We’re celebrating all things milk this week!

It was only a few years ago that we were talking constantly about milk crises. Dairy farmers were, and some still are, fighting for survival and the threat of mega dairies, and greater imports with lower standards from abroad, increase. This issue is back on the table as Brexit happens and we prepare to make concessions to secure trade deals around the world.

This makes milk a perfect example of how the ‘food industry’ commoditises products, meaning middle men and retailers can walk away with the vast majority of the profit leaving farmers and producers with precious little compensation for the hard work producing the goods. It’s strange that sometimes we can still find milk at cheaper prices than water in the supermarkets – that just doesn’t seem right!

We think it’s important that people know the food they eat or drink is a quality product and the story behind it is equally important, which is why we want to see food on the curriculum so that people 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!

Here then are a few facts on why we think milk is great:

• A cow produces an average of 6.3 gallons of milk daily and 350,000 glasses of milk in a lifetime.
• Cows eat about 100 pounds of food every day and drink 50 gallons of water.
• To get the amount of calcium in an 8-ounce glass of milk, you’d have to eat one-fourth cup of broccoli, seven oranges or six slices of wheat bread.
• Farmers measure milk in pounds, not gallons.
• A cow will produce an average of 6.3 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,300 gallons each year!
• Fresh milk will stay fresher longer if you add a pinch of salt to each quart.
• A cow is more valuable for its milk, cheese, butter and yogurt than for its beef.
• Home delivery of milk (i.e. the milkman) started in 1942 as a war conservation measure

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.