Milk Week: Week 37 of BigBarn’s food & Drink Weeks

The Milk crisis has quite rightly made the news, and the subject of our blogs recently. Dairy farmers are fighting for survival and the threat of mega dairies, and greater imports from abroad, increase.

Milk is a classic example of how the ‘food industry’ has commoditised a product and allowed middle men and retailers to take the lion’s share of the retail price. How else could milk be cheaper than water in some shops?

Unfortunately the milk industry is failing farmers, and consumers. Failing to give farmers a fair price and failing to give consumers a quality product and the story behind that product. Some kids don’t know that milk comes from cows.

Hook & Son Raw Milk

When I say quality, yes, milk is safe, consistent, has a long shelf life, nicely packaged and available everywhere. But shocking that the number of UK dairy farmers has shrunk from 22,000 in 1990 to around 9,600, that all the milk from all the herds is mixed together, whether Jersey, free range, or intensive, and that nearly all milk is fast-pasteurised and homogenised ruining its natural qualities.

It is interesting that when pasteurised milk goes off it is rancid, when raw milk goes off it can be made in to yoghurt or cheese. For more on this click here. To buy raw milk online click here.

What a shame that very few of us have a local dairy, see cows in nearby fields, can’t buy local milk and especially ‘raw’ un-pasteurised milk. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every region or local area had its own milk. ‘Bedfordshire grass fed Jersey milk’, ‘Sussex Downs wild meadow Freisan raw Milk’ or even better local unbranded milk with the local farmer supplying everyone in a 10 mile radius.

Happy cows eating a natural feed

This could happen! Some farmers have already taken this bold step, despite heavy government regulations against selling their own, or even, raw milk.

What we need is many more farmers following suit, government help and, we the consumer, buying local milk when it becomes available.

There certainly seems to be an appetite for local milk and the good old fashioned doorstep delivery. Perhaps if the dairy teams up with other local BigBarn suppliers we can get all our food delivered!

Intensive dairy farm

We consumers can change the food industry by simply, and quickly, changing our shopping habits when a better local food or milk option comes along.

You can already switch to local food by using our local food map, and register for our post code specific newsletter to be kept informed on local food news in your area by clicking here.

Exciting times, we must try and make it happen.