I Bought a Dairy Cow! Milk for sale!

I am so excited, and wait 'til you hear why, it's so nerdy. I don't even care! Well, I am now the proud owner of a 1/2 share in a herd of cattle at Johnson's Acres Dairy Farm! This dairy farm has (by FAR) the best prices and flexibility for all-grass-fed milk. The 1/2 share entitles me to half a gallon of milk per week, and I am able to buy things from their other inventory as well. They sell raw milk from cows that are never fed anything but grasses....a concept so simple, it's amazing to see how far we've strayed from that! Cattle are made to eat grass, it's what they digest well, but they get fed things like corn, soy, and other fillers that make them fat and encourage milk production, but they also get sick. It seems logical that if we want healthy food from animals, they should be healthy themselves in order to be good for us. That's just the way I see it. So, I have filled out a "Cow Bill of Sale" and everything and feel a sense of ownership. I pay "Boarding Fees" for my 1/2 share of cattle (would love to know what percentage of a cow I now "own") and am, thus, allowed to consume milk from the cows as they are legally mine! Basically, the laws in Colorado prohibit the purchase or sale of raw dairy milk, but people are allowed to own cattle, board them, and let other people do the work of making the milk available, and then drink the milk from their own cattle. Strange way to get around it. I am intrigued by raw milk, don't necessarily know I would have opted to consume it were it not the ONLY all-grass-fed milk in Northern Colorado.  So, if I sprout a third arm or become violently ill, I'll be your guinea pig and let you know so you can use my experience to decide if you like the idea or not. The only thing about this delivery system that's not real convenient is that I have to go pick it up each week, but I figure, you'd go to the grocery store to pick up this stuff, so why not take a little extra time to go get it from someplace close to my house. I am crossing my fingers that one day, they'll deliver to our house. A girl can dream.

We also order 1/2 a gallon of milk from Longmont Dairy, and it's delivered along with other things (from yogurt to artisan cheeses to lemonade and seasonal beverages) to our house once a week. We've been receiving Longmont Dairy milk for a little over a month, now, and it's noticeably tastier than the milk we'd been buying at the store. We really like it! As I have said before, Jason's not a big "organics matter" kind of guy, but he's all about getting the best taste from his food, and as I am on a quest to find the best food, we land in the same place. Seriously, the veggies from our garden? Ah-mazing! (I'll update soon with some pictures, it's going crazy out there!) Farmer's Market goat cheeses? Notable difference from things that have been sitting in packaging at the store forever. And the list marches on. The fresher the food, the better it tastes.

The second photo on this page is of the product list we can obtain from the dairy. We won't be getting eggs from them because I have a local guy who charges about $.50 less per carton, and that's nice, not to mention, local is better, in my opinion. Several of the other things on this list are pretty appealing, though! Seriously, if you ever want some of this stuff, just let me know, I'll add it to my order and you can pay me for it. The beef, while pricey, seems to be excellent stuff, and I am pretty thrilled about the honey, as well. And salmon. Yum. I am also more than happy to go get eggs from the farm where I pick mine up every week and you can come get them from me and pay me back for them. They're $4.00 per dozen, and when compared to other organic, local eggs, it's not bad in terms of price. You get what you pay for, that's my philosophy. And it makes my day to say thank you to the hens that laid the eggs each time I go get more eggs. There they are, clucking away, and I just thank them as I walk off with the yummiest eggs EVER. This is another step in my journey towards a deeper relationship with every bit of food I eat.

Here are some of the herd of which I just became a joint-owner!
Cute, right?! I eventually got to the place where I couldn't stand buying
milk because I knew the cows were not handled nicely or fed the right things
and I didn't feel right about it. This is my alternative to the previous problem!
Thank you, cows!

I am now feeling inspired and might do a blog post about the egg farm I go to, just include some photos and information. It is truly awesome to go there and know where my food comes from. I am reading Michael Pollan's book: "In Defense of Food" and another one of his called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and have been very intrigued with the material and what I'm learning. He prescribes, get this, a well-balanced diet. Weird, huh? No gimmicky "don't eat this" and "eat tons of that" thing. Just "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I can do that....I think. I can at least work to understand it and then strive to do that. It's much harder than it sounds, especially in this culture where more often than not, things are dyed, heated, given "nutrient additives," and have some downright scary things thrown into them. The majority of food is very processed. Very.

