Putting aside for a moment One way that milk lovers I assembled a panel of tasters Notes:<\/em> The more time the cow spends on pasture, the more likely the flavor of the And now, the results …\n<\/p>\n <\/a>The contenders\n<\/p>\n Organic <\/a>Jersey dairy cows at High Lawn Farm, in MassachusettsHigh Lawn Farm whole milk<\/a><\/strong> Full Circle organic whole milk<\/a><\/strong> The Organic Cow organic whole milk<\/a><\/strong> <\/a>Blue Hill Farm’s dairy operation\n<\/p>\n Blue Hill Farm whole milk<\/a><\/strong> Stonyfield organic whole milk<\/a><\/strong> The bottom line<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n On taste alone, Full \n<\/p>\n *Bovine factoid: Jersey Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n The first law of cow dynamics<\/a><\/p>\n In Court Case, FDA Takes a Strong Stand Against Unabridged Food and Health Rights<\/a><\/p>\n Is raw milk becoming too popular for its own good?<\/a><\/p>\n
\nthe dietary arguments against drinking cow’s milk—we’re not calves, it’s
\nliquid meat, it’s snot-producing, so hard to digest, etc.—conventional milk
\ndeserves vilification for many reasons. Conventional dairy’s ethically
\nrepulsive and planet-reaming process involves more or less torturing cows to
\nlactate year-round; pumping their ailing, grain-fed bodies with hormones and
\nantibiotics right up until they become hamburger<\/a>; butchering their anemic
\noffspring<\/a> for scallopine<\/em> and pet food; and, last but not least, polluting our own water
\nsupplies with both their excrement and agricultural runoff. Oh, wait. That
\nwasn’t last. I forgot to mention that conventional milk is trucked hither and
\nyon. But don’t take my word for any of this; here’s yet more information<\/a> on the malevolent
\nliquid that complements a slice of chocolate cake so nicely.\n<\/p>\n
\ncan sidestep these issues, at least in part, is to buy more sustainable forms
\nof milk: certified (or in-spirit) organic and\/or local. But if taste is the
\nguide, as is so often is the case, is one of these morally better milks more
\ndelicious than the other? Or are they all just white, taste-neutral beverages?\n<\/p>\n
\nto sample six greener whole milks. Why whole, full-fat milk? Because I
\nthink it tastes better than low-fat and I’m the decider. That’s why. And before
\nyou ask, Horizon milk—the organic brand owned by Dean Foods that has the
\nbiggest market share by far—is conspicuously absent from this tasting
\nbecause it isn’t sold in my local stores and didn’t want to burn tons of fossil
\nfuel searching for it.\n<\/p>\n
\ncow’s milk is to change with the seasons. The milk we tasted last week might,
\nat least in some cases, taste very different at other times of year. “Ultra
\npasteurized<\/a>” refers to milk that has been heated at higher temperatures for
\nlonger, and has a shelf life of two to three months, and is alas often employed
\nfor organic milk, which is often shipped farther and is more expensive—and thus
\nslower-selling—than conventional milk.\n<\/p>\n
\nValley Organic whole milk<\/a><\/strong>
Price:<\/em> $4.99 per half gallon
Eco upside:<\/em> Organic Valley is a farmer-owned cooperative. For this Massachusetts
\npanel, that meant we drank a regional milk from New
\nEngland pastures<\/a>, one that’s USDA Certified Organic. Organic Valley says
\nits cows are “raised humanely and given certified organic feed—never any
\nanimal by-products—and our pastures are certified organic.” On the downside:
\nAlthough regional, the milk is still trucked a fair distance and, not having
\nvisited the farms, who the heck knows how happy the cows are? Certified Organic
\nmandates access to pasture, not actual time spent on it.
Feedback: <\/em>Tasters
\nwere all over the map on this ultra-pasteurized milk, which was pure white.
\nComments ranged from “funky tasting” to “smooth and buttery.” Someone said it
\ntasted like “raw milk,” with a grassy, moldy flavor. Overall, tasters liked the
\ntexture, which was described as “totally thick” and as having “legs that stick
\nto the glass.” Overall rating: “Pretty good.”\n<\/p>\n
Price: <\/em>$2.99
\nper half gallon
Eco upside:<\/em> This local milk comes from a herd of pretty happy-seeming Jersey cows*
\nfrom a charming, medium-sized dairy 12 miles from my house. This milk is not certified
\norganic but the cows “feed off
\nfresh grass in the summer months, and almost all of their winter feed comes
\nstraight from our corn and hay fields,” according to High Lawn’s website. The
\nfarm doesn’t use genetically modified seeds, harmful pesticides, or feed with animal
\nbyproducts or artificial hormones. Downside: The website also says that the
\nfarm purchases grains from agribiz villain Cargill to augment the corn and
\nalfalfa it grows for both silage and hay.
Feedback: <\/em>Eww.
\nThat’s what got blurted out at first sniff. After sipping, tasters were a
\nlittle less sour on this all-white milk, but still deemed it “a little
\nsynthetic and boring.” “Nothing interesting,” said one taster, dismissively
\npushing his glass away. “The milk of my childhood,” yawned another.\n<\/p>\n
Price:<\/em> $3.49 per half gallon
Eco upside:<\/em> This is my local supermarket chain’s in-store, cost-conscious brand,
\nwhich is USDA Organic. Downside: Where did the milk come from? How far was it
\nshipped? Were these cows really content or merely greenwashed milk machines? I
\njust don’t know.
