Dear Denice,
FYI we think the milk this go-round is delicious!!
Maybe it WAS the jugs?
Thanks for all your hard work!
Love getting comments like this.
Love getting comments like this.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Yea ... positive feedback
Well this has been such a happier week. The comment from members have been so positive ... here is one I received in today's email ...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Scheduling Challenge
In years past, when it came to scheduling driver's I just put out the dates and let people pick their choice. In general, it worked "okay" for the most part ... that is until someone new wanted to join the coop.
Since new members are suppose to drive within 9 weeks of joining the coop, it becomes the challenge to insert a new driver into a driving date. The potential problem with failing to get new member to make the drive to get our milk, is that if they get "bored" with doing the coop, they leave without contributing to the coop. In 2008, we had 3 new families who failed to contribute their time to pick up the coop products in SC.
Why did this happen?
Simple, senior members were not thrilled with letting the new member have their upcoming date and having to be shuffled to a later drive date.
Truth be told: I have been wimpy at dealing with this aspect of organizing the coop. So far I have not found a practical way to handle this aspect of the coop management.
I've been burned both by new incoming members as well as senior members.
Last spring when I substituted a new family into an upcoming spot, the member who had that spot believed she did not have to fulfill her obligation at a later date. Unknown to me, she was job searching in another state ~ had I known she might have been moving, I would not have taken that date. Since this new family took "her" spot, she believed she did not have an obligation to drive before she moved away for the area. Huh?! Obviously I did a poor job of handling this although I contacted her on every available milk run before she moved away to try to get her to make the trip; she just always had an excuse for not making the trip.
Then there were a couple senior members who had scheduled a date at the end of 2008. Due to a variety of circumstances, these families left the coop. Sadly, most of them did not offer to take a driving date before they left. Those who did make the offer to drive were working into the schedule and those people truly blessed our life.
So how should I schedule drivers??
Am thinking this year to ask each member family to prove me with 4 possible drive dates, one for each quarter along with a request they alert me if their status with the coop will be changing. This way I will have more flexibility with scheduling the families.
Of course I am sure that folks will grumble ... but hey, what's new??
Since new members are suppose to drive within 9 weeks of joining the coop, it becomes the challenge to insert a new driver into a driving date. The potential problem with failing to get new member to make the drive to get our milk, is that if they get "bored" with doing the coop, they leave without contributing to the coop. In 2008, we had 3 new families who failed to contribute their time to pick up the coop products in SC.
Why did this happen?
Simple, senior members were not thrilled with letting the new member have their upcoming date and having to be shuffled to a later drive date.
Truth be told: I have been wimpy at dealing with this aspect of organizing the coop. So far I have not found a practical way to handle this aspect of the coop management.
I've been burned both by new incoming members as well as senior members.
Last spring when I substituted a new family into an upcoming spot, the member who had that spot believed she did not have to fulfill her obligation at a later date. Unknown to me, she was job searching in another state ~ had I known she might have been moving, I would not have taken that date. Since this new family took "her" spot, she believed she did not have an obligation to drive before she moved away for the area. Huh?! Obviously I did a poor job of handling this although I contacted her on every available milk run before she moved away to try to get her to make the trip; she just always had an excuse for not making the trip.
Then there were a couple senior members who had scheduled a date at the end of 2008. Due to a variety of circumstances, these families left the coop. Sadly, most of them did not offer to take a driving date before they left. Those who did make the offer to drive were working into the schedule and those people truly blessed our life.
So how should I schedule drivers??
Am thinking this year to ask each member family to prove me with 4 possible drive dates, one for each quarter along with a request they alert me if their status with the coop will be changing. This way I will have more flexibility with scheduling the families.
Of course I am sure that folks will grumble ... but hey, what's new??
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Jug Change Request
In one of a recent conversation with Jennifer from Cows R Us (CRU), she mentioned that Dale had purchased some milk jugs that were different from our normal Yellow jugs. These jugs were clear with twist off caps.
After the most recent discouraging email from a member whose children were refusing the milk, I thought perhaps they saw the milk was from a different color jug than they were use to. Their mom had said that if they would not drink the milk, she would be dropping from the coop.
In hindsight it sounds rather lame, but God can use the goofiest opportunities for His glory.
On Wednesday, I emailed CRU requesting the coop milk be packaged in the clear jugs for the February 14 pick up. I explained that perhaps it was a psychological thing with the new kids not liking the milk. It was sort of a last ditch effort .... what did we have to lose??
After the most recent discouraging email from a member whose children were refusing the milk, I thought perhaps they saw the milk was from a different color jug than they were use to. Their mom had said that if they would not drink the milk, she would be dropping from the coop.
In hindsight it sounds rather lame, but God can use the goofiest opportunities for His glory.
On Wednesday, I emailed CRU requesting the coop milk be packaged in the clear jugs for the February 14 pick up. I explained that perhaps it was a psychological thing with the new kids not liking the milk. It was sort of a last ditch effort .... what did we have to lose??
Could It Be?
On Saturday, Jennifer from Cows R Us (CRU) called to inquire what I thought of this batch of milk. I admitted we had not sampled it yet as it just arrived in Smyrna. She asked I go get a glass while she had me on the phone. So I did ~ it taste good; I was not able to taste any "off" favor. I also had some of the Harmony milk in the fridge that was 2 weeks old but figured I'd do a taste test. They were amazingly similar. Dear hubie could not taste any difference as well. Kids still thought Harmony had less of "after taste" than CRU but said would drink either. Good thing as they will be getting CRU milk.
Did an informal poll with other coop members.
Did an informal poll with other coop members.
- One family said CRU milk tastes very good although still thinks it tastes basically the same at when it was in the Yellow Jugs. We could not compare those b/c we had no milk in Yellow Jugs.
- Other family said kids still complained of "funny" taste in CRU milk packaged in clear jugs. But she added a little chocolate milk and they were content to drink it.
- Last family said it tastes "okay" but still not as good as milk from where they use to live.
Eating Grass
Must have been something in my last email to Jennifer; I was so discouraged. The Tessier are so passionate about finding out the source of the taste issues.
Jennifer called to let me know she and husband Dale went into the pasture on a fact finding trip. They decided to do a taste test of the winter grasses.
For real!!
She said that the Rye has a very distinctive taste that was similar to the mystery taste in the milk.
Thankfully, the spring grasses will be up soon.
Feel pretty blessed the Tessier take this matter so seriously.
Sure would have liked to see Jennifer and Dale sampling their grass samples. :P
Jennifer called to let me know she and husband Dale went into the pasture on a fact finding trip. They decided to do a taste test of the winter grasses.
For real!!
She said that the Rye has a very distinctive taste that was similar to the mystery taste in the milk.
Thankfully, the spring grasses will be up soon.
Feel pretty blessed the Tessier take this matter so seriously.
Sure would have liked to see Jennifer and Dale sampling their grass samples. :P
Am I Bi-Polar?
The past weeks have been filled with so many highs and lows
After getting last email, I hurt ~ mostly emotionally; just wanted to quit. Sent the email to Jennifer, not as a complaint but just as a "help me, I am drowning in the sea of despair."
Brain has been on overload. Very tired and exhausted from dealing with the grind.
Praying for Cows, Jennifer and Dale, grasses, hay, feed, cleaning ....
Low: more complaints about taste issuesFeel like I am on a psycho roller-coaster.
Low: member may quit coop if can't find resolution to taste issues; kids won't drink
High: name of different dairy selling raw milk
High: dairy milk is very good
Low: reality check ~ can members handle "rustic" aspect of new dairy?
Low: reality check ~ what about if taste changes if we move?
High: support of coop in considering change
High: new member added ~ family loves milk
Low: stress of creating unbiased comparison
Low: stress of writing "strong" email to members
High: Cows R Us wins vote by clear majority
Low: coop member quits coop with lots of ugly written words
High: support from members that I was not offensive or rude
Low: coop member's kids refuse to drink CRU milk
After getting last email, I hurt ~ mostly emotionally; just wanted to quit. Sent the email to Jennifer, not as a complaint but just as a "help me, I am drowning in the sea of despair."
Brain has been on overload. Very tired and exhausted from dealing with the grind.
Praying for Cows, Jennifer and Dale, grasses, hay, feed, cleaning ....
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Joy and Pain of Managing Coop
There are times I wish I were not so passionate about Raw Milk. Running the coop mostly gives me great joy. In the past 2+ years, it has been so cool to bless a lot of families we would likely have not met if not for the coop.
On the other side of the joy is the pain and sorry when things go wrong. It gets really personal for me to want to fix the problem or to find the source of the problem.
Dealing with the taste issue really has put me in the pain category and a lot of less of the blessing category since November. At first it was easy to discount the kids not liking the milk as a seasonal change. But it lingered and then got worse!! Before when there have been taste issues they were short lived.
Pursing the problem just seemed to open more cans of worms. When I sent Jennifer Tessier at Cows R Us an email to alert her our group was having taste issues with the milk. Jennifer and I bounced around ideas; we did discuss the changes in the grass, we discussed perhaps it was the changes from a drought season to a rainy season. Over a couple weeks, I learned that perhaps the milk we use to get was less grass-fed and more grain-fed milk ~ truthfully, I could actually sort of understand this simply because of some Google Maps pictures I had seen of the Diamond Hill Dairy over the last 3 years; there was more orange clay showing than green grass. When there was not a taste issue with the milk, I just never questioned what the cows were eating.