Some call me a hippie, but I'm really not. I am just very interested in nourishing my body the way God intended me to nourish it, and in doing so, I am working to connect myself to the origin of each food item I eat. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is very eye-opening as it explores the food chains we eat from. This style of eating does not revert back to an older style, but is rather a post-processed foods reaction. It's a new thing altogether. New technologies are not shunned, but things are done in a more natural manner. I like it.

I would recommend reading any and all of Michael Pollan's books. His approach is SO sensible. Food is meant to help our bodies perform the way God intended, and it is also intended to draw people together and encourage community. In general, food is meant to strengthen us. And there are ways to let it do just that.

Who ever would have thought that eating would become so complex that we would need to do serious studying just to make sense of it and understand what's on our dinner plates? It's amazing and mind-boggling to me just how far we've strayed from "knowing" our dinner. Where most Americans get awfully squeamish at the thought of seeing their food alive before consuming it (in the case of animals, anyway) and grow nostalgic upon seeing plants growing food as if it's some long-lost idea or idyllic dream. That's how it should be. That's been a very eye-opening realization for me. Food is grown. Meat has a face. It just does. That shouldn't be so shocking and taboo to us. I decided a while ago that if I couldn't handle being present for the butchering of a particular kind of animal, I shouldn't eat the meat from it. I now eat a lot less beef than I used to as a result. Poultry is very different for me, but I still eat it without hesitation after having a chance to kill my own chickens on a few different occasions in Africa. While it was sad, it connected me to my food in a different way for which I am extremely thankful!

Just like meat was once alive, the soil is connected to every loaf of bread, every bowl of cereal and every Cheeto and Twinkie. What kind of soil are those things grown in? How are they handled? What is the life-story from the ground to a bag of Cheetos (and what IS that orange stuff?) on the supermarket shelf? That interests me greatly. I feel like it should interest all of us as it really defines who we are through our interactions with the Earth that God gave us. Do we respect it and treat it with the care He asked us to show, or do we treat it haphazardly and close our eyes when the reality becomes too unpleasant?

Food Research

This video is called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and it's a large part of what started my investigation into food and how it could work with my body. It's also where I got the idea of a juice-fast from. And this guy is impressive for what he does and the other people he inspires. It's very challenging to do something like this from home and without stopping life around you. Everyone wants to hang out and get together, and let me tell you, there are FEW occasions when Americans gather without gathering around food. It's like trying to run and having tons of little threads tied to you. It's much harder.

There's also "The Future of Food" which gives a lot of information, actually, about the history of food and how we've gotten to where we are today. I love this documentary because it makes a lot of pieces fit together better. Again, this is an excerpt, but I think the whole video can be found on Hulu.com or Amazon.com in instant videos. Definitely worth the time it takes to watch. Very informative.

Okay, yes, now I am learning about myself that I am a food nerd. I love learning new things about food and nutrition and applying those things to my diet. My recent discoveries revolve around dairy and eggs. I have grown frustrated lately walking into the store and seeing products that are made by animals and having no idea where those animals come from, what the labels on the products really mean, and what the practices are at those places, let alone how long things have been idling on store shelves. Somehow, buying natural products in a climate-controlled, flourescent-light-filled building has started to feel really weird to me. It makes sense to do that in the winter when produce cannot be locally grown, but in the summer? And certain products have just begun to make so little sense to me, I can't keep it up. We've been avoiding buying milk and eggs at the store lately because I've asked to have a little time to do some research before we start up again.

