Ideal Bite

Not all organic milk is created equal either. Cheap organics like Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe's, Horizon, and others I forget right now are feed lot kept, and never see grass. Maybe they don't get artificial growth hormones, but they can be raised non-organically and switch over, once they are fed organic feed. Organic in name only, as far as I can see. I'm lucky to live in a state where raw milk is legal and sold in some stores. Even though it's not certified organic (I guess the certification process is to expensive and arduous), I know it has to be produced in a small, clean atmosphere. Plus raw milk has live enzymes, unlike pasteurized, dead milk. Don't believe the fear mongering surrounding raw milk. There are lots of reports of food borne illness due to pasteurized dairy products.

I lived in England in the 80's as a kid, and I remember milk delivery with extreme fondness. When I discovered there was milk delivery in my neighborhood, I wanted it very much. But it took me awhile to warm up to the cost. It is still just a little bit pricey. But, now that I've teamed it with a CSA, I almost never go to the grocery store - and that's a savings because I *always* overbuy at the grocery store ;).

The debate is ongoing on the effect of "rBGH" application to lactating cows. Ideal biters, do you know what those letters stand for? I am not sure this tip was well researched as I have never seen recombinant bovine growth hormone referred to as "rGBH" (rBGH or rBST, recombinant bovine somatotropin). Further, repeated studies HAVE shown no significant difference between bovine growth hormone levels between treated and untreated cows (that is, blind testing of the milk for growth hormone levels cannot differentiate between treated and untreated cows' milk)- the treatment on the cows affects the cell cycle within the mammary gland. There IS conflicting evidence about whether the levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 in the milk are significantly affected. This could be argued and possibly included in your tip, but to 1)misname the hormone, 2)make a false blanket statement as if it is a widely held scientific fact and 3)not mention that rBST cannot be detected in the milk really damages your credibility, which makes one question the validity of other tips. To dissemble further fear of those that drink "normal" milk- milk is pooled from many farms and even farms that do use rBGH are likely not treating all of their cows that are lactating- it simply isn't economically productive for them. Therefore, any differences in individual animal's milk (but of course, as I've stated, NOT differences in actual milk BGH) are diluted by this pooling method. Biters, I recommend double checking any scientific claims made by Ideal Bite. This is not to say I agree with the use of rBGH, but I am certainly not afraid I will get cancer from drinking milk produced by cows treated with it. While I applaud Ideal Bite Tippers and read them daily, I shake my finger at you for using fear-mongering to try to achieve your goals. For shame! As for fear mongering about raw milk, go watch a cow defecate- that gets on the teats, where the milk comes out. Pretreatment and posttreatment teat dips and cleans are great for reducing those coliform infections, but heat-treating those bacteria is even better. The fact that some CAN RARELY survive pasteurization is NOT an argument against pasteurizing; mistakes have occurred when either the treatment has not been hot enough or long enough and people have died from it. There is epidemiological evidence against consuming raw milk- this isn't fear mongering, it is scientific data. I would beg you not to feed raw milk to children, the elderly, or the immunocompromised.

In Chenango and Madison Counties, NY (rural, smack dab in the center of NYS), we have a farmer's market delivery service that delivers every week. Not only can you get your organic, locally grown basics -- milk, cheese, eggs, bread -- you can actually get just about any food you'll need (yogurts, granola, pies, sauces, in-season fruits and veggies, locally raised meats -- you name it!) and most is produced right here in central NY. In fact, nothing on the bounty website is from outside New York State. And they do deliveries once a week. It's the best thing ever!!

This was inspiring, but not helpful as there were no delivery companies listed for the entire SF Bay Area.

You mention in your blog about milk delivery that few people recycle their milk cartons. We can't recycle wax coated packaging in our municipality or we would. Do you know of other municipalities that allow this type of recycling?

We obtain raw milk through the purchase of a cow share. Yes, our children drink it. We have had no ill effects. I feel very confident about it being safe as long as one finds a farmer using organic methods. My husband's grandmother used raw milk for her family all her life until her death several years ago, she was in her upper 80's. No one in her family was ever known to be ill from the raw milk. Realmilk.org has some very good information on the safety of raw milk.

You are STILL listing Oberweis in Chicago? Why? The owner of the company (using income obtained from product sales)campaigns regularly for a senate seat on a racist, homophobic, anti-environment platform. If you buy Oberweis products, you support Jim Oberweis. Is that what Ideal Bite stands for? How much do you research the companies you advertise? Seriously, you either haven't done your homework on this one or you are not at all what you purport to be.

I think this is one of the better tips I've seen from Ideal Bite in awhile. Unfortunately the information through Manta is a bit cryptic and difficult to parse through. Is there a better source to locate milk delivery options in Los Angeles?

What about the CO2 that is emitted into the air with the delivery of milk to individual houses? I like the idea of home delivered milk and the re-usable bottles but there's some issue with the way it gets there.