The information I had been given verbally from other coop people and from what I read online about the dairy said Grass Fed. Well, like very thing else in live, it is all just words. Cage Free eggs does not mean the chicken are outside all day eating bugs, it means they are not locked in little cages; instead they most likely are in huge building size cages with dirt floors. Nice! So if the cows had access to some grass, then they would be grass fed. The information I read never said they were no fed feed and I never questioned how much feed they might be getting; nor did I ask where the feed came from or what it was a mix of.
Just thinking on what I did not ask or even know to ask, I cringe!
Bottom line: while the milk tasted yummy and did not upset my tummy, I was a happy camper. And so was generally everyone else.
Then there were the issues in our own home over the milk; while my kids still drank it, they just cut back their consumption by half. I pretty much had given up drinking milk for "pleasure" as well; I just did not crave it any longer. When I had it, the taste was not "bad" ~ it was just well "milk" ~ something to have with my lunch or dinner.
But now we were in a different place
unhappy kids = unhappy parents.
Unhappy parents = reduced membership
Big question: how long can coop survive
Often while searching for an answer I've made a fool of myself and most likely the Tessier family at CRU must think I am a bit crazy; here she and her husband have raised dairy cows for 20+ years and I am doing "armchair" diagnosis ... well maybe not diagnosing as much as throwing out ideas for Dale and Jennifer to consider. I console myself that at least I care enough to keep looking for an answer instead of just giving up and quitting.
In the midst of the pain of struggling with uncertainty, the frustrations, the disappointments, there were there have been many God moments. God moments shared with coop members, with the Tessier families, with my non-coop friends.
My sister suggested laying hands on the cow and praying for God healing. Okay, that would have taken me a leap of faith before this all happened, but through this process, Jennifer has often said that she needed to release it to God. So I mentioned the idea of laying hands on the cows to Jennifer. She didn't think it so nutty; she said she often uses that time to pray and she is with the cows, so why not lay hands on then and pray to God about them and their milk??
Another God moment happened when a new person to the coop emailed me that this situation was an attack of the enemy that did not want her family to eat healthy foods. She said if the kids would not drink the milk then she would have beautiful shiny hair and glowing skin ~ took me a second to realize that she was going to the milk for her beauty needs. It made me laugh in spite of the frustrations.
Struggling with helping people know what was at stake via email that often does not translate in a tone I was using in my head as I wrote it but in the tone the reader assumes was challenging. The issue of how transparent should I be with people was called into question.
I'd be a liar and a martyr if I said doing this and perservering through this mess has been easy; it has been gut wrentching. I have questioned: WHY AM I DOING THIS? IS IT WORTH IT?? DOES ANYONE ELSE GIVE A CARE??
The frustration of not being able to get stuff right the first time is a source of grief. The frustration comes in all shapes and sizes ... what bugs me today when the rest of my world is right could really upset my apple cart when my world is shaking and quaking.
Scheduling drivers is still a source of frustration ~ someday I will either to get a backbone and "assign" spots or figure out a way to juggle the senior members dates so that newbies drive within 6 weeks of joining; this way our group does not get stiffed with a no driver if the new member gets bored with drinking Raw Milk before they make their trip to the dairy. Still praying God will give me some Divine inspiration on that front.
Today the following passages of Romans 8 came to mind as I worked on this blog:
On the other side of the joy is the pain and sorry when things go wrong. It gets really personal for me to want to fix the problem or to find the source of the problem.
Dealing with the taste issue really has put me in the pain category and a lot of less of the blessing category since November. At first it was easy to discount the kids not liking the milk as a seasonal change. But it lingered and then got worse!! Before when there have been taste issues they were short lived.
Pursing the problem just seemed to open more cans of worms. When I sent Jennifer Tessier at Cows R Us an email to alert her our group was having taste issues with the milk. Jennifer and I bounced around ideas; we did discuss the changes in the grass, we discussed perhaps it was the changes from a drought season to a rainy season. Over a couple weeks, I learned that perhaps the milk we use to get was less grass-fed and more grain-fed milk ~ truthfully, I could actually sort of understand this simply because of some Google Maps pictures I had seen of the Diamond Hill Dairy over the last 3 years; there was more orange clay showing than green grass. When there was not a taste issue with the milk, I just never questioned what the cows were eating.
The information I had been given verbally from other coop people and from what I read online about the dairy said Grass Fed. Well, like very thing else in live, it is all just words. Cage Free eggs does not mean the chicken are outside all day eating bugs, it means they are not locked in little cages; instead they most likely are in huge building size cages with dirt floors. Nice! So if the cows had access to some grass, then they would be grass fed. The information I read never said they were no fed feed and I never questioned how much feed they might be getting; nor did I ask where the feed came from or what it was a mix of.
Just thinking on what I did not ask or even know to ask, I cringe!
Bottom line: while the milk tasted yummy and did not upset my tummy, I was a happy camper. And so was generally everyone else.
Then there were the issues in our own home over the milk; while my kids still drank it, they just cut back their consumption by half. I pretty much had given up drinking milk for "pleasure" as well; I just did not crave it any longer. When I had it, the taste was not "bad" ~ it was just well "milk" ~ something to have with my lunch or dinner.
But now we were in a different place
unhappy kids = unhappy parents.
Unhappy parents = reduced membership
Big question: how long can coop survive
Often while searching for an answer I've made a fool of myself and most likely the Tessier family at CRU must think I am a bit crazy; here she and her husband have raised dairy cows for 20+ years and I am doing "armchair" diagnosis ... well maybe not diagnosing as much as throwing out ideas for Dale and Jennifer to consider. I console myself that at least I care enough to keep looking for an answer instead of just giving up and quitting.
In the midst of the pain of struggling with uncertainty, the frustrations, the disappointments, there were there have been many God moments. God moments shared with coop members, with the Tessier families, with my non-coop friends.
My sister suggested laying hands on the cow and praying for God healing. Okay, that would have taken me a leap of faith before this all happened, but through this process, Jennifer has often said that she needed to release it to God. So I mentioned the idea of laying hands on the cows to Jennifer. She didn't think it so nutty; she said she often uses that time to pray and she is with the cows, so why not lay hands on then and pray to God about them and their milk??
Another God moment happened when a new person to the coop emailed me that this situation was an attack of the enemy that did not want her family to eat healthy foods. She said if the kids would not drink the milk then she would have beautiful shiny hair and glowing skin ~ took me a second to realize that she was going to the milk for her beauty needs. It made me laugh in spite of the frustrations.
Struggling with helping people know what was at stake via email that often does not translate in a tone I was using in my head as I wrote it but in the tone the reader assumes was challenging. The issue of how transparent should I be with people was called into question.
I'd be a liar and a martyr if I said doing this and perservering through this mess has been easy; it has been gut wrentching. I have questioned: WHY AM I DOING THIS? IS IT WORTH IT?? DOES ANYONE ELSE GIVE A CARE??
The frustration of not being able to get stuff right the first time is a source of grief. The frustration comes in all shapes and sizes ... what bugs me today when the rest of my world is right could really upset my apple cart when my world is shaking and quaking.
Scheduling drivers is still a source of frustration ~ someday I will either to get a backbone and "assign" spots or figure out a way to juggle the senior members dates so that newbies drive within 6 weeks of joining; this way our group does not get stiffed with a no driver if the new member gets bored with drinking Raw Milk before they make their trip to the dairy. Still praying God will give me some Divine inspiration on that front.
Today the following passages of Romans 8 came to mind as I worked on this blog:
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.The reason I drink Raw Milk is because I truly believe God wants us to get our foods from as close to the source as possible instead of relying on middle men or the government. There are many in our group who believe similarly.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The results: Cows R Us
The voting ended at 3PM Saturday.
Of the 16 families, 14 responded. However only 12 response were tallied. Our family and one other large volume family opted to abstain because we were okay with getting milk from either dairy.
Of the 12 remaining votes, here is the break down:
Of the 16 families, 14 responded. However only 12 response were tallied. Our family and one other large volume family opted to abstain because we were okay with getting milk from either dairy.
Of the 12 remaining votes, here is the break down:
Several of the families who voted for Cows R Us commented that although they preferred the taste of milk, they believed that we should continue with CRU as the taste has quality continued to improved during January. The majority of the families concurred that making a change to another dairy at this time would not be prudent.
Dairy Name
Families
total points
Cows R Us
10
40
2
9
Time to Consider what's important to each family
The hardest part was to write the email to the coop members. I did not want the members to just vote with their taste buds; I wanted all members to take the time review the photos and the comparison. If someone voted for , I expected them to make the trip to that dairy without negativity. Below is the email sent to all members before the ballot was sent out on Friday.
Dear Smyrna Coop member
Thank you for bearing with us as we tried another Dairy's product. By now your family should have tried both milk (perhaps even side by side blind taste test with kids) and have an idea of which milk your family likes best.
Please take the time to carefully read this email ~ your vote/voice matters. Voting information is below
Taste is a very important factor; one that my family takes seriously as well.
