Grass fed, whole, pasteurized, HOMOGENIZED milk?

[Snork]

Does such a think even exist or am i looking for a unicorn? You'd think

I'd like to switch everyone in this house to grassfed milk. We already only use organic but for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is welfare of the cows, i really prefer the idea of grassfed. Husband, however, is very persnickety about what he eats and claims he only likes Costco organic milk. I have him convinced that he really does want to try grassfed but i know he's going to have a cow (i know, bad pun) if it's not homogenized. I spent half an hour today at Whole Foods, in front of the dairy section, trying to find grass fed, whole, pasteurized, homogenized milk without added fish oil.

And i didn't succeed. I have three different brands of grassfed, whole, pasturized, no added fish oil milk in my fridge as we speak but all of it is creamtop. What gives?

[Mirabella]

Organic Valley has "Grassmilk". I see it in the local Publix stores here in GA. Don't know if it is creamtop - why is that a problem?

[Canyon]

Maybe organic dairies (or most of their customers) believe that non-homogenized milk is more natural/more healthy to consume?

There does still seem to be some debate.

[myleetlepony]

Why is he insistent on homogenized?

[Quelah]

The logistics of keeping cows that are milking well fed enough on pasture (especially in the winter) while keeping them in close enough proximity to a milking facility would be very difficult. ETA- I'm assuming by grass fed that's what you mean, unless you mean strictly hay fed. Grass fed beef live all around me right now, beef cattle here for the winter. It takes about 25 acres to support a cow and calf around here, for year round grazing, which is why they're only here in the winter.

I used to buy organic milk, then a friend of mine who works in the dairy industry told me that when organic cows get sick, they get slaughtered, unless the organic farmer has a non organic neighbor he can swap cows with, which doesn't happen much. I get that being a commercial dairy cow is kind of a shit life matter how you slice it, but it I've stopped buying organic milk.

I buy organic produce if I'm going to eat the peel so to speak, but I figure that really I'm more likely to toxify myself from diesel fumes and whatnot.

[Chisamba]

I agree Quelah. The life of an " organic" animal is not a nice one.

[Anne]

Snork, you'll have to move to NZ! I think that is about all we we *can* get (grass fed, whole, pasturised, homogenised milk).... sorry, probably not the answer you were looking for Mean time, I'm sort of reeling about you guys having fish oil in your milk?! Will go away and research that one a bit more, it had never occurred to me that fish oil might be a milk additive. Good luck in your search.

[angela9823]

My husband owns a meat processing plant and we get many organic/grassfed cows in. I can tell you that organic cows must meet the same guidelines as any other cow where USDA is concerned and sick animals are not allowed to be slaughtered and then sold. If you are buying it straight from a farmer versus it having to be in a processing plant that is USDA certified, yes, you may end up with sick meat if you are dealing with a dishonest farmer. But that is true in conventional animals as well. You know that ALL sick animals are required a withdrawal period if they were on antibiotics for sickness? Organic farmers are allowed to separate out their sick animals and treat them with antibiotics and then they sell the one animal conventionally while keeping the rest of his farm organic.

The number one reason (other than selling the cow for its intended purpose) we get for a cow coming in was that the animal has become an issue staying in and it is mostly with a conventionally kept animal. I think it is because the animals are often single and on a 1/2 acre of land. Backyarder thought he could easily keep a cow on the 1/2 acre lot with no issue. Second reason is the cows are not getting pregnant.

[Chisamba]

Its not about how the cow feels when it hits the slaughter, its how it feels when its kept organic. Once they give up on organic, treat and sell, the cow is actually allowed treatment and its life improves.

As for grassfed, the cow is not always having a measurably better life grazing on sunny happy pastures,. It simply is being fed grass in its feeder instead of grain. The truth is that neither organic or grass fed mean ethical. Ethical is more complicated

[WheresMyWhite]

Quelah, I lean toward "organic" for "fresh" food... produce, dairy, etc. I figure if I get "organic" in a store (short of buying at the local certified organic farm store) it is most likely grown locally (at least in the US) since it is labeled "organic" (and there are certain, as I understand it, guidelines that need to be followed to be labeled as such) vs the alternative source which might be who knows where it was grown and flown in (South America, China, etc).

[AmityBee]

My guess is, that the homogenized/ not homogenized is a cultural thing. I was pretty sure that there is NO not homogenized milk in the average store in germany. I checked, couldn't find any. And no fish oil in any of them (that only seems to be a thing in formula). But, you can have your pick, whole, low fat, organic, grass fed... you name it. All homogenized. *shrug*

(Personally, I like my milk at a nice and watery 1.5% fat, thankyouverymuch )

[angela9823]

Its not about how the cow feels when it hits the slaughter, its how it feels when its kept organic. Once they give up on organic, treat and sell, the cow is actually allowed treatment and its life improves.

