Milk -- Grass Fed Dairies

For many people who know me, I tend to be a strong advocate for cows milk and you all at this point are probably saying "enough already". Primarily from the perspective that it is satisfying! Simply stated, I strongly believe that when you consume milk with meals or snacks, it provides greater satiety and therefore you are not as hungry later. Isn't that the experience that we all want our food to give us -- satiety and nourishment? We certainly know that the complexity of the proteins found in cow's milk can lead to that satiety, but is also balanced out with vitamins, minerals and fats.

Now, with that being said, there is a lot of controversy about milk including health benefits, but more importantly about how industrial dairy farms are operating here in the United States. Again, the horror stories of large industrial farms and their techniques for milking cows, literally makes me ill to my stomach and I do believe many of the stories to be true. So, once again what is one to do? Are you ready and willing to pay $5.00 - $6.00 per gallon of milk?

I cam across a website, eatwild, which is a fantastic resource for "safe, healthy, natural and nutritious grass-fed beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork, dairy and other wild edibles". The website has a Directory of Farms which lists over 800 pasture based farms throughout the country. We will discuss more about the other farms in future posts, but I want to particularly bring your attention to the ALL GRASS FED DAIRIES DIRECTORY. There are actually only a few grass fed dairies in the United States, which was surprising to me! I was happy to see that Minnesota's Cedar Summit Farm made the list. Cedar Summit Farm's milk is very available in the Twin Cities and is so delicious! There were two other farms listed on the directory in Minnesota, Green Pastures Dairy and PastureLand. You can buy food online directly from these farmers or you can visit the farms. I am already planning out some visits to stock up on supplies!

Grass fed cows produce milk that has higher quality vitamins, minerals, omega 3-fatty acids, I suppose the way "nature intended". I love milk and my clients love milk. Is it worth it to pay $6.00 a gallon to ensure that your milk is coming from happy cows that are humanely treated, are not stressed and are producing a much higher quality product -- I think so!

The Silver Bison Ranch

To continue with my carnivore theme...

Last weekend my family made a visit to a horse farm in Wisconsin. On our way back home to Minnesota, we stopped at the Silver Bison Ranch. The 1000 acre ranch is home to about 400 roaming buffalo. The buffalo eat the natural prairie grasses and are NEVER exposed to a feed lot or any "man-made" feed products. They are not given steroids or hormones to "fatten" them up. There is no use of pesticides or herbicides on the pasture and the water and land surrounding and part of the farm is protected. The farmers rotate their pastures to allow for adequate forage growth and to allow the "natural clean up of manure " by soil insects. These bison are raised humanely, they are happy and are living in a stress free environment surrounded by green trees, green grass, deer, butterflies and native plants.

There is a long American history and bison. It is believed that bison have been in existence in North America for over 10,000 years, first migrating to the plains of the Great Plains and Canada. In fact due to their grazing patterns bison helped shaped the ecology of the great plains. At one time bison was the most numerous species of mammals on earth, but during the mid 1800's they were hunted for their skin leaving the population near extinction. Bison herds started repopulating in the late 1800's/early 1900's and now there are over 400,000 today. Most of the herds today are not "pure breed" bison, but rather have been crossbred with cattle or genetically polluted. There are however still 4 genetically unmixed herds. All of the herds in the United States, except one are farmed and mainly raised for consumption. The one "wild" herd is located in Yellowstone National Park and consists of approximately 3000 - 3500 bison who roam in the wild and free.

Bison are nutritious and an excellent source of high quality lean protein, zinc, iron, copper, magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin b-6, niacin, vitamin b-12, selenium, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.

If you live in the Minneapolis area, there are some places where you can purchase The Silver Bison Ranch bison and they also service to some upscale restaurants. To find out where you can call the ranch at (715) 684-2811 or visit their shop which is approximately 35 miles east of Saint Paul. If you don't live in the area, you can call them and they do mail order.