However, after fielding many complaints and concerns from returning drivers, during the last two years, who were "shocked" at what they observed at the dairy in the past, there is MUCH more to just what you define as great tasting milk.
I've said it in the past but it bears repeating today throughout the seasons, the milk will change as it should because it is a RAW product. We are not buying a standardized product. Point in case: how many of you would plants a tomato plant in your garden and then expect to harvest perfect tomatoes like you pick up at Publix or Kroger? Obviously if your family will not drink the milk period, you've got a problem. During the past 4 months, our family has not been consuming the same amount of milk as we normally do. Truthfully in November and December, the milk tasted a lot different; I was not going to the fridge for a glass of milk just because it was there. There were many factors at play: CRU has released the cows onto new pastures as well as trying new hays. Over the past 2 milk deliveries the CRU milk is much more similar to what we were use to previously. The milk picked up on 1/31 was very similar to 's milk ~ however there is a difference. My kids go through milk like it was Kool-Aid ~ I am happy that they love the milk and want to drink it. But they also thought Cows R Us tasted fine as well.
My PRIMARY concern with making a switch away from CRU, is that as our members make the trip to to pick up the coop's order, there will be complaints and grumbling about how "rustic" it is. Rustic is a polite word used often to really mean dirty, messy, unkempt, unclean. Reality check: does not have a gravel drive. It will be muddy if it rains around your pick-up date ~ your car will get dirty and muddy as will you. At you have to make an additional stop for ice, haul the ice into the refrigeration building, and then haul the bags out. You will not be able to pull your vehicle right up to the door to load milk. Peter anticipates always being present at to assist but if we switch to each driver will have more work. Also, today 's milk may be exactly what you want ... what do you propose to do if for some reason it changes?
Both Dairy family's are passionate about their product. I feel confident that both Dairies meet the SC Certified Grade A Raw Milk standards. At Cows R Us, everything is generally clean and sanitized ~ Jennifer Tessier is extremely cleanliness conscious ~ I am speaking from personal experience, having made 4 trips in the past eight months. At , some folks may view the dirt drive, many parts and pieces of farm equipment around the area as "dirty" or "unkempt." Frankly folks, I cannot begin to go there ~ I cannot pass judgment on if having what I personally think might be junk laying around is a sign of uncleanliness. I have not walked and/or worked a day in either of these farmers' lives so I cannot judge. By the way, Peter of has offered any coop member or family the opportunity to be a Dairy Farmer for the day complete with overnight lodging.
Each family is encouraged to give serious consideration to reviewing below resources in view of your family's personal cleanliness standards. I ask that you cast your ballot after weighing what is presented and perhaps prayerfully.
There is one attachment that is a comparison of each dairy farm. Then there are two slide shows that show the property and some aspects of both dairy; regretfully, the video that I took at was corrupted so I have not views or pictures of the inside of the buildings (milking parlor, tank room (where our milk will be bottled), processing area, refrigeration).
The standards for how the votes will be tabulated are also outlined below. Ballots will be sent out on Friday by 2 PM and are required back by 3PM on Saturday. If you will be away from your computer between Friday and Saturday, I highly recommend that you email or phone in your votes before Saturday 3PM.
Attached are the following for your family's consideration:
PDF: comparison of Cows R Us and (attached)
Slide shows:
Cows R Us: http://gs105.photobucket.com/groups/m233/DZK68862QX/?albumview=slideshow
: removed at request of Dairy owner
Voting: Each coop family, gets one vote.
Each vote's final value will be computed with a formula that will give your family's final total. The formula is based on the following: average numbers of gallons your family consumed during the six month of highest consumption for your family and that amount will be multiplied by the number of trips you made to pick up coop milk in 2008. Example for two families:
Formula computation: highest average consumption x 2008 trips to pick up coop order = total family's vote value
If Family A had voted for Dairy X, 12 points will be given to that dairy. If Family B voted for Dairy Y, 8 points will be given to that dairy.
- Family A: 4 gallons (highest average consumption) x 3 trips (in 2008 to pick up coop order) = 12 value
- Family B: 8 gallons x 1 trips = 8 value
Points for both dairies will be tallied ~ and the dairy with the most points will be our Dairy supplier.
Please understand it's my desire to provide each of family with a product they will love and enjoy. The goal to provide the fairest and most reasonable method to give every family a fair say in where this coop's gets their milk. Regardless of the outcome, I am very aware the coop will lose members when their choice does not win. This cannot be avoided as it is not reasonable to get milk from TWO dairies each week or even to alternate dairies.
This process has been grueling, time-consuming and at time gut-wrenching. This is not a process I desire to repeat in the near future (if ever).
Respectfully yours,
Creating a side by side comparison
While I was confident both dairies produced a safe nutrient dense product, it was important to paint a very clear picture of what each dairy offered ~ both positive and potentially negative. Having worked for so long with Jennifer on our various coop's issues, I knew how committed she was to finding an answer; after the mix-up about pick-up time with on 1/31, I was less certain he would be a pleasure to work with if our coop hit a bump.
We went through our pictures and uploaded them all to photobucket. Using their system, it was easy to arrange the pictures of both places into photo slide shows. I was disappointed when I went to upload the video taken on 1/17; both files were corrupted.
Putting together the comparison was a little bit more challenging. There was information about one dairy that was missing for the other. This required a couple of emails to the dairy to clarification. All the information was composed in a Word document and transferred to a PDF for viewing ease.
We went through our pictures and uploaded them all to photobucket. Using their system, it was easy to arrange the pictures of both places into photo slide shows. I was disappointed when I went to upload the video taken on 1/17; both files were corrupted.
Putting together the comparison was a little bit more challenging. There was information about one dairy that was missing for the other. This required a couple of emails to the dairy to clarification. All the information was composed in a Word document and transferred to a PDF for viewing ease.
1/31 Milk Run: Cows R Us and Harmony
Another milk weekend finds David and I traveling to SC. In the days before we went, I kept thinking on what I had seen as during the January 17 visit. Yes, the milk tastes clean, refreshing and creamy, but it is very rustic. My memories of the early months of the coop members visiting Diamond Hill Dairy for the first time kept popping in my head. Our coop had to be the biggest pain in the butt to Gloria and Winfield in those early months.
Most of the coop members were brand new to raw milk; they had purchased their milk from local grocery stores which was clean, bright and organized. Now they are being asked to drive their nice clean vehicles to a dusty, dirty (often muddy) farm complete with strong smells of cow manure and swarms of flies (especially as we headed into summer). The Transportation Bags ended up getting wet during loading; this wet mixed with the dust/dirt that tracked in from outside and of course was transferred into the nice clean interior of our driver's vehicles. Often there was no one around to assist putting the milk into the Transportation and hauling them out to the vehicles; many husbands can attest to their sore backs the next day.
Currently we were getting a product from a dairy farm who had incredible high standards for cleanliness. A place that has an ice machine on premise at a very reasonable price. There is more often a family member or employee available to help us with packing and loading.
I kept asking myself CAN I COPE WITH THE PLETHORA OF COMPLAINTS ALL OVER AGAIN?
I made a phone call to the other coop leader in Atlanta who purchased milk from and expressed my concerns. She related her members often grumbled after making the trip to . Most loved the milk but if they ended up making the trip on a wet/mucky day, they were generally unhappy and complaining of the experience on the return. One of her last drivers had to pick up their milk from the Tank Room because the owner had just finished bottling it. This driver made lots of negative comments about how disorganized the shed area was that he had to walk by. She also reported some members had complained about taste variances with . Okay ... so was the coop just jumping from a hot frying pan into the fire?? There were so many unknowns.
On the morning of January 31, I packed the camera and videos camera along with lots of extra paper to take notes.
IF WE WERE GOING TO CHANGE OUR DAIRY, I WANTED EVERYONE TO BE TOTALLY CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE AGREEING TO.
I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who really enjoys going on drives and who is generally good humored. The night before I had spent up with our 19 year old powering through a project of great importance ~ I crawled into bed at 5:30 and rolled out at 8:30 AM.
In my original (pre-drama) plan, we would stop by and pick up our order then head to CRU for that order. However, the day before, I received a request from 's owner to not arrive at there prior to 11 AM. So we flipped the plan ~ CRU first, then pickup.
CRU pick-up:
As we pulled in, the milk tanker truck was pulling away from the milk building. At the door, a note was posted stating "gone for lunch", a cell number, and instructions to call them for help. Through the window, I saw movement and as I walked inside there was Jennifer in her boots with a scrub brush and hot water was streaming from the stainless steel tank. She greeted us with a big smile and stopped cleaning to assist us with loading the bags.
As I opened the door, Jennifer pointed out the cream line of the jug in front of me. The cream line was almost to the base of the jug handle. WOW, it was about in the same position as what we had gotten last time from .
Jennifer packed the bags while David scooped ice over them and hauled them out to our vehicle. While they were working, I walked around snapping pictures of the property. Jennifer was very gracious and understanding of my situation. Her bottom line to me was she was putting this situation in God's hands.
pick-up:
As we were leaving CRU at 11:30, I had a message from my son saying that had called the house to find out where I was. In a brief call to , I explained we had to pick up from the other dairy first and would be there in approximately an hour. The owner did not fuss at me, but it was clear to me that he had expected me to make our pick up between 11 AM and noon. Oops ... sure didn't understand that from the email I had received. When we arrived at , I started taking pictures. I wanted everyone to see what they would be seeing when they had to make this trip. I took pictures of the entrance lane, the first cow gate (and how to latch it), the second cow gate (and how it had a different latch), the various views to be had as I walked up to where David had backed his vehicle up to the door of the processing room.
