Â
Milk is an important part of my grocery budget. We are a huge milk drinking family. I’m sure there are families that drink more milk than we do but we go through at least four gallons a week.
My guys especially, drink a lot of milk at every meal. My son prefers whole milk but I make him settle for 2% because of how much our family drinks and how much whole milk costs. For a while I was buying fresh raw milk, you know, with the cream cream on top, just for him. A neighbor was selling it but has since quit the milk cow business. My son especially liked putting the cream on his cereal.
Being lactose intolerant would be the death of my guys. I never have to encourage them to drink milk. Instead, I have to encourage them to save some for the next morning when we’re running low.
I think because my family drinks so much milk they drink less pop. Beer is a different story. Milk is filling and good for you. It’s really good ice cold in a tall glass and goes well with oreos, homemade cookies, warm apple pie, or a piece of dense chocolate cake but it also fills me up, which keeps me from eating more of that stuff than I need to.
I also love and use many dairy products in the meals I prepare. Colby Jack cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, ice cream…oh yeah, it’s all good. A gallon of chocolate chip ice cream is another necessity for my family. Dairy: what a wonderful product.
Besides being tasty, nutritious, and an important part of one’s diet, milk is a good treat in the middle of the night. A mug of milk microwaved for one minute on high, mixed with honey and a teaspoon of my favorite coffee creamer–vanilla carmel (the refrigerated kind is best), helps me fall asleep when I suffer from insomnia. The sweetened warm milk quiets my chaotic mind and lets me fall asleep.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people who are far removed from the land and animals that were created to provide for the human race. These folks are part of the population that have been misinformed about milk cows, product handling, and milk production practices. They were probably deprived of ice cream as a child.Â
The www.dairyfarmingtoday.org website is a legitimate website dedicated to informing consumers about dairy farming. It has a dairy dictionary for understanding dairy terms and videos interviewing farmers at their dairy. I really like the dairy farming myths vs. facts category because it sets the record straight on dairy farming practices. The site also provides a number of fact sheets on various dairy farming topics that can be printed off and articles on dairy farming in the news.
Another good source for learning more about milk production and dairy farming practices is www.midwestdairy.com. The site provides games for kids to play, recipes, nutrition and health facts, other helpful links, tools to assist school foodservices and teachers in educating kids about dairy products, and marketing resources for farmers.
Even if you already know where your milk and dairy products come from, you’ll still learn something you didn’t know before about dairy farming by visiting these two reliable websites. The information can help spread the truth about dairy cows, production practices, and the farmers who bring the milk to your table.
Â