Well, the research has been done, and of course, there will always be more, but for now, a satisfactory verdict has been reached. So, I wanted to know what the chickens were being fed, where they lived, and how they were handled. I did just enough research to become thoroughly mentally scarred and determined to gain a better understanding. I learned that organic chicken farmers usually don't raise their own chicks from eggs. They buy them from chick farmers who sort out the boy chicks. The boys are then either thrown (alive) into a grinder and ground up for meat in dog foods and such, or are put in a plastic bag and just thrown out with the trash. I also learned that "cage free" just means that the chickens are given a certain amount of floor space per chicken, not that they're free-range. They are usually kept in an indoor area and are given very little in the way of space (I think it's something like 3 square feet per bird) and live their entire life indoors.

Then we get to cows (used for milk). What they're fed is incredibly important. Many American dairy and meat cattle are fed grains and corn. While that sounds fine, their bodies aren't made to handle it. Thus, all the talk about cattle with or without antibiotics. So, often, our meat and dairy products will be labeled as antibiotic-free. The important piece of the puzzle, then, becomes what they eat. If the animals are eating mostly grains and soy and corn, but they are not being given antibiotics, it's really cruel because they will get sick, but won't be given antibiotics. So, someone who is very intent on eliminating excess antibiotics from their diet and doing so in the healthiest way will do best by finding cattle that are fed a grass diet. An all-grass diet is best, but hard to find. Mostly grass is also good. Free-range cattle are best, but often hard to find because the farmer would need to own a decent bit of land and specialize in more than just cattle. There's an excellent farmer who sets an example in "Food Inc."--a movie I strongly recommend everyone watch. We are all eaters, we vote 3 times a day with our food choices. This video exposes how mono-cultural our diet has become. Very intriguing.

I believe that information is very powerful. This information sent me on a journey to find a solution. I no longer wanted to reach out and take a gallon of milk with no idea of its actual source. I no longer wanted to feel completely blind behind the mask of marketing and the claims made on labels. I scoured local dairies in Northern Colorado, I called the top few I found and have some interesting findings. I'll intersperse my information with some really interesting food information resources.

Another food documentary that is not so much shocking as it is empowering is "Food Matters." Included here is just an excerpt, but I would highly recommend watching the entire thing. It's really excellent. Not every opinion in here jives with what I think makes sense, but it is very interesting to consider, nonetheless.

My top-pick local dairy for the Denver area is Johnson Acres. They are local, they deliver to ten areas in the Denver Metro area, one of which is just 2 miles from my home. All cattle are always completely grass-fed. (Many people who keep cattle will raise them on grass and "finish" them with corn or soy which means at least 6 months to a year of corn or soy to "fatten them up" or give them the calories to produce more milk.) Johnson Acres cattle are alternated through different pasture areas to allow the pasture to re-grow and keep the cattle healthy (they don't end up consuming their own waste as a result of being left in the same pasture too long). This dairy is fantastic. There are two reasons we're not ordering milk from them right now. 1) There is a waiting list for getting onto their delivery route. To me, that's a good sign, being able to stop obtaining new customers when they are at capacity. But sad, because we can't even try their stuff yet. 2) Their milk is only delivered raw. There is not pasteurization. In my opinion, that's a fine thing if the milk is handled very carefully. This dairy farm has certain very strict guidelines for the quality of their milk. This dairy also sells poultry raised on the farm and beef, etc. Jason is not so sure. So, for now, we're using a different dairy.

We got our first delivery from Longmont Dairy yesterday. The milk is delivered in glass containers that are reusable. It tastes amazing! The cattle are fed a majority of their diet in hay and grasses, which is excellent, and they are not left hooked up to milking machines all day, but spend all their free time in a large pen with plenty of space. It's not the same a large, grassy fields, but much better than cattle that can't walk because they spend literally all their time stuck in the milk farm. We're really pleased with this dairy. They do pasteurize their milk and deliver directly to our house. We can add things to our order whenever we want, and they deliver our favorite yogurt, Noosa. Eventually, I think we'll go the route of pursuing a milk share (where you buy into ownership of a cow with a one-time fee, and therefore it is legal for you to obtain raw milk from those cows). For now, however, this works excellently.

