I recently came across something called grassmilk at my grocery store. I have heard the goofy commercials from Organic Valley and liked them. But before the goofy commercials, I had tried this brand and I liked it. They do have nonfat milk in their regular milks, not this fancy (?) grassmilk version. And when I say regular, of course I still mean organic. It’s in the name…
Now mind you, if you have drank nonfat milk before, and some of you are probably wrinkling your faces, the stuff is more or less water. I call it drinking serum to actual milk. It’s a thin consistency and not at all creamy which I love! Yes I know, i’m not selling the idea to anyone, here. Mostly I get a “What’s the point? Just drink water.” or the more normal response “Ewwww, why?!” In any case, I’ve been drinking nonfat milk since 1989 when I was at UC Davis. No idea what prompted me to start…maybe they were out of “normal” milk and me, being a milkaholic in training, took that over chocolate milk, which I hated.
I know, now some of you are scratching your heads. Who hates chocolate milk!? That’s a story for another day. The short version is chocolate and I don’t get along…at least that was my understanding. Turns out I was wrong but you’ll have to read the next piece for that story.
Going back to the milk thing, I loved nonfat so much it became my drink of pleasure. At one point, I was drinking it pretty much nonstop. A gallon would last maybe a week. I would buy the specials of two gallons knowing full well they’d never get to the due date but even if they did, the benefit to nonfat is it doesn’t go bad that fast. Probably because there is no fat to sour things up. Who knows…but I’ve had whole milk spoil before the due date. Same with the other percents but whole milk is the worst. I gave the other milks a college try because of the remarks of how nonfat is not really milk.
Drinking anything more than nonfat was terrible. Whole milk might as well have been yogurt, 2% heavy whipping cream, and 1% was whipping cream. So, back to nonfat as the all time favourite! During my pregnancy, years later, a gallon lasted less than two days.
So for me to buy a grassmilk that said 2% was not an easy thing for me, let alone whole milk. But the name intrigued me so much, I had to try it! In the past, I have drank grass-fed milk before and found it tasty but it’s not a regular thing to find. So, I had just stuck to non gmo, organic milk. As it turns out, regular milk doesn’t agree with my body. This coming from a milkaholic is definitely weird. Let me explain.
Somewhere in my late 30’s my body changed. Suddenly, it was like I was lactose intolerant. By the time I reached 44, milk was not much of an option and yogurt was becoming difficult. Cheese was still OK. I didn’t get it. Had I reached “adulthood” and could no longer tolerate milk!? How sad I was. Now I had to drink water…like real water…not milk tasting water… Time is cruel. By now things I used to enjoy as a kid, young adult, and I suppose middle adult? I could no longer eat…and things I hated then are tolerable now. It’s strange but I digress.
As I complained somewhere online about this lactose thing, someone mentioned that perhaps it wasn’t dairy but the TYPE of dairy. They suggested trying organic. You mean the $5 a bottle of 30 oz stuff!? No way… But OK… milkaholics are not so easy to cure, right? So I tried it…
What?! No troubles…none at all…you mean, I’m not actually intolerant? So something about the way non organic milk is processed or raised that makes things in my stomach very unhappy. Organic is healthier and more expensive, so now Ms. Milkaholic relies more on tea and water than milk because $5.50 for a half a gallon can get expensive.
Then I saw, on my way to southern California a patch of very sad cows. Dairy cows, in a tiny patch of land, packed in, almost like sardines. No grass, just dirt or concrete, and some of them trying to squeeze their necks through a fence to get to the TINIEST of grass patch just barely out of reach.
Oh lord did I feel like the biggest heel in the universe! My milkaholic ways had made these sad cows…all these years! I’m not a vegan or even close to being vegetarian, I really don’t like veggies all that much. However, that made me very sad. The meat industry isn’t any better, I know…but baby steps! I’m at least buying Organic when I can and from free range poultry, pork, and beef farms. I also eat a lot of carby stuff…
In any case, I decided I was only going to buy my milk from people who cared about cows. I have been spoiled here, living near a farm where cows are always in the hills. I forget that not all cattle are so lucky. Enter Horizon, Organic Valley, Strauss, Clover, and Fairlife…who incidentally has no lactose in it. I like Fairlife and they do make a nonfat version. But it’s only Organic Valley, so far, taht I can find the grass-fed milk. Supposedly they make yogurts too but I haven’t seen it at my stores. Hopefully they do bring it.
I still don’t drink as much dairy as I used to…even though the cows are not as sad, it’s still not that great to think that at some point, their babies are taken away. At Horizon, it’s done at birth, supposedly so they can care for the baby…more than mom could? Poor mommas and how traumatic for the calf…
Fairlife has this information on their site, which I thought was interesting. Less carbs because there’s no lactose. They also have whole milk and other percents for those who like fat in their milk, haha. They also say you can visit their farm which is cool. Supposedly they have a birthing barn and a pen where you can play with the calves…but…sadly, again, for their benefit they too are removed from their moms at birth. I did send them an email and they seem to think that if they separate the calves at birth it is less stressful for a cow since they don’t bond with the baby. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how true that is. Me, personally, I’m not so sure that’s true.
Organic Valley? They’re a coop instead of a company…meaning they’re just farmers who sell stuff and their commercials, as I said, are pretty goofy. I found this on their website and it sounds promising. It’s from one of the farmers at Organic Valley. Hopefully the other coops follow the same rules.
Clover and Straus are more local to me than Organic Valley. Clover is certified humane which is also nice. They also have cows out in pasture grazing but none of their products are labeled grassfed, same with Straus. Clover, it seems is in line with the other farms. All of these brands have their websites so you can look into them.
I wasn’t able to find out on the website about Straus but a google search turned up that yes, they too take the babies out at birth. Standard practice, I guess… I did email them and they confirmed, albeit they claim it’s after a few days but still Straus separates the calves too. The cows, however, walk around the hills of Sonoma and Marin (depending on which farm they are) so while they don’t label their milk grassfed, chances are, they’re eating a lot of it. They also bottle stuff in glass which also makes their milk taste, cleaner, for lack of a better term.
The nice things about all of these companies is they have websites and customer service FAQ’s and of course, email addresses or phone numbers if you’re more into phone stuff. They get back to you super quick so that’s always nice.
In conclusion, for now, my milkaholic days are over and as time keeps going, the less milk I drink. I’m down to a half gallon over two weeks, still emptying before expiration but often extremely close or to the day. I drink mostly water, teas, fruit drinks (lemonades or fruit in water stuff,) that sort of thing. I have gotten into the alternatives and love Cashew milk and hate Soy. But the things I use milk for don’t taste all that great with the alternative milks so I just drink those plain when I get the urge.
I know I spent a lot of time on the calf thing but as a mom, it’s kind of heartbreaking. The sad cows in a pen were definitely heart breaking. Never again will I buy the cheap milk. I’m not contributing to sad cows. Even my yogurts, butter, cream, and cheeses have changed. I don’t eat those as much, especially butter… I still have some from last year that I froze when I had to buy 4 lbs. I just don’t eat butter. Creams I have had to throw away because I forget so I just don’t buy them unless I need it specifically for something I’m making that day. Yogurt and cottage cheese on rare occassions… all in all, my dairy consumption has been lowered. I wish that was enough to lower my weight but well…that’s yet, ANOTHER story, haha. Til next time, thank you for reading!
Cnith's Thoughts... 