Peter entered the processing room and proceeded into the walk-in refrigerator. I started opening bags as David brought them in along with the ice we had picked up on our way to the farm. Peter brought out the gallons of milk in crates on a dolly; there were 4 gallons in each crate. David and I started loading bags while Peter went back to the walk-in refrigerator for the more milk. David and I packed bags and poured ice onto the jugs before zipping them up. As I grabbed a bag to haul to the vehicle, Peter said he'd help. So I went out and took more pictures.
We apologized for being late and inquired if it was important for our coop's driver to arrange a time to do pick up. The owner said he wanted the drivers to contact them by the Wednesday before the pick up to arrange when they would be coming. He confirmed their dairy was Certified for Grade A Raw Milk production by SC; David asked lots of questions about the last inspection. I decided I'd would make it a priority to verify the SC Certification.
After saying our farewells, I took lots of pictures of the only cows visible. Most of the cows in the area between the first and second cow gate were hanging out in a mucky area. The visual difference of the pastures readily viewed here were noticeably different than those of CRU. It looks like a lot of the grasses in this area were "winterized" (brown as apposed to green).
Trip back to Smyrna:
On the way back to Smyrna, we talked about what we had seen between the two farms. One thing that really stuck out to me was how similar the cream lines were between the two dairy products. That was encouraging as someone had commented that maybe 's milk had more butterfat/cream than CRU. Based on what I saw with my own eyes between the two, I thought IF there was a difference, it was SLIGHT.
I also pondered how to deal with the 3 families that emphatically stated they only wanted to purchase milk from . If they only took milk home and did not have any CRU milk to compare, wouldn't they just cast their vote for ?? I decided it was worth the sacrifice of 3 quart jar and a gallon of CRU milk so each family would be able to do a side-by-side comparison.
Then there was the question of how to make sure each family took at least 1/2 their order from each dairy's bags. We decided to color code the Order Tracking Sheet and the Transportation bags when we got to the house. Thank the Lord for colored construction paper I had not tossed and the ease of use with the Excel spreadsheet used for the Tracking Sheet.
Once we arrived back in Smyrna, we dashed around to get everything ready before making the CallingPost alert to our members. Thankfully our kids were having friends over for the night, so I was available to meet with each coop members as they picked up.
I explained to each member we had taken lots of pictures of each dairy as I was putting together a Dairy-to-Dairy comparison via email; the plan was to email get that done by Wednesday night.
Most of the coop members were brand new to raw milk; they had purchased their milk from local grocery stores which was clean, bright and organized. Now they are being asked to drive their nice clean vehicles to a dusty, dirty (often muddy) farm complete with strong smells of cow manure and swarms of flies (especially as we headed into summer). The Transportation Bags ended up getting wet during loading; this wet mixed with the dust/dirt that tracked in from outside and of course was transferred into the nice clean interior of our driver's vehicles. Often there was no one around to assist putting the milk into the Transportation and hauling them out to the vehicles; many husbands can attest to their sore backs the next day.
Currently we were getting a product from a dairy farm who had incredible high standards for cleanliness. A place that has an ice machine on premise at a very reasonable price. There is more often a family member or employee available to help us with packing and loading.
I kept asking myself CAN I COPE WITH THE PLETHORA OF COMPLAINTS ALL OVER AGAIN?
I made a phone call to the other coop leader in Atlanta who purchased milk from and expressed my concerns. She related her members often grumbled after making the trip to . Most loved the milk but if they ended up making the trip on a wet/mucky day, they were generally unhappy and complaining of the experience on the return. One of her last drivers had to pick up their milk from the Tank Room because the owner had just finished bottling it. This driver made lots of negative comments about how disorganized the shed area was that he had to walk by. She also reported some members had complained about taste variances with . Okay ... so was the coop just jumping from a hot frying pan into the fire?? There were so many unknowns.
On the morning of January 31, I packed the camera and videos camera along with lots of extra paper to take notes.
IF WE WERE GOING TO CHANGE OUR DAIRY, I WANTED EVERYONE TO BE TOTALLY CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE AGREEING TO.
I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who really enjoys going on drives and who is generally good humored. The night before I had spent up with our 19 year old powering through a project of great importance ~ I crawled into bed at 5:30 and rolled out at 8:30 AM.
In my original (pre-drama) plan, we would stop by and pick up our order then head to CRU for that order. However, the day before, I received a request from 's owner to not arrive at there prior to 11 AM. So we flipped the plan ~ CRU first, then pickup.
CRU pick-up:
As we pulled in, the milk tanker truck was pulling away from the milk building. At the door, a note was posted stating "gone for lunch", a cell number, and instructions to call them for help. Through the window, I saw movement and as I walked inside there was Jennifer in her boots with a scrub brush and hot water was streaming from the stainless steel tank. She greeted us with a big smile and stopped cleaning to assist us with loading the bags.
As I opened the door, Jennifer pointed out the cream line of the jug in front of me. The cream line was almost to the base of the jug handle. WOW, it was about in the same position as what we had gotten last time from .
Jennifer packed the bags while David scooped ice over them and hauled them out to our vehicle. While they were working, I walked around snapping pictures of the property. Jennifer was very gracious and understanding of my situation. Her bottom line to me was she was putting this situation in God's hands.
pick-up:
As we were leaving CRU at 11:30, I had a message from my son saying that had called the house to find out where I was. In a brief call to , I explained we had to pick up from the other dairy first and would be there in approximately an hour. The owner did not fuss at me, but it was clear to me that he had expected me to make our pick up between 11 AM and noon. Oops ... sure didn't understand that from the email I had received. When we arrived at , I started taking pictures. I wanted everyone to see what they would be seeing when they had to make this trip. I took pictures of the entrance lane, the first cow gate (and how to latch it), the second cow gate (and how it had a different latch), the various views to be had as I walked up to where David had backed his vehicle up to the door of the processing room.
Peter entered the processing room and proceeded into the walk-in refrigerator. I started opening bags as David brought them in along with the ice we had picked up on our way to the farm. Peter brought out the gallons of milk in crates on a dolly; there were 4 gallons in each crate. David and I started loading bags while Peter went back to the walk-in refrigerator for the more milk. David and I packed bags and poured ice onto the jugs before zipping them up. As I grabbed a bag to haul to the vehicle, Peter said he'd help. So I went out and took more pictures.
We apologized for being late and inquired if it was important for our coop's driver to arrange a time to do pick up. The owner said he wanted the drivers to contact them by the Wednesday before the pick up to arrange when they would be coming. He confirmed their dairy was Certified for Grade A Raw Milk production by SC; David asked lots of questions about the last inspection. I decided I'd would make it a priority to verify the SC Certification.
After saying our farewells, I took lots of pictures of the only cows visible. Most of the cows in the area between the first and second cow gate were hanging out in a mucky area. The visual difference of the pastures readily viewed here were noticeably different than those of CRU. It looks like a lot of the grasses in this area were "winterized" (brown as apposed to green).
Trip back to Smyrna:
On the way back to Smyrna, we talked about what we had seen between the two farms. One thing that really stuck out to me was how similar the cream lines were between the two dairy products. That was encouraging as someone had commented that maybe 's milk had more butterfat/cream than CRU. Based on what I saw with my own eyes between the two, I thought IF there was a difference, it was SLIGHT.
I also pondered how to deal with the 3 families that emphatically stated they only wanted to purchase milk from . If they only took milk home and did not have any CRU milk to compare, wouldn't they just cast their vote for ?? I decided it was worth the sacrifice of 3 quart jar and a gallon of CRU milk so each family would be able to do a side-by-side comparison.
Then there was the question of how to make sure each family took at least 1/2 their order from each dairy's bags. We decided to color code the Order Tracking Sheet and the Transportation bags when we got to the house. Thank the Lord for colored construction paper I had not tossed and the ease of use with the Excel spreadsheet used for the Tracking Sheet.
Once we arrived back in Smyrna, we dashed around to get everything ready before making the CallingPost alert to our members. Thankfully our kids were having friends over for the night, so I was available to meet with each coop members as they picked up.
I explained to each member we had taken lots of pictures of each dairy as I was putting together a Dairy-to-Dairy comparison via email; the plan was to email get that done by Wednesday night.
Responses from Coop Members about trial milk
The families selected to participate in the Milk Trail with products from 3 different were folks who had contacted me with concerned about the taste of Cows R Us milk. When each of these families picked up milk on January 17, they were asked to take at least 1 gallon from each dairy.
Within 24 hours, we had an 80 percent feedback. A few of the families did a blind taste test with all three products. Everyone reporting in stated they liked the taste of best, followed by Cows R Us with Milky Way coming in as a distant third. Our family also found we liked the taste of best but thought Cows R Us was a very close second; Milky Way ... well that milk ended up being used for pudding. Two gallons makes a lot of pudding.
