To Consider Organic Milk

I know I haven’t been posting much lately… I hope you’ll forgive me for that, and I do hope to return to full steam ahead blogging shortly.  We’ve been busy, and school is almost done, and then we’ll find a new normal, along with a new normal blogging routine.

But today, I was pointed to an article in The New York Times about organic dairy farmers, and it just broke my heart.  (Go ahead, click on that link and go read it… then come back.)  The article really points out that with the recent economic troubles, that the organic dairy farmers are taking a huge hit.  Just three years ago, the organic boom appeared to be a goldmine, and dairy producers put the time and money into converting to all organic operations.   Just like that, though, organic feed for the animals began skyrocketing in price, and with people buying less organic milk, organic dairy producers are going into debt to simply keep producing milk.   It seems that there are a few reasons for this.  One being the price of organic feed.

I can see the effects of that here in the heart of dairyland.  Cash crops are in high demand- with ethanol plants springing up around the state, it seems like every farmer who can find a strip of land to convert to corn is doing so.  It doesn’t take a degree to see that if less land is being devoted to growing organic feed, the price is going to go up.   Even with conventional farming, it’s remarkable to see how many farms are suddenly without cows- they’re all deciding to simply grow crops that will bring in a high dollar yield instead of being a slave to the great milking machine.

The other problem facing organic dairy farmers is that people are simply deciding to save a few bucks by purchasing conventional milk instead of the more pricey organic milk.  And while I can say that I don’t blame them for wanting to save a few dollars, I really, really want to encourage them to think more than twice before grabbing that conventional milk.

As a mother of a young daughter, the last thing I want to do is give my daughter a glass of milk that contains RBGH, rBST or any other growth hormones.  You talk to any pediatrician or family doctor and they all say the exact same thing, that the age of puberty is getting younger and younger all the time.  Girls as young as eight or nine are experiencing their first periods. Really?  Meanwhile, dairy farmers are encouraged to give their cattle hormones to stimulate and increase milk production.  While most milk is labeled according to whether or not they contain hormones, most of the less expensive milks say absolutely nothing, leading me to believe that the cows producing the cheap milk have indeed been given artificial growth hormones. See the correlation here?  While to my knowledge there have been no formal studies comparing the two phenomena together, it’s enough for me.  It’s enough for me to know that  by purchasing the more expensive organic milk I can buy my daughter a few more years before she needs to worry about brassieres and maxi-pads.    Even my non-scientific mind can see that RBGH and other growth hormones given to dairy cattle could easily be to blame for the increase in puberty hitting at a young age.

And honestly, if you put all thoughts of artificial hormones and antibiotics aside, I have to tell you that organic milk tastes so much better than conventional milk.  Truly! I would have never believed it, but there is a huge taste difference between the two.  The organic milk tastes richer and fuller, and if I had to compare the two, I would say that organic skim milk tastes like conventional 1% or 2%.  I’ve never been brave enough to try the organic whole milk, I imagine that would taste closer to cream.  It’s just so much more delicious, and this is coming from the non-milk drinker.   As for the milk that my family purchases, most often it’s Organic Valley that hits our shopping cart.  We do love their milk and other products, and it’s consistently good.  However, if we’re at the right store when I do my shopping, we also buy milk from local dairies, but those are frequently out of stock.

So the next time you reach for a gallon of milk, I really urge you to think twice.  Think about reaching over and grabbing that organic milk.  It will be so much better for you and your family.   Sure, it will cost you a little more, but surely there is someplace else you can make up the difference.  Put those packages of Oreos back on the shelf, for example.  Skip those lattes out twice a week and you’ll more than pay for that gallon of organic goodness.  It will be worth it in the long run, and I can feel comfortable watching my daughter chug three glasses of milk with her dinner, knowing that she’s getting vitamins and protein, and not a belly full of hormones and antibiotics.