As for grassfed, the cow is not always having a measurably better life grazing on sunny happy pastures,. It simply is being fed grass in its feeder instead of grain. The truth is that neither organic or grass fed mean ethical. Ethical is more complicated

In Quelah's post above, it made it sound like the cow was slaughtered while it was still sick. Maybe I misinterpreted that.

... when organic cows get sick, they get slaughtered...

My interpretation was that it WAS about how they felt then.

I don't personally know of any cows kept by farmers (except the backyarders) that are in tight quarters here until they are put up in the kill pens to be grained. Instead, the cows ARE out on pastures and one day the farmer goes out and shoots one. Even conventional cows are kept out on the pastures - usually larger ones - until shipment to the kill pens. The farmers we know doing this for a living grow their own hays. Cows are still kept on the pastures during the winter but supplemented with hay. Truly not any different than my horses and I think they live a pretty cushy life.

I'm not against either operation personally. But I don't see organic cows suffering in the fields anymore than others.

[Koolkat]

My preference for organic has to do with how the earth is treated AND what I am ingesting. . . . and in addition, I seek "humane" farming.

It's not clear to me where the idea would come from that "organic" is synonymous with withholding medical treatment.

[Baroque]

Just about all milk produced in NZ is what you are looking for.

All our cows are grass fed, the milk is pasturised whole milk and it is generally all homogenized which just means the fat particles are broken up throughout the milk. There are many organic herds producing milk like this too.

[Chisamba]

My preference is, where possible, for humane farming. At times inorganics are more humane. At times feeding grain is more humane. Unfortunately each fad, organuc, grass fed, cahe free, et al, creates popularity which most commonly results in mass production, which often results in the opposite of good conditions for animals.

That is my point. I eat meat. I drink milk, i eat eggs. To some that already makes me unethical. However my goal is to support with my dollars those that work to provide a good life for the animals providing these . Organic, grass fed, etc do not mean humane. That is what I was attempting to say. Each of you have your own choices to make andvreasons for them

[Woost2]

Look for the term "pastured". That will mean they are outside, not standing in confinement eating "grass" hay. The great debate among producers -- would a cow rather be under cover and fans standing on sand all day? Or would it rather be out in the hot sun moseying around green pastures?

Also look for a local dairy. There have been several around southern Wisconsin over the years. And yes, they don't always last very long. The "industry" doesn't like them. Sassy Cow Creamery keeps two herds -- conventional in confinement (now called freestall) and organic on pasture. Which I guess helps them around the sick organic cow problem.

[Chisamba]

I have quite a few dairies here, one the cows never get to go out, one keeps them in during the hot day, and turns them out overnight, in the summer and the opposite in the winter. They both sell their milk to the same middle person, so its kind of hard to know about the care. These are ordinary dairies, not organic or specifically pasture raised. As for the debate as to if a cow would rather be under cover under fans, take the chains off their necks and let them decide.

When we had a dairy the cows enjoyed going out, yes, they might look for shade and yes, we had to check them for ticks. ( you could not dip milk cows so it was a hands on thing when they came in for milking). they also enjoyed coming in for their meal and to be milked, but the moment milking was over, and they finished their meal, they would back out of the stalls and leave. Its pretty hot and buggy in Zambia too.

I do not like seeing animals chained in small stalls for their whole milking season. Things really are so dependent on the care giver. For example they talk about cage free hens, some hens are really pecked on, when i had my hens, which by the way were allowed to free range and confined in a coop when i was not there to supervise them because of fox. anyway, when confining them to the coop I had to offer the hen pecked hens the sanctuary of a cage. they appreciated being safe from the bullies. It was not a matter of space either as i had more then the usual amount of roosting space, layer boxes and even a second room in the coop.

So cage free can in its own way be cruel. I guess the main reason i try to raise my own animals, eggs, etc is that I try to be able to offer them the best life I can, rather than having to work out which commercially offered product is the best.

I have a duck that I have to offer a separate cage and pen to in the spring, because he gets picked on quite badly by his peers. Howard the duck will run up to me and ask to come in, when he is being bothered too much by his flock. once he came jumping right into my basement. The geese on the other hand are a flock, they might have a pecking order, but they act as a flock and take care of each other as a flock. So do the Turkeys, they flock together and act as a flock against predators etc. i have found that chickens and ducks do not.

sorry, long way from Homogenized milk.

I do think that most consumers buy the cheapest brand, which therefore caters to the lowest common denominator of producer perhaps