Based on the feedback we had received, it was decided that each coop members would get 1/2 their January 31st milk pick up from and the other half from Cows R Us. Approximately a day later, I received an email from a woman whose name I did not recognize. In her email she reference a coop member's name and she were "sharing" milk and both of them agreed that Cows R Us milk tasted better and lasted longer. Okay ~ who the heck is this person, how did she get Milk, and what exactly does "sharing" the milk mean? After a couple of emails, I discovered we had a coop members who was buying milk through our coop for 3 families: her and 2 others. This was a member who also had not driven yet as well ~ how unfair is this when throughout the fall I was in desperate need for drivers!
I emailed the woman back along with including the coop member as a CC to the email stating this arrangement between these three families was not cool with our coop. HOWEVER, at this time, I could not deal with this "problem" but I would revisit it after the coop voted on which Dairy would be our supplier. The coop member responded stating they do whatever it took to make it right. Hmmmmm ... people sure can be bothersome!
Within 24 hours, we had an 80 percent feedback. A few of the families did a blind taste test with all three products. Everyone reporting in stated they liked the taste of best, followed by Cows R Us with Milky Way coming in as a distant third. Our family also found we liked the taste of best but thought Cows R Us was a very close second; Milky Way ... well that milk ended up being used for pudding. Two gallons makes a lot of pudding.
Based on the feedback we had received, it was decided that each coop members would get 1/2 their January 31st milk pick up from and the other half from Cows R Us. Approximately a day later, I received an email from a woman whose name I did not recognize. In her email she reference a coop member's name and she were "sharing" milk and both of them agreed that Cows R Us milk tasted better and lasted longer. Okay ~ who the heck is this person, how did she get Milk, and what exactly does "sharing" the milk mean? After a couple of emails, I discovered we had a coop members who was buying milk through our coop for 3 families: her and 2 others. This was a member who also had not driven yet as well ~ how unfair is this when throughout the fall I was in desperate need for drivers!
I emailed the woman back along with including the coop member as a CC to the email stating this arrangement between these three families was not cool with our coop. HOWEVER, at this time, I could not deal with this "problem" but I would revisit it after the coop voted on which Dairy would be our supplier. The coop member responded stating they do whatever it took to make it right. Hmmmmm ... people sure can be bothersome!
3rd Dairy stop on January 17: Milky Way
Our final stop was Milky Way Dairy in Starr SC. This dairy was listed on www.realmilk.com as a Certified Grade A Raw Milk dairy. Based on the number of cities listed, it appeared the dairy provided Raw Milk to many people and because it was basically the same distance as Cows R Us (CRU) and the price was the same, it was worth checking out. Based on the satellite views of the dairy from Google Maps, there was lots of green grass available to the cows.
I emailed the owner inquiring if it would be possible to pick up 12 gallons of milk on this Saturday. He said he could accommodate us and inquired what time we would be arriving. I had responded at 12:30 PM.
Our departure from CRU was later than we had expected but had been time well spent. The directions I had from CRU to Milky Way were "flawed" ~ we ended up on a 2 lane dirt road for about 4 miles; that was rather discouraging ~ David had lots of comments about what the coop members might have to say about having to take this road. I reminded him most likely they would not be taking this route to Milky Way ~ we finally found a paved road again ~ ah ha civilization.
Another 10 minutes and we arrived at Milky Way. As we approached, David pointed out the large grain silo. There was signage for Milky Way Dairy on the drive just past a large farm house. As we pulled in the gravel drive, we followed it back to building that looked similar to the CRU milk building. There was no signage as to where we were suppose to go and no people were around. Dogs came to greet us with their friendly barking, so we waited a few moments for someone to appear. No such luck.
There was an open doorway on the side of the building by where we had parked; as I walked towards it, I heard voices and followed them. To the left of the entry was an office-type area and to the right was another swinging door ~ one of the dogs pushed through the door. I partially opened the door and saw several farm hands in the milking parlor. I inquired if any of them were L.D. Peeler. They said no and turned back to what they were doing. Well so much for that avenue. I returned to our vehicle and gave David an update. Then I called the cell number from the email; no answer so left a message.
Since we were 15 minutes early, I suggested we might as well walk around the farm a bit. We started walking farther down the gravel drive and I noticed another door on the building. This door had a screen door which I opened and noticed a couple of large refrigerators and equipment similar to what we had seen at Harmony Dairy's production building. Bingo ~ we had found the milk.
We opted for taking a walk around for a couple of minutes. Just past the building I had nosed around, there was a large covered paddock area with a lot of cows corralled. This day was very mild with plenty of sunshine. I wondered aloud why the cows were not on pasture. The paddock area was all hard packed dirt. As we walked on a bit further, we noticed there were no cows anywhere visible except in the paddock area. We also observed a lack of fences, gates, etc. So where exactly were the pasture areas??
After about 5-7 minutes we returned to our vehicle, removed the 3 Transportation bags, and entered the room with the refrigeration units. David loaded the bags with the milk; we'd need to stop for ice after we left as we did not see an ice machine available. After loading the bags, we dawdled for a few more minutes; it was now 12:45 PM and we needed to head back to Smyrna.
Since this was our first time at Milky Way, I was uncertain what I should do with the check for the milk. I asked the guys in the Milking Parlor and one of them told me to just put it on the shelf of the fridge. I put the check in the fridge and we took off.
About 10 minutes after we had left the farm, the owner returned our call. I explained we had already left the dairy and stated where he could find the check.
Although the dairy/farm was set in a very visually pretty area, I was less than impressed by the owner not having someone to meet us and the people in the parlor's not inquiring if I needed assistance. I was also bothered about the cows not being on pasture at midday and the lack of visible fences. But in all fairness, because we had not met with the farmer, I might just not be understanding how his farm operated. We'd see what we thought of the Milky Way product.
I emailed the owner inquiring if it would be possible to pick up 12 gallons of milk on this Saturday. He said he could accommodate us and inquired what time we would be arriving. I had responded at 12:30 PM.
Our departure from CRU was later than we had expected but had been time well spent. The directions I had from CRU to Milky Way were "flawed" ~ we ended up on a 2 lane dirt road for about 4 miles; that was rather discouraging ~ David had lots of comments about what the coop members might have to say about having to take this road. I reminded him most likely they would not be taking this route to Milky Way ~ we finally found a paved road again ~ ah ha civilization.
Another 10 minutes and we arrived at Milky Way. As we approached, David pointed out the large grain silo. There was signage for Milky Way Dairy on the drive just past a large farm house. As we pulled in the gravel drive, we followed it back to building that looked similar to the CRU milk building. There was no signage as to where we were suppose to go and no people were around. Dogs came to greet us with their friendly barking, so we waited a few moments for someone to appear. No such luck.
There was an open doorway on the side of the building by where we had parked; as I walked towards it, I heard voices and followed them. To the left of the entry was an office-type area and to the right was another swinging door ~ one of the dogs pushed through the door. I partially opened the door and saw several farm hands in the milking parlor. I inquired if any of them were L.D. Peeler. They said no and turned back to what they were doing. Well so much for that avenue. I returned to our vehicle and gave David an update. Then I called the cell number from the email; no answer so left a message.
Since we were 15 minutes early, I suggested we might as well walk around the farm a bit. We started walking farther down the gravel drive and I noticed another door on the building. This door had a screen door which I opened and noticed a couple of large refrigerators and equipment similar to what we had seen at Harmony Dairy's production building. Bingo ~ we had found the milk.
We opted for taking a walk around for a couple of minutes. Just past the building I had nosed around, there was a large covered paddock area with a lot of cows corralled. This day was very mild with plenty of sunshine. I wondered aloud why the cows were not on pasture. The paddock area was all hard packed dirt. As we walked on a bit further, we noticed there were no cows anywhere visible except in the paddock area. We also observed a lack of fences, gates, etc. So where exactly were the pasture areas??
After about 5-7 minutes we returned to our vehicle, removed the 3 Transportation bags, and entered the room with the refrigeration units. David loaded the bags with the milk; we'd need to stop for ice after we left as we did not see an ice machine available. After loading the bags, we dawdled for a few more minutes; it was now 12:45 PM and we needed to head back to Smyrna.
Since this was our first time at Milky Way, I was uncertain what I should do with the check for the milk. I asked the guys in the Milking Parlor and one of them told me to just put it on the shelf of the fridge. I put the check in the fridge and we took off.
About 10 minutes after we had left the farm, the owner returned our call. I explained we had already left the dairy and stated where he could find the check.
Although the dairy/farm was set in a very visually pretty area, I was less than impressed by the owner not having someone to meet us and the people in the parlor's not inquiring if I needed assistance. I was also bothered about the cows not being on pasture at midday and the lack of visible fences. But in all fairness, because we had not met with the farmer, I might just not be understanding how his farm operated. We'd see what we thought of the Milky Way product.
2nd Dairy stop on January 17: Cows R Us
Our next stop of the day was at Cows R Us in Iva. Truthfully I am very pro Cows R Us (CRU) because of my frequent conversations with the owner Jennifer Tessier. We have been so impressed with the family's level of commitment to their first venture into the Raw Milk industry. When they purchased the farm, they had over 20 years experience in Dairy farming. So seriously how different can Raw Milk be? Milk is milk; right?? The learning curve has been a challenge. Working with a commercial producer is a lot easier than dealing with a cross-cut of humanity that visit their farm to purchase milk directly from them. Sadly, the customers from the previous owners have been pretty challenging. Instead of looking around at all the improvements with a sense of wonder and appreciation of having someone available to help them load, many spent time haranguing Jennifer about cows need or do not need to make quality milk.
It was approximately 10:50 AM when we arrived at CRU. There was something new at the entrance to the drive: A beautiful, large, colorful sign!!
The milk tanker truck was in front of the milk building and the producer's employee was just detaching the hose from the stainless steel tank. We did not see any of the CRU family around but we have done this a time or two, so we started loading bags. David had only loaded about 2 bags when Jennifer walked in apologizing for not being present when we arrived. She explained she was trying to get a bite to eat and was not sure when we were expected. We really should have called her before we got there but had failed to do so with the craziness of today's mad Dairy dash.
Jennifer filled our bags, I scooped ice over the milk jugs before sealing them and David hauled them out to our vehicle. While working, Jennifer and I discussed the frustrations the coop was having with the milk situation; I told her some members were requesting we look into other dairy options. I asked Jennifer if she was okay with me taking pictures of the Dairy for me to show our members all the improvements to the property since they had taken over in July. While I am sure that Jennifer was not thrilled with the news the coop was looking at other dairies, she was very pleasant and gave me permission to walk around the dairy buildings and property to get some pictures.
One thing I have really liked about CRU since the change is how open and transparent Jennifer has been about their processes. I asked if I could go into the Milking Parlor for pictures and she took me without any hesitation. She pointed out how the cows entered and exited the area. It was fresh smelling and in places the ground was still wet from being sprayed down. I took pictures of the main room of the milk building which contains the refrigeration units and the Stainless Steel cooling tank.
As we walked outside, several of the cows approached and I was able to get some nice pictures. Jennifer pointed out the bales of hay out in the pasture explaining the cows were able to free fed of them as they desired; she explained hay was important to them as it provided "roughage" for their digestive system. I noticed some cows were in the pasture on the other side of the drive and inquired why they were segregated from the other cows on pasture. Jennifer explained these cows were either momma-to-be or had recently calved. There was also a new red building on the other side of the drive which I inquired about. Jennifer stated CRU decided to build that building to store the milk jugs; they were able to get a better price break by buying in volume.
Jennifer asked me to keep her informed about what happened with the coop before we headed out.
Next stop, Milky Way ~ we told the owner to expect us at 12:30. Time to get gone.
It was approximately 10:50 AM when we arrived at CRU. There was something new at the entrance to the drive: A beautiful, large, colorful sign!!
The milk tanker truck was in front of the milk building and the producer's employee was just detaching the hose from the stainless steel tank. We did not see any of the CRU family around but we have done this a time or two, so we started loading bags. David had only loaded about 2 bags when Jennifer walked in apologizing for not being present when we arrived. She explained she was trying to get a bite to eat and was not sure when we were expected. We really should have called her before we got there but had failed to do so with the craziness of today's mad Dairy dash.
Jennifer filled our bags, I scooped ice over the milk jugs before sealing them and David hauled them out to our vehicle. While working, Jennifer and I discussed the frustrations the coop was having with the milk situation; I told her some members were requesting we look into other dairy options. I asked Jennifer if she was okay with me taking pictures of the Dairy for me to show our members all the improvements to the property since they had taken over in July. While I am sure that Jennifer was not thrilled with the news the coop was looking at other dairies, she was very pleasant and gave me permission to walk around the dairy buildings and property to get some pictures.
One thing I have really liked about CRU since the change is how open and transparent Jennifer has been about their processes. I asked if I could go into the Milking Parlor for pictures and she took me without any hesitation. She pointed out how the cows entered and exited the area. It was fresh smelling and in places the ground was still wet from being sprayed down. I took pictures of the main room of the milk building which contains the refrigeration units and the Stainless Steel cooling tank.
As we walked outside, several of the cows approached and I was able to get some nice pictures. Jennifer pointed out the bales of hay out in the pasture explaining the cows were able to free fed of them as they desired; she explained hay was important to them as it provided "roughage" for their digestive system. I noticed some cows were in the pasture on the other side of the drive and inquired why they were segregated from the other cows on pasture. Jennifer explained these cows were either momma-to-be or had recently calved. There was also a new red building on the other side of the drive which I inquired about. Jennifer stated CRU decided to build that building to store the milk jugs; they were able to get a better price break by buying in volume.
Jennifer asked me to keep her informed about what happened with the coop before we headed out.
Next stop, Milky Way ~ we told the owner to expect us at 12:30. Time to get gone.
1st Dairy stop on January 17: Harmony
Our first stop of the day was in Westminster. It was out in the country and about 20 minutes closer to Atlanta. Following our Google directions, we found what we thought was the right driveway ~ as we pulled into the dirt drive, there was a cow gate blocking the way. David noticed a man walking towards us so we got out to greet him. It was 's owner Peter. He pointed out that we would need to drive down to the Diary which meant we had to travel through two cow gates. He opened the gate for us and closed it behind us. We drove to the other gate and waited for him to open the gate for us to proceed through.
As we stepped from our vehicle, Peter noticed our footwear and commented that we wore the correct shoes. He elaborated if it was wet, the area where we were standing and our vehicle was parked was often muddy. Folks coming to pick up milk were advised to wear "work" shoes. Since the ground in the area was more dirt with a little gravel mixed in it was easy to imagine how mucky it could get during raining times.
Peter took us into the Milk Parlor and showed us the operation. There were two cows still being milked. Peter explained that each cow was hand fed during the milking process. He pointed out that his system used Pyrex collection bottle to collect the cows milk. After the cows was finished milking and the milk was visually inspected, it was released into the stainless steel system. Peter explained that he preferred this method because he was able to notice problems with a cow from the milk they were producing. He said those what use stainless steel collection, find out problems from what is collected within the filter system and then have to backtrack to the problem cow. While Peter was talking I was videotaping the Milking Parlor, the cows, the Pyrex collection bottles ~ trying to capture it for our members.
Peter also discussed how some of the competing dairy farmers used herbicides on their pastures. He explained had been pesticide and herbicide free since 1994. Also all the hay that was consumed by the cows was grown directly on the farm. A negative that Peter stated about the lack of herbicide use was that sometime the cows could get into a batch of wild onion, Bitter weed or even blackberries. He stated any of these would change the flavor of the milk. The worse of the three was Bitter weed which left a bitter after taste. When questioned about how handled that situation, Peter replied he would replace any problem milk as long as it was refrigerated under 40 degrees.
We were then taken into the tank room which was adjacent to the Milking Parlor. The twelve gallons we were purchasing were on the floor beside the tank. Peter explained he has just finished bottling them when he heard the farms dogs start barking. Since the temperature that morning was a brisk 20 degrees, I was not concerned the milk had been sitting.
Peter took us into the processing building located next to the building containing the milking parlor and tank room. He explained had a license to do low temperature pasteurization and sold to local stores. He showed us the door to the walk-in refrigerator but he warned us we might not want to inspect it because the carcass of a sow he had slaughter was inside. We opted not to do a visual inspection on that note.
David and I packed the 12 gallons into the Transportation bags, thanked Peter and headed to our next destination. Our impressions were that Peter was very passionate about his farm, his animals and the product they produced. My concerns were our coop members would not appreciate the rustic farm setting. If they had problems with Diamond Hill's standards of "cleanliness" and "neatness" what on earth would they think of the shed by the entrance to the Milk Parlor door that was filled with an assortment of farming tools and equipment; much less the a sundry vehicles and farm equipment around the farm yard??
We stopped at the gas station and purchased ice to fill the Transportation Bags filled with Milk. At $1.39 for 7 pounds, there was an added expense.
Next stop, Cows R Us.
As we stepped from our vehicle, Peter noticed our footwear and commented that we wore the correct shoes. He elaborated if it was wet, the area where we were standing and our vehicle was parked was often muddy. Folks coming to pick up milk were advised to wear "work" shoes. Since the ground in the area was more dirt with a little gravel mixed in it was easy to imagine how mucky it could get during raining times.
Peter took us into the Milk Parlor and showed us the operation. There were two cows still being milked. Peter explained that each cow was hand fed during the milking process. He pointed out that his system used Pyrex collection bottle to collect the cows milk. After the cows was finished milking and the milk was visually inspected, it was released into the stainless steel system. Peter explained that he preferred this method because he was able to notice problems with a cow from the milk they were producing. He said those what use stainless steel collection, find out problems from what is collected within the filter system and then have to backtrack to the problem cow. While Peter was talking I was videotaping the Milking Parlor, the cows, the Pyrex collection bottles ~ trying to capture it for our members.
Peter also discussed how some of the competing dairy farmers used herbicides on their pastures. He explained had been pesticide and herbicide free since 1994. Also all the hay that was consumed by the cows was grown directly on the farm. A negative that Peter stated about the lack of herbicide use was that sometime the cows could get into a batch of wild onion, Bitter weed or even blackberries. He stated any of these would change the flavor of the milk. The worse of the three was Bitter weed which left a bitter after taste. When questioned about how handled that situation, Peter replied he would replace any problem milk as long as it was refrigerated under 40 degrees.
We were then taken into the tank room which was adjacent to the Milking Parlor. The twelve gallons we were purchasing were on the floor beside the tank. Peter explained he has just finished bottling them when he heard the farms dogs start barking. Since the temperature that morning was a brisk 20 degrees, I was not concerned the milk had been sitting.
Peter took us into the processing building located next to the building containing the milking parlor and tank room. He explained had a license to do low temperature pasteurization and sold to local stores. He showed us the door to the walk-in refrigerator but he warned us we might not want to inspect it because the carcass of a sow he had slaughter was inside. We opted not to do a visual inspection on that note.
David and I packed the 12 gallons into the Transportation bags, thanked Peter and headed to our next destination. Our impressions were that Peter was very passionate about his farm, his animals and the product they produced. My concerns were our coop members would not appreciate the rustic farm setting. If they had problems with Diamond Hill's standards of "cleanliness" and "neatness" what on earth would they think of the shed by the entrance to the Milk Parlor door that was filled with an assortment of farming tools and equipment; much less the a sundry vehicles and farm equipment around the farm yard??
We stopped at the gas station and purchased ice to fill the Transportation Bags filled with Milk. At $1.39 for 7 pounds, there was an added expense.
Next stop, Cows R Us.
2009 Dairy Trials
After getting the last order of December 2008, we had more comments out the Cows R Us milk. One mom said her children would not drink it; in two other families, only the guys were drinking the milk. How frustrating not only to deal with dissatisfied members but also to be the bearer of bad news to Jennifer at CRU.
The decision was made to switch back to an every 2 week schedule instead of a 3 week schedule. We had switched to the every 3 week schedule because membership was down and gas prices were close to $4 a gallon; which meant that the driver's gas was costing between $50 - 70 each trip. We were not even ordering 70 gallons per trip, so often the $1 per gallon coop fee did not cover the cost of gas much less ice or other expenses. Now that gas was under $2 a gallon, we could afford to go back to an every two week delivery schedule.
We had not scheduled any drivers for 2009 so David and I opted to make the trip to S. Carolina to visit two certified Grade A Raw Milk dairies on the day we picked up our coop's order from CRU. The dairies we visited were Harmony in Westminster, SC and Milky Way in Starr, SC. Both dairies assured us that they would have 12 gallons of milk available for us to purchase ~ we had decided to have the members who had issues try some other dairies milk with their 1/17 order.
The decision was made to switch back to an every 2 week schedule instead of a 3 week schedule. We had switched to the every 3 week schedule because membership was down and gas prices were close to $4 a gallon; which meant that the driver's gas was costing between $50 - 70 each trip. We were not even ordering 70 gallons per trip, so often the $1 per gallon coop fee did not cover the cost of gas much less ice or other expenses. Now that gas was under $2 a gallon, we could afford to go back to an every two week delivery schedule.
We had not scheduled any drivers for 2009 so David and I opted to make the trip to S. Carolina to visit two certified Grade A Raw Milk dairies on the day we picked up our coop's order from CRU. The dairies we visited were Harmony in Westminster, SC and Milky Way in Starr, SC. Both dairies assured us that they would have 12 gallons of milk available for us to purchase ~ we had decided to have the members who had issues try some other dairies milk with their 1/17 order.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Trouble brewing
Late Fall 2008, the calls started from some members complaining that the milk from Cows R Us tasted different. Having just returned from a two week trip to Arizona and Utah where we were exposed to two different raw dairy farm, I knew that milk taste can alter from place to place and from season to season.
I guess it seemed like it was common sense: a raw product will reflect changes to the environment more so than a product that is processed and sold through a grocery store. Throughout the 2 years we've drank raw milk, it's taste and texture had changed from time to time. But the overall product was fine. When it was rich, sweet and creamy, we drank a lot; when it was just ... well, milk, we drank less.
At this point, the only course was to alert the dairy to find out if they were doing something different. And to attempt to placate the members who had issues as best we could. I diligently purused the internet looking for reasons why grass fed raw milk could change in taste. There were blogs from other dairy sources around the states that discussed weather and change of seasons affecting the milk taste.
Jennifer Tessier of Cows R Us was very concerned over the complaints. She was very excited because they had just been able to let the cows onto the new pastures that were planted in during the summer. And here our coop was raining on her excitement.
However, I was aware that something was going on with the milk with other members as well. Although some folks were not making negative comments, the numbers per order were changing. Some of it may have been from holiday travels and less milk needed, but it was noticeable.
Sometime between Thanksgiving and New Years, a coop member approached me with the name of another S. Carolina Raw Dairy. Because of the holiday, I did not take any action with the information.
I guess it seemed like it was common sense: a raw product will reflect changes to the environment more so than a product that is processed and sold through a grocery store. Throughout the 2 years we've drank raw milk, it's taste and texture had changed from time to time. But the overall product was fine. When it was rich, sweet and creamy, we drank a lot; when it was just ... well, milk, we drank less.
At this point, the only course was to alert the dairy to find out if they were doing something different. And to attempt to placate the members who had issues as best we could. I diligently purused the internet looking for reasons why grass fed raw milk could change in taste. There were blogs from other dairy sources around the states that discussed weather and change of seasons affecting the milk taste.
Jennifer Tessier of Cows R Us was very concerned over the complaints. She was very excited because they had just been able to let the cows onto the new pastures that were planted in during the summer. And here our coop was raining on her excitement.
However, I was aware that something was going on with the milk with other members as well. Although some folks were not making negative comments, the numbers per order were changing. Some of it may have been from holiday travels and less milk needed, but it was noticeable.
Sometime between Thanksgiving and New Years, a coop member approached me with the name of another S. Carolina Raw Dairy. Because of the holiday, I did not take any action with the information.
Cows R Us History
July 2008, Diamond Hill Dairy changed owners to become Cows R Us (CRU).
It is so hard to give up what you a comfortable with. We were use to how things had been handled with Diamond Hill for the past 18 month. It was hard to say good-bye to the owners but we were hopeful the new owners would work out; not like we had any viable options.
David and I drove to the Dairy. The first thing that struck us as we turned the corner from Wall St was there were no more trees. The entrance was wide open and easy to see. The drive was graded and graveled. We pulled in and were immediately greeted by a lady who approached us with hand outstretched. She introduced herself as Jennifer Tessier and introduced us to the other family members present: her teenage son, her daughter and small grand-baby.
Her daughter and son assisted David getting the bags into the pick-up area while I spoke with Jennifer. I was unable to assist because I was on crutches. Jennifer and I talked about how our coop had been doing business with Diamond Hill; it was decided we would continue the same procedures for ordering and pick-up.
Before we loaded the truck, we realized the truck keys were locked inside the truck. It took over an hour for AAA to find us and open the door. The iced down bags of milk stayed inside the building until we were ready to go.
During that hour, we got to know Jennifer and her family well. She shared her dreams for the Dairy ~ this property and the business were to be Dale and Jennifer's retirement property. They had been commercial dairy farmer for over 25 years, first in Vermont and then in S. Carolina. They were looking to get away from the big commercial aspect and looking forward to improving this property for their home and for the cows.
In additional to clearing the woods at the front of the property and the obvious driveway improvements, Jennifer also pointed out the acreage that had been clear-cut and seeded for additional pastures for the cows. We discussed the herd ~ many of the cows were old. Especially when the average life of dairy cow in a commercial dairy is 7 years, most of the cows purchased from Diamond Hill were over 10 years in age.
Jennifer related CRU were working with a veterinarian. This professional was concerned with many of the animals health; he considered many to be undernourished. He recommended a qualified Animal Nutritionist to work with the Tessier to bring the dairy cows to optimum health.
As we were leaving that day, I truly felt that milk supply was in good hands.
It is so hard to give up what you a comfortable with. We were use to how things had been handled with Diamond Hill for the past 18 month. It was hard to say good-bye to the owners but we were hopeful the new owners would work out; not like we had any viable options.
David and I drove to the Dairy. The first thing that struck us as we turned the corner from Wall St was there were no more trees. The entrance was wide open and easy to see. The drive was graded and graveled. We pulled in and were immediately greeted by a lady who approached us with hand outstretched. She introduced herself as Jennifer Tessier and introduced us to the other family members present: her teenage son, her daughter and small grand-baby.
Her daughter and son assisted David getting the bags into the pick-up area while I spoke with Jennifer. I was unable to assist because I was on crutches. Jennifer and I talked about how our coop had been doing business with Diamond Hill; it was decided we would continue the same procedures for ordering and pick-up.
Before we loaded the truck, we realized the truck keys were locked inside the truck. It took over an hour for AAA to find us and open the door. The iced down bags of milk stayed inside the building until we were ready to go.
During that hour, we got to know Jennifer and her family well. She shared her dreams for the Dairy ~ this property and the business were to be Dale and Jennifer's retirement property. They had been commercial dairy farmer for over 25 years, first in Vermont and then in S. Carolina. They were looking to get away from the big commercial aspect and looking forward to improving this property for their home and for the cows.
