Author Topic: A Gallon of Milk  (Read 21235 times)

Eric

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A Gallon of Milk
« on: January 22, 2014, 05:47:01 PM »
In line behind someone at the Sprouts produce store last night, where I was picking up multiple pounds of Fuji apples at $.88/lb and a big bag of broccoli at $.33/lb on the last day of a sale.  (My second helping of the sale in 5 days).  All this guy had was a gallon of milk.  When the clerk rang it up, I thought it was an error.  $14.99!  For one gallon of milk.  The guy just swiped his card and said he didn't need a receipt.  Holy cannoli!  I wouldn't want a receipt either if it showed I spent $14.99 on a gallon of milk!  It took all my will power to not comment.  All of it.

(I think it was organic raw whole milk, from cows who obviously get a daily massage and an acre of land each)

Russ

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2014, 05:54:44 PM »
I hope he at least got whole milk

Daniel

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2014, 06:25:00 PM »
My take away: I need to start looking into sprouts sales! $.33/lb for broccoli!

Eric

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2014, 06:29:33 PM »
My take away: I need to start looking into sprouts sales! $.33/lb for broccoli!

They seem to have at least one or two ridiculously priced items a week.  The loss leaders to get you into the store to buy the $15 milk.  :)

iamlindoro

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2014, 08:01:47 PM »
In line behind someone at the Sprouts produce store last night, where I was picking up multiple pounds of Fuji apples at $.88/lb and a big bag of broccoli at $.33/lb on the last day of a sale.  (My second helping of the sale in 5 days).  All this guy had was a gallon of milk.  When the clerk rang it up, I thought it was an error.  $14.99!  For one gallon of milk.  The guy just swiped his card and said he didn't need a receipt.  Holy cannoli!  I wouldn't want a receipt either if it showed I spent $14.99 on a gallon of milk!  It took all my will power to not comment.  All of it.

(I think it was organic raw whole milk, from cows who obviously get a daily massage and an acre of land each)

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've paid that much for a gallon of raw goat milk at Sprouts.  I used it to make cheese at home that would have cost me quite a lot more had I bought it.  I think the raw, unpasteurized cow milk is similar or same in price too.

I await the day I can go straight to a dairy farm when I retire to a more rural location :)

Nords

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2014, 10:51:41 PM »
These stories are a lot more humorous when you don't drink milk...

greaper007

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2014, 11:18:24 PM »
These stories are a lot more humorous when you don't drink milk...

Come on man, don't you like cheap conventional milk filled with puss and sadness?

galliver

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2014, 01:00:45 AM »
I've been known to call that "college educated [food]"

Referencing a humorous article on fads in "healthy eating" that no one else I know read, wherein the author's wife "picked up a chicken. [The author] looked at the price tag and put it back, explaining that [they] were planning to eat the chicken, not put it through college." I have to explain the reference to every new person. But they seem to pick it up readily.

GuitarStv

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2014, 08:37:09 AM »
(I think it was organic raw whole milk, from cows who obviously get a daily massage and an acre of land each)

Well, seeing that it was raw whole milk  . . . at least the milk he was paying more for was less safe than the cheaper alternative.

acroy

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2014, 08:38:41 AM »
whew - I don't pay $15/gal unless it has 40% ethanol in it...

Quark

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2014, 09:09:25 AM »
Ouch...I pay $10 for a gallon of raw whole milk that I pick up from the farm here in TX....which I only buy every two months to make yogurt that lasts 2 months, so its actually cost effective. I don't drink milk but I would stop for sure if I had to buy a gallon every week for that much. Hopefully by the time I have kids I'll have my own cow.

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2014, 10:23:09 AM »
I've been known to call that "college educated [food]"

+1, love it.

SO and I have roommates who LOVE using store coupons, thinking they're saving sooo much when buying name-brand items for $1 off, even when they weren't planning on buying the item in the first place! Of course they never price compare to the store-brand, which most of the time is still even cheaper...

Clever Name

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2014, 10:43:16 AM »
$10-15/gallon is what milk should cost.  The fact that you can buy it so much cheaper is indicative of systemic problems with our current food production system (including unnecessary government subsidies for the dairy industry and a total lack of reasonable standards for animal welfare).

MgoSam

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2014, 10:48:31 AM »
$10-15/gallon is what milk should cost.  The fact that you can buy it so much cheaper is indicative of systemic problems with our current food production system (including unnecessary government subsidies for the dairy industry and a total lack of reasonable standards for animal welfare).

THIS! I think we as a society have forgotten the true cost and value of the things we consume. Meat should be way more expensive than it is, and likely should be consumed less often that it is. Of course, it is hard to understand how much a steak or pound of beef should cost when you can get a cheeseburger from McD's for a dollar.

YK-Phil

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2014, 11:11:09 AM »
Just take a look at this little homemade video about food prices in Nunavut, Arctic Canada. And these prices are 5 years old, in some cases they have almost doubled. Basic fruits and veggies, when you can find them, are always past their best before date and would be thrown elsewhere in the country, but there, they stay on the shelves much longer...I lived in the High Arctic for over 10 years and even with a very good salary and benefit package, I could not afford to buy my groceries there. Luckily people like me with good jobs and good credit -I'd day less than 5% of the residents- could order from the Southern stores through annual sealift for dry goods, and weekly or monthly by air for fresh produce. Those who can't do that have no other choice but to shop "locally". While the cost of shipping is admittedly very high and the retailers have to add this to the actual cost of an item, they also have a monopoly and just mark it up retail prices to insane levels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz0YYkvG_Lg

AllChoptUp

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2014, 12:17:51 PM »
Pretty much what Clever Name said, except I've seen figures closer to $9 a gallon.

We buy organic raw whole milk from a Mennonite family here in central PA for $8 a gallon.  That stuff is heaven and takes weeks to go bad because they pretty much milk the cows, test it and deliver it a day or two later.  My three year old loves it and is, happily, an extremely healthy kid.

dragoncar

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #16 on: January 23, 2014, 12:23:02 PM »
Just take a look at this little homemade video about food prices in Nunavut, Arctic Canada. And these prices are 5 years old, in some cases they have almost doubled. Basic fruits and veggies, when you can find them, are always past their best before date and would be thrown elsewhere in the country, but there, they stay on the shelves much longer...I lived in the High Arctic for over 10 years and even with a very good salary and benefit package, I could not afford to buy my groceries there. Luckily people like me with good jobs and good credit -I'd day less than 5% of the residents- could order from the Southern stores through annual sealift for dry goods, and weekly or monthly by air for fