After a lot of talking about it, I finally did it - I am supporting a local farm, eating organically with the seasons and participating in a raw milk co-op (shout out to our cow "Maybelline" for her hard work and fine tasting milk).In our first box from Delvin Farms (above), we received new potatoes, spring onions, kale, green leaf lettuce, arugula and strawberries. Today there's talk of swiss chard, lettuce, red Russian kale, bok choy and more delicious strawberries in our 1/2 bushel share.
Last Saturday I picked up two gallons of raw, whole milk. At first I was concerned with the fat content since the milk isn't skimmed, but learned that the nutritional value in the cream makes the raw milk worth all of those delicious, creamy calories.To the farmer, the cream is the best part of the milk. Sadly, some raw milk farmers will skim the cream off of the milk and then sell what's left over, called "Blue John," to unsuspecting raw milk buyers. The milk then tastes watery and dull and, like the name implies, has a slight blue tint to it. RAW MILK FAQ online says that, "By removing important fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the skimming process, this once excellent food actually becomes a burden on the body, causing the liver to give up stored nutrients in its digestion. The loss of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), pathogen-busting medium-chain triglycerides and vitamin A alone constitutes an unforgivable crime against nature's perfect food."
To hit the point home, our raw milk farmer and Maybelline's caretaker give their skimmed milk, or "Blue John" to the pigs once the cream has been taken off of the top to make butter or other cream related products.
On June 5th, it will be my turn to drive to the farm to pick-up the milk for the co-op group. I'm very excited to tour the farm and get that "hands on" feeling from directly participating with the source of my food.
More adventures coming soon!
Love,
bunny
