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5 Quick Reasons to Buy Organic Dairy

By Christa

It’s so wallet-clenchingly painful to see the dirt cheap conventional milk on the supermarket shelf right next to the higher-priced organic milk. But there are some compelling reasons to reach for the pricier stuff if your budget can take it. Here are five:

1. When you buy organic dairy products, you’re supporting a system of agriculture that is good for animals and good for the land.

2. We already have enough hormones in our bodies without putting more in via Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH). And there’s never a good reason to take secondhand antibiotics.

3. Milk from organically raised cows is higher in Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs) content – those are the good fats that have been linked to decreased heart disease and diabetes.

4. The cows producing the raw materials for organic dairy products often have access to pasture, fresh air, exercise, and other perks not enjoyed by factory-farmed cows. (I recommend looking into the farms producing your dairy to make sure it’s actually animal-friendly.)

5. Organic dairy looks better and tastes better according to some.

Do you spring for the good stuff?









6 Responses to “5 Quick Reasons to Buy Organic Dairy”




  1. aurumgirl Says:

    I used to spring for the organic dairy stuff, but I’ve decided that until I can actually get raw milk where I am I’m just going to avoid dairy unless it’s raw (I can find raw milk cheese and sometimes my patients who have access to raw butter bring me a little, just to be nice). By the way, the CLAs actually get denatured (akin to being rancidified) in the pasteurization/homogenization process, which means they are no longer the fats you want.

    Since “organic” is rapidly losing it’s definition these days (I’m just now watching as the USDA will be forced to change their definition to include all foods containing GMOs as “organic”), I would encourage people to go to the farm and check out how the animals are raised, and examine what they are fed. Biodynamic farming yields the best quality food by far, and supersedes “organic” standards and laws by several country miles. If you’ve got a raw dairy farm near you that operates biodynamically and you can check it out to be sure, you’ve hit the jackpot. Pay whatever it costs (but usually it doesn’t cost much more at all). You can find out where to get raw milk near you at westonaprice.org’s website.




  2. Christa Says:

    @aurumgirl Awesome advice! Raw dairy is getting big around here in some circles I’m in, but it’s always something you hear about on the sly. Mainly, I think, because the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and Resources was cracking down on buying clubs.




  3. aurumgirl Says:

    I know, authorities around here are cracking down on all local good food producers too–and it’s creating an even larger demand and a firm resolve to not only restore the freedom to choose these foods over what is commercially available, but also to make sure these nuisance crackdowns stop happening. Everyone knows they’re just attempts to cripple the farmers financially, as the farm share and cow share agreements are legally water-tight and the farming practices are beyond reproach.

    And anyway, the raw dairy stuff tastes fantastic.




  4. KESW Says:

    I think my comment gotten eaten by the spam filter — a couple days ago I made the comment that grocery-store-organic (let’s say GSO) dairy (aka the ultra-high temp pastuerized) is really not all it’s cracked up to be nutritionally, and the packaging claims are grossly overstated. Also many producers for big-name GSO dairy will get very creative in how they treat their cattle in order to still be considered “pastured” or other ethical considerations. Those who are truly concerned that the cows they get milk from are treated right should go out and meet their cows (and thus the farmers), and get you some raw milk. A good website for those who are interested is the words “real milk” without a space surrounded by the conventional three W’s and the dot c-o-m (please don’t eat me spam filter!).

    Our family has WIC assistance and so buy conventional dairy (no organics allowed on WIC — no clue why, but perhaps Mrs. Obama will have something to say about that in the future…), but I dream of switching to raw milk once we are past the grad-school/20 hrs a week minimum wage stage.




  5. aurumgirl Says:

    Don’t wait for Mrs. Obama. Mrs. Obama’s supporting both Walmart and Monsanto with her drive to end Childhood Obesity, since she sits on the Walmart board and Walmart is Monsanto’s largest food distribution company. Mr. Obama has been stacking the Supreme Court with ex-Monsanto execs (Elena Kagan being the latest) and the FDA is almost fully staffed by ex-Monsanto execs and legal team members. I bet that’s one reason you won’t be able to use your tax dollars to buy real food for yourself and your family.

    But now that “organic” as a legal definition is well on its way to including genetically modified organisms, you’ll probably see that restriction changed.




  6. Christa Says:

    @KESW So sorry about the over-enthusiastic spam filter! I’ll see what I can do about making sure that stops happening.













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