In additional to clearing the woods at the front of the property and the obvious driveway improvements, Jennifer also pointed out the acreage that had been clear-cut and seeded for additional pastures for the cows. We discussed the herd ~ many of the cows were old. Especially when the average life of dairy cow in a commercial dairy is 7 years, most of the cows purchased from Diamond Hill were over 10 years in age.
Jennifer related CRU were working with a veterinarian. This professional was concerned with many of the animals health; he considered many to be undernourished. He recommended a qualified Animal Nutritionist to work with the Tessier to bring the dairy cows to optimum health.
As we were leaving that day, I truly felt that milk supply was in good hands.
History of 1st supplier: Diamond Hill Dairy
We formed the coop in December 2006. Our SC Raw Milk Grade A supplier was a very small dairy called Diamond Hill Diary.
I had originally found them through www.realmilk.com when David and I were making a trip to N. Carolina. After getting rather lost, we found the farm. We pulled up to this little house and noticed the sign on the door indicating that milk was inside. As I stepped out of the car, my nose was assaulted be the smell of cows and their waste products. I had to remind myself I was at a farm, not as Publix. Once we entered the building, the smell was gone.
The set up was simple; to the immediate left was a desk with a note explaining the self-serve process. There was a row of large refrigeration units beside the desk. On the other side of the room was a large stainless steel tank. The room was not really dirty or clean; it looked similar to other farm areas we'd seen in the past. We purchased two gallons of milk and left our check where requested.
After we started the coop in Smyrna, we continued on with Diamond Hill Dairy.
We learned the dairy was owned by an elderly couple. I met the wife on our first coop trip; she assisted us with filling the bags.
Once the Smyrna coop started, we began to get comments about the condition of the dairy pick-up area. Members commented on the dirt, the mud, the smell. It was quickly apparent that the owners of the dairy were not interested in window dressing to sell their product.
One coop family went to pick up milk one Saturday morning and the dairy had run out of bottled products. The family observed the husband bottling the milk from the Stainless Steel tank; he was not wearing gloves. Instead of questioning the dairy people themselves, they brought back their complaints to my door mat. Of course, this concern along with the other negative comments only give me a belly ache.
There was not question that everyone loved the product and we had reports from SC stating the dairy was still complying and passing all inspection.
One big problem we kept encountering was people expected the dairy to look like the picture on their website. Trust me on this ... the website picture was clip-art the website developer sold the farm. The picture was of a large bed barn against a large field of Kelly green grass; it was the picture of where you wanted to get milk. The reality was a rutted, loose gravel road to a small brick building where we picked up milk. It was no visually attractive and then there was the farm smell to contend.
After making the dairy aware of the complaints and concerns of our members, they created a letter to "Our City Friends." The letter thanked them for their business and educationed them they were purchasing a product direct from a farm where their were live animals, dirt and farmy smells. It was well written and was given to all members before they made the trip. This letter, seemed to do the trick with the complaints from those making the trip to the dairy.
Of course, we still had complaints from other sources. Like the mom who was upset that her milk had spoilt after her husband stopped by the store on the way home; the raw milk was not on ice and they lived 20 minutes away. This mom believed that the dairy should either refund her money or replace the product. In 90 percent of the complaints with Diamond Hill Dairy, it was the end users error causing spoilage issues.
In the beginning of 2008, Diamond Hill raised their prices from $3.50 a gallon to $4.00 a gallon. We were also informed they were looking for a buyer for the farm/dairy.
Our coop was informed in May 2008 that Diamond Hill Dairy had been sold to a local family who would be continuing the dairy as Cows R Us.
The story will continue ....
I had originally found them through www.realmilk.com when David and I were making a trip to N. Carolina. After getting rather lost, we found the farm. We pulled up to this little house and noticed the sign on the door indicating that milk was inside. As I stepped out of the car, my nose was assaulted be the smell of cows and their waste products. I had to remind myself I was at a farm, not as Publix. Once we entered the building, the smell was gone.
The set up was simple; to the immediate left was a desk with a note explaining the self-serve process. There was a row of large refrigeration units beside the desk. On the other side of the room was a large stainless steel tank. The room was not really dirty or clean; it looked similar to other farm areas we'd seen in the past. We purchased two gallons of milk and left our check where requested.
After we started the coop in Smyrna, we continued on with Diamond Hill Dairy.
We learned the dairy was owned by an elderly couple. I met the wife on our first coop trip; she assisted us with filling the bags.
Once the Smyrna coop started, we began to get comments about the condition of the dairy pick-up area. Members commented on the dirt, the mud, the smell. It was quickly apparent that the owners of the dairy were not interested in window dressing to sell their product.
One coop family went to pick up milk one Saturday morning and the dairy had run out of bottled products. The family observed the husband bottling the milk from the Stainless Steel tank; he was not wearing gloves. Instead of questioning the dairy people themselves, they brought back their complaints to my door mat. Of course, this concern along with the other negative comments only give me a belly ache.
There was not question that everyone loved the product and we had reports from SC stating the dairy was still complying and passing all inspection.
One big problem we kept encountering was people expected the dairy to look like the picture on their website. Trust me on this ... the website picture was clip-art the website developer sold the farm. The picture was of a large bed barn against a large field of Kelly green grass; it was the picture of where you wanted to get milk. The reality was a rutted, loose gravel road to a small brick building where we picked up milk. It was no visually attractive and then there was the farm smell to contend.
After making the dairy aware of the complaints and concerns of our members, they created a letter to "Our City Friends." The letter thanked them for their business and educationed them they were purchasing a product direct from a farm where their were live animals, dirt and farmy smells. It was well written and was given to all members before they made the trip. This letter, seemed to do the trick with the complaints from those making the trip to the dairy.
Of course, we still had complaints from other sources. Like the mom who was upset that her milk had spoilt after her husband stopped by the store on the way home; the raw milk was not on ice and they lived 20 minutes away. This mom believed that the dairy should either refund her money or replace the product. In 90 percent of the complaints with Diamond Hill Dairy, it was the end users error causing spoilage issues.
In the beginning of 2008, Diamond Hill raised their prices from $3.50 a gallon to $4.00 a gallon. We were also informed they were looking for a buyer for the farm/dairy.
Our coop was informed in May 2008 that Diamond Hill Dairy had been sold to a local family who would be continuing the dairy as Cows R Us.
The story will continue ....
Why sponsor a Milk Coop in Smyrna?
Bottom line: we believe raw milk is the most nutritious beverage for our family bar none. Getting milk directly from the source became a passion after learning of it through reading The Maker's Diet. What I read made a lot of sense.
Many ask why we don't get milk from a local source in Georgia. We opted for getting our milk from a SC certified Grade A Raw Milk supply simply because of my liver disorder. My liver has issues coping with the normal stuff I consume ~ introducing a product that may or may not have potentially deadly pathogens was not an option. My immune system might not be able to cope. It was too big a risk.
Whereas in most other areas of our life, we are for less government, we found that in dealing with a raw product, we wanted to have government oversight. S. Carolina Grade A Raw Dairies are required to follow stringent testing to ensure the safety of the product.
Once my children tasted the raw milk product, they never looked back.
During the three years we have drank raw milk, we have experienced many health benefits. My symptoms of the liver disorder is markedly less. Our youngest son's pediatrician recommended that we consider growth hormone therapy because he was not growing and his dentist had recommended some radical steps to deal with his palate because of overcrowding. Within six months of starting raw milk, both issues resolved themselves.
When we started raw milk, we traveled to a coop that was about an hour each way from our home. We quickly found that we were ordering about 5-6 gallons every week. The kids loved the stuff; they began to drink it all the time. They quit requesting soda pop and sports drink. What mother wouldn't want her kids to drink a nutrient dense product instead of sugar filled flavored water?
Soon we found others in our community who wanted to try the raw milk as well. It is the old "if you build it, they will come" mentality. We have found many people locally who want this wonderful product. Pretty soon, it just made sense to try to organize a coop locally.
Many ask why we don't get milk from a local source in Georgia. We opted for getting our milk from a SC certified Grade A Raw Milk supply simply because of my liver disorder. My liver has issues coping with the normal stuff I consume ~ introducing a product that may or may not have potentially deadly pathogens was not an option. My immune system might not be able to cope. It was too big a risk.
Whereas in most other areas of our life, we are for less government, we found that in dealing with a raw product, we wanted to have government oversight. S. Carolina Grade A Raw Dairies are required to follow stringent testing to ensure the safety of the product.
Once my children tasted the raw milk product, they never looked back.
During the three years we have drank raw milk, we have experienced many health benefits. My symptoms of the liver disorder is markedly less. Our youngest son's pediatrician recommended that we consider growth hormone therapy because he was not growing and his dentist had recommended some radical steps to deal with his palate because of overcrowding. Within six months of starting raw milk, both issues resolved themselves.
When we started raw milk, we traveled to a coop that was about an hour each way from our home. We quickly found that we were ordering about 5-6 gallons every week. The kids loved the stuff; they began to drink it all the time. They quit requesting soda pop and sports drink. What mother wouldn't want her kids to drink a nutrient dense product instead of sugar filled flavored water?
Soon we found others in our community who wanted to try the raw milk as well. It is the old "if you build it, they will come" mentality. We have found many people locally who want this wonderful product. Pretty soon, it just made sense to try to organize a coop locally.
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