Milk, it's what's for dinner

Have you heard about the recent surge in cow-to-table milk deliveries?? Tipping back a glass of fresh-as-it-gets milk may be taking over from other cow-tipping activities. With the demand for this stuff, it seems like they should have never gotten rid of the milkman a few decades ago. In our area, there's the whole cow-sharing option...which I'm kind of "out" on (you can read up on cow-sharing here http://www.hedgebrook.com/) and then there's the revival of the milk delivery days.

A couple of colleagues at work have been getting their milk and dairy delivered right to their door from a nearby farm in Maryland called South Mountain Creamery. When our boss brought in a tub of butter for Kate to try, we ran right to my desk to look up the creamery for ourselves. Check this place out- http://www.southmountaincreamery.com/home.php. We couldn't wait to order our first delivery to split: milk, eggs, butter and maybe some goat cheese. Oh, and a quart of cream for my morning coffee!

It's pretty cool! You can get everything from meats, artisanal cheeses, milk, eggs, butter and even other farm fresh goodies like jams and jellies. It's so easy, you just sign up, place an order, and your groceries are delivered to your door every week (or as often as you choose). Learning more about their near-organic processes and their 'anti' stance on pesticides and antibiotics made me thirsty for my first order. The cows are only fed what was grown on the farm, and are not cooped up in standing-room only stalls while getting pumped full of hormones and filler foods.

As soon as we settled in to our first home (stay tuned for my first homeowners post) I rushed to get online to place my first order, only to find out that Prince William County, and Manassas in particular, were not on the list of areas they service. I quickly composed an email to them, explaining that we'd love to be included on the route, and if there doest appear to be a demand in our area, we could most definitely generate one. If this sounds like a viable option for you and your family, I'd encourage you to research options in your area or write SMC a quick note, too. In response to the lack of service in our area, I strolled the aisles of Whole Foods looking fora a suitable alternative. I purchased some organic glass bottled milk from southern Virginia and had it with my cereal this morning -- and let me tell ya, there's something "wholesome" about milk fresh from the farm that makes life seem a whole lot less complicated.

Cheers!

Bethany