As far as eggs go, I found a guy just a couple miles down the road from us who raises chickens from eggs in his yard and sells the eggs. We went and toured his egg facility and were able to see all the hens, roosters, turkeys, quail, pheasant, etc. that he keeps. It was really excellent to be able to actually see the birds and to know that the eggs are fresh. Upon getting them home, we found that the eggs were blue, green, white, brown, and slightly speckled. It was lovely. They cook up really nicely and have very orange yolks that stand up a bit taller and are larger than others I have had before. The farmer's name is Rick and his phone number is (303) 324-3567. I found him on Craigslist and contacted him. He's looking to sell about 20 dozen more eggs per week. If anyone would like me to pick up eggs for them, I am happy to do so and you can pick them up from my house. They're $4 per dozen. I am actually on my way out the door now to go pick up some more eggs for the coming week.

I also found useful the documentary, "Forks Over Knives" which states the importance of a plant-based diet. I don't think I'll be becoming a vegetarian any time, but this really suggests the critical role of moderation and appropriate portions where animal-based foods are concerned. Animal-based food is not necessary to live, though it does round out our omnivorous diets nicely. This has made me re-evaluate how much meat and animal products I use on a regular basis. A very interesting documentary. I've taken to watching things I agree with and don't agree with. I certainly don't agree with everything that's said in these videos, but find it thought-provoking. I really enjoy researching things, and especially familiarizing myself with other people's opinions (provided they are well-thought-out and well-presented). This documentary also gives some good information about how food affects our health. We spend SO much money (as a country) on medical treatments and prescriptions, but want to get cheap food. Perhaps it should be the other way around.

This next video is "The Gerson Miracle." It was recommended to me by my upstairs neighbor who follows these principles. It started me thinking about food as more than just something to do, or something that tastes good. I think the entire philosophy in this video is a bit hard to swallow, but the idea is very thought-provoking. I am leery of anything that calls itself a "miracle" just because it smacks a bit of Snake Juice or something along those lines. And yet...it's quite something to think about.

The final video for thought today is called "Vegucated." It's about some people who decide to take a challenge to live a vegan lifestyle for a while and what they learn through this experience. I honestly don't think I would ever become vegan, but still found the information that is presented to be very interesting. Hope you do, too. Just "food for thought," hope you enjoy perusing it. And check out the dairy and egg farms we've discovered.

Where do I land on these ideas? I think I line up well with author and researcher, Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, The Botany of Desire, and many other books. His main point is this: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." I think that is very sensible, but much more difficult than it should be. What is food? Well, if you've watched even one of the above videos, you are probably a bit shell-shocked about what food is. I did this research (and am continuing by reading about ten different books--yes I read more than one book at a time), while I started a garden in my back yard. Gardening and healthy eating are good friends; concepts that get along with each other well. I am continuing this and my goal is that I will become more conscious of what my food choices are, why I make the ones I do, and re-evaluate them as necessary. Also, as Michael Pollan says, I won't be afraid of food. I won't become afraid of making the wrong choices and get caught up in that fear. I will just become conscious. It's like waking up. It feels good.

I'll probably be adding a page to my blog soon about the different resources I have found and used to help me understand food better.

Cheers to a birthday without allergies

I went to my garden today and realized that I have sorely neglected it lately. I water it every day, but apparently, right now, it needs much more than a daily dousing. So, I drenched the thing. I spent like 2 hours digging and churning soil so it would moisten all the way through, I filled the trenches I've dug between the rows with water again and again and again. And I planted some new plants!
Most exciting of which is popcorn! I found blue organic popcorn on Amazon.com and decided to give it a go. I am expecting it to grow like regular corn (which I have at about my shoulder height right now just a few feet from where the popcorn has been planted) and then dry out and be harvested about the same time pumpkins are harvested and voila! I will have home-grown popcorn this winter. Tomorrow, I am planning to go out and water it first thing in the morning (6am) and again at night. If I take care of it, I hope it'll take care of us, too. :) It's been a little weird watering it lately because the person we share the house with was worried about the cost of watering. It's not bad, really, and when you plant more costly things (like artichokes, eggplant, tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, etc), it really pays off. But I don't want to be out there watering all the time if it annoys her. She has the primary access to the back yard, so it's me in her back yard. Oh well, she gets to eat from it, too, and enjoys it, so I should get over it and water my poor garden.