Feedback: <\/em>The
\npanel got a bit drunk on this white milk, swooning with comments about the
\n“clover in its nose” and its “earthy, creamy” and “sweet” texture. “I like this
\none a lot,” said one, while another said it was akin to drinking “light cream.”
\n“This one deserves a cookie,” said one lady, who reached for a Newman-O (adding
\n“I’m gonna get me some palm oil”).\n<\/p>\n
Price: <\/em>$3.79
\nper half gallon
Eco upside: <\/em>This USDA Organic regional milk is sourced from “nearly 100 New
\nEngland family farms.” Downside: New England is a fairly big region, so who
\nknows how far the milk was trucked. The Organic Cow website offers, via the Fun
\nFacts For Kids page, the bovine bit of trivia that a group of 12 or more cows
\nis called a flink. Shockingly, the site does not offer the requisite meet-the-farmer-via-cheery-photo
\nmontage. However, the carton itself features a profile of a Vermont farmer—who
\nappears to be a helluva nice guy—taking a relaxed-looking cow for a leisurely
\nwalk. Most important, the cow was wearing a bell. And as you know, you can
\nnever get <\/strong>too much cowbell<\/a>.
Feedback: <\/em>Swirling
\nand sniffing like a wine enthusiast, one taster noted this ultra-pasteurized
\nmilk’s “nice grassy nose.” Its flavor, though, left panelists wanting. “We’re
\nback to processed flavor,” sighed one man. “Super-homogenized!” said another.
\nTexture-wise, a kinder taster allowed for “some creaminess,” whereas another
\nfound it to be “mouth-coating.”\n<\/p>\n
Price:<\/em> $4 per half gallon (paid in cash at the farm, no records for the gummint to
\nfind)
Eco upside: <\/em>This local, unpasteurized (aka “raw”) milk comes from a picturesque farm
\nowned by chef Dan Barber’s Blue Hill restaurant and situated a few miles from
\nmy house. Disclosure: The farmer is a friend of mine. The flink—15 to be
\nprecise—of Dutch and Normande Belted ladies hang out on the rolling green pastures
\nin the sunshine doing that swishy-tail thing. Downside: There’s a lot of
\ncontroversy around the health and safety of raw milk. Advocates<\/a> say the un-pasteurized stuff
\nis healthier for cows, people and the earth; the FDA and even many greens say it’s
\na health hazard<\/a> that could cause dangerous foodborne illnesses. Grist’s take<\/a> is somewhat
\nin the middle, and the
\nEthicurean has a detailed analysis<\/a> of both the health and illness claims.
Feedback: <\/em>Unlike
\nthe other “milky” white milks, Blue Hill’s was yellowish, like eggnog with a darker
\nyellow ring. “Smells like a barn,” said one taster suspiciously. After tasting,
\nsomeone hooted, “I love raw milk!”, while another gagged, saying “It tastes
\nlike I’m licking a cow’s ass.” Yet a third closed his eyes, sipped deeply, and
\nconfirmed cognitive dissonance theory: “It’s like silage, but I could acquire
\nthis taste.” The queasy taster, meanwhile, had pushed her chair away from the
\ntable and was eyeing her glass as if it were full of spiders. “I’m not putting
\nthat in my mouth again,” she wailed, to which another taster testily countered,
\n“This is the only milk my kids will drink.” The wailer then crossed her arms
\nwhile one of her “friends” snickered and made lewd milking gestures into her
\nglass. Taste summary: “Very grassy.”\n<\/p>\n
Price: <\/em>$4.49
\nper gallon
Eco upside: <\/em>USDA Organic – but Stonyfield is a Big Organic operation, which means
\nthat its impacts, both good and bad, are magnified. The company gives
\n10 percent of its profits<\/a> to green efforts. Downside: Stonyfield’s milk may
\nhave been sourced from far away, even abroad, and who knows, despite the warm-and-fuzzy farmer profiles on
\nits website, the cows could be lined up like cordwood at some huge, insensitive
\noperation. The site does offer farm webcams<\/a>, at least one
\nof which showed cows that were indoors, not frolicking in the sunshine.
Feedback:<\/em> This milk also earned mixed comments. The raw-milk lovers sipped it with a mix
\nof Anna Wintour-ish disdain and disaffection: “It’s a basic milk,” someone
\nsighed. Meanwhile, the raw-milk hater sniffled that it was “pure comfort—happy, cool, and sterile<\/em>.” Most offered
\nneutral comments “It makes me think of those little cartons,” and “a lunchroom
\nmilk.” <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n
\nCircle’s ultra-pasteurized, in-store brand won this tasting, a result that will
\nsurely make the raw milk terroirists<\/em> irate.
\nAdvice for dairy drinkers: No matter what you do, bag conventional milk. If you
\ncan, find a local dairy farmer you trust and let taste be your guide. And if
\nyou must reach for Big Organic, learn more about your potentially greenwashed
\nbeverage by checking out the Cornocopia Institute’s <\/strong>dairy
\nreport and scorecard<\/a>. Lastly, consider drinking from the milk of human
\nkindness and cutting back on animal foodstuffs altogether. But when it comes to
\ndunking cookies, I think that’s easier said than done. \n<\/p>\n
\ncows<\/a>’ milk is not only naturally high in butterfat but also, according to
\nHigh Lawn’s web authors, the rather smallish cows themselves possess the “most
\nbeautiful, doe-like face of the entire bovine kingdom.”<\/em>\n<\/p>\n
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