I could access raw milk through someone there. I would have no clue how to approach it though... Just knock on someone's door or something???

[DogwoodMama]

I just got my first delivery today- it includes apple cider! :tu

Ruthanne- I would probably be cautious in approaching someone to buy raw milk. They are "cracking down" here in Michigan. I am part of a co-op that sells raw milk (amoung other things), Family Farms Co-op, and in order to buy raw milk I bought a "cow share" (essentially leased a cow.) This allows me to drink raw milk because I "lease" a part of the herd. It is illegal to drink raw milk unless it's from your own cow.

Recently, the owner of my co-op, was stopped in Jackson, MI, and all his milk products were seized, and also his cell-phone, home computer, and client list (which I am on.) The reason given was "unmarked" products. However, he is not selling milk to the general public, so it's not necessary to mark his products. It turns out that someone tried (and failed) to purchase raw milk without a cow share, and then came back and bought a cow share the next week and bought products over a period of time, which were then tested by the Michigan DOA. (He was an agent there.) The testing revealed it was very high-quality raw milk (I could have told them that!)

Anyway, this was harrassement, IMO... I just got these "talking points" about the issue this morning.

*The MDA has overstepped its jurisdiction in interfering with Family Farms Coop (FFC) as the members of the coop are all part of a private ownership contract via the cow lease agreement they have all signed. No retail sales to members of the public are involved, so no issues of public health or safety apply.



*The MDA search and seizure is NOT protecting anyone's health, but instead is directly interfering with private owners' rights to their own property and with the rights of private individuals in taking care of their own health as they see fit. The private enterprise of the FFC does NOT constitute the public sale of raw milk, but is distribution of milk to private members who have ownership rights to it by virtue of the cow lease.



* The animal boarding laws for Michigan and Indiana recognize the right to board with other farmers any animals that you have ownership rights or interests in. This is so whether you have ownership interests through a herd share contract or ownership rights through a lease agreement (like Family Farms Coop). When you lease dairy animals, you have the same right to possession and use of those animals that the actual owner has (including the right to drink raw milk).



* The state of Michigan recognizes the right of farmers to consume raw milk from dairy animals they own; you can point to the USDA’s own statistics as proof of this. (USDA statistics: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/MilkProdDi/MilkProdDi-04-27-2006.pdf) If farmers can drink raw milk, then why can’t other owners of dairy animals drink raw milk regardless of where those animals are boarded? Point out that if this were really a health issue, then farmers would not be allowed to drink raw milk. It is economic discrimination to treat owners (and lease holders) of dairy animals differently just because they don’t board the animals on their own property.



* The MDA is NOT protecting our health, but is treating law-abiding citizens as if they were crack addicts. Actions such as those taken by the MDA and Michigan State Police have no place in a free society.

So if you do approach someone and they are not willing to sell you milk- this is why! There are different cow boarding programs and co-ops around.... I think there is another one called Prairie Song Cooperative, not sure what area they serve. Or even if you drew up a legal contract with an Amish farmer to "lease" one of his cows for milk, that might work.

[Mamatoto]

We live close to a large amish community. I wonder if I could access raw milk through someone there. I would have no clue how to approach it though... Just knock on someone's door or something???

I went to an Amish farm that had a big dairy sign out front and asked them. But then I found out about another farm that sells it along with a whole bunch of Nourishing Traditions foods. You can go to the Nourishing Traditions website and see if anyone sells it around you. I had to join a farmer's co-op recently though to continue to buy it because the state is getting on the Amish here, too. :/

[herbalwriter]

You can get a goat...seriously. If you have a little land, not much, you can keep a goat. A friend of mine does, and she makes yogurt and drinks raw goat's milk. She won't sell for the reasons you mentioned, even privately.

[DogwoodMama]

You can get a goat...seriously. If you have a little land, not much, you can keep a goat. A friend of mine does, and she makes yogurt and drinks raw goat's milk. She won't sell for the reasons you mentioned, even privately.


I would really like a goat... 2 actually. And I'd like donkeys. :shifty

[herbalwriter]

...I want chickens, too... :shifty

Maybe we should have a GCM farm and raise our own animals for milk and eggs. :mrgreen

[2sunshines]

:yes I've told dh that we should get chickens and have fresh eggs. He's not so keen on the idea, though. :shrug And now a cow so that I can have my own fresh raw milk. The neighbours might not appreciate me much... :giggle

[Mamatoto]

Let's buy a GCM farm!!! Anyone in? :-)

I want a goat, a cow, a horse, and chickens....but I think I have to settle for a rabbit right now. :shifty :grin

[AmyDoll]

Let's buy a GCM farm!!! Anyone in? :-)

Oooo we're back to the GCM commune again! :giggle
We're in ...

[herbalwriter]

Yeah, I was in on that thread too! I just can't let it go. tee hee

[Mamatoto]

Missed that thread...but it sounds good to me! :-)

[bostonsmama]

you know im in :tu