Tomorrow's a new day.

For my birthday this year, my wonderful, sweet husband got both sides of our family together to get me a VitaMix blender (professional series...the thing has a logo that says "Culinary Institute of America" on it...which probably means nothing, but makes me giddy inside just a bit) and a CrockPot slow cooker. Now that I have a slow cooker and realize the emense benefit of it, I can't really understand what I've been up to all this time without one. YAY! I now have the most amazing kitchen in the world. I can make fresh juice, amazing things in the blender, and cook sumptuous meals while I get other stuff done all day. Only one thing holding me back from truly basking in the glow of the new kitchen items.....my juice fast.

Oh, the juice fast lingers on, and every day, I tell myself that this is a two-month (relatively short) period of time in which I am resetting myself and after this is over, I can start living in a healthy, balanced way and enjoy good health. This is how I get through the day. It works.

So far, I have lost almost 20 lbs and have had no allergies this June. For me, that's HUGE. Since high school, every June has become increasingly more challenging. Last year, my birthday was an antihistamine-buzzed blur of sneezing and Jason making lovely plans which I could barely witness or experience through teary eyes, a red (raw) nose, and fits of sneezing that left me needing to sit down. My allergies have historically crescendoed on my birthday. This year, though? Nope!

I had a momentary itch in my right eye for like ten seconds on my birthday. Marked difference. I also decided to go ahead and eat some real food on my birthday. And a day later, I had a day of sneezing and hayfever. It was worth it, of course, but still, notable. So, this juicer has saved June for me. I am back on track with losing weight and have had NO allergies whatsoever in the last day or two since I re-started the juicer. It's amazing to really think about the fact that God gave us fruits and vegetables as food, and He knew that those things would provide our bodies with the ability to maintain optimum health. And we decided to "improve" on those food items and look where it's gotten us. The US has so many allergy problems, so many diet-related health issues, and such pained immune systems. We eat processed this and canned that and freeze-dried those and none of us know the actual source of our food. It makes me really sad.

This summer, I am on a quest to learn where my food comes from and to change the way we eat and begin consuming almost exclusively, only things we can trace to their source. This means a lot more cooking, a lot more legwork for every purchase, and a lot better prices, health, etc. Jason is excited because he has been on his own quest for the best-tasting food. He's found that through elimination of processed foods, and finding the most local, organic, fresh foods, we get the best products. Funny how two different quests lead to the same destination.

Since I am eating just juice, and Jason is being fed mostly fresh fruits and veggies, homemade (not canned) beans, fresh salads, etc, we aren't consuming much that we can't get at our local Farmer's Market in Golden. This week, I'll have to take pictures and post them. It's a beautiful menagerie. Once I am finished with the juice fast in August, I will begin buying milk and eggs and such things from local farmers. I've found a couple of sources for eggs (which I have yet to visit to compare) and am still on the hunt for a good dairy in our area. For me, it's important how the animals are handled, for Jason, it's important that the food is FRESH so it tastes the best. Both things mean finding people here who sell those items. We'll see where that takes me! I am planning to begin making and keeping my own yogurt, mozzarella, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc. I have the most beguiling things growing in my garden and the hope there is that I'll have enough tomatoes, tomatillos, okra, edamame, corn, peppers, squash, collard greens, etc, to freeze and store over the winter that we can eat from our garden for a decent portion of the year. That means now is crunch time! It's a very back-in-time feeling to be planning to put away the summer's produce for winter when there won't be anything to pick in the garden. It's exciting and fun and a little thrilling. And now I have this incredible kitchen full of things that enable health to the fullest. I am so blessed to have a husband who sees the value in this kind of stuff as much as I do, and who believes in me. He views these appliances as investments in our future. Sweet man.

Food for thought. I am reading Michael Pollan's book, "In Defense of Food," and I am really loving it. A lot of new understanding of food and its relationship to our modern life has come about through my reading. If you're looking for a good read, give it a look. (sorry, no pictures today, I am not that organized)