Dairy Confusion

Well we avoided Whole Foods, ok not purposelessly  avoid but were under a time crunch and had some recycling to take back so that put us at Safeway.

We needed

-2% milk

-Butter

-Half/Half

Safeway had organic options for all of these.  Safeway's Lucerne brand was a steal at $2.99/gal as opposed to Horizons on sale $5.99/gal. After a mini-meltdown of what to do hubby said lets research it.  So we went w/Lucerne milk that is packaged in Oakland which is about 100miles from here.  I did go w/Horizon for the half/half but found it made the journey from Colorado to make it to my morning coffee cup which seems like a pretty long trip.  The butter (full creamed  butter cause you know it makes everything delicious) Lucerne again with another steal of 1.99 for a pack. 

So I got home and tried really hard to find info for where Lucerne get's it milk from, what dairy farms where?! I am still in the dark I have no idea from best I can tell there are dairy farms all around Point Reyes & other places in California. The farmers sell their milk to a co-op which Safeway buys from.   If anyone has any info about this I would appreciate it.  Safeway will not buy any dairy that has been treated with Growth Hormones although my opinion that seems to be the norm now.

Poor Horizon Dairy has had their own sets of 'you just can't win em's)  with claims of them not being truly organic. Google that and so many stories and articles come up your head will spin. I believe they are organic sometimes crap happens it just is driving home the questions is it better I get something local or something far away but from the land of organic?

  Do I feel better that my organic milk came from 1300 miles to get into my cup of coffee? Or do I go with knowing my milk came from mystery California cows but from what part/farm?

So this chicken needs to do more dairy research to make the best choice for my family.  

I gotta go to WholeFoods as sonn as I can get up the courage to spend   get there.  

The quest continues...

So here we go...

We have had several eye opening events in our life in recent years...it started us looking for better ways to live our life healthier, with less impact on our environment.  We have made many changes but still it wasn't good enough and what we did we only half did.  We buy all our groceries organic but then go out to eat at McDees *yeah don't even want to spell it out* but I am confessing it all.  So yeah Organic at home crap outside, plus not everything was organic and still lots of cheeto's, processed cereals, fruit drinks make it into our home.

So now we are going to make conscious decisions about what we buy and eat.   My vegetable eating friends I know your first question and no we are not going to be vegetarians, but our meat will be purchased in a way that we know it's humane, grass fed and local.  We eat many meatless meals but will have some meat in our diet. That is something my husband will never bend on & while I could be vegetarian 6 days a week that 7th I feel I need it.  Perhaps that will change but this is where we are at now. 

We are lucky we live where we do the 'salad bowl' of California where most of the salad greens that are shipped across the country are grown are fields I drive past frequently.  The climate is moderate year round I can get lots of variety of fruits, and vegetables. I can find a Farmer's Market 5 out of 7 days a week within a 10 min driving distance.  So we are lucky and that will make access easier.   BUT our hard wiring (we were raised as 'happy meal' kids too), our kids love of chicken nuggets, and our bank book are going to be the challenge.  

We are going to this gradual we have cupboards full of food, freezer full of stuff as well as the fridge.  So we will use up what we have and find new solutions to what we need.  I will share with you...my goal is to show it can be done.  That just because you are getting a 'good deal' on some crap processed box of food at the local grocery store what your feeding yourself and your family is a load of garbage.  If it cost a little more to make a change in my local economy, a change in the good of the planet, and a change to healthier eating then it is indeed priceless.   

The link is a good start...

10 steps to becoming a locavore 

Our priorities are going to be;

1.Local

2. Organic

3. Family Farm
4. Local Business

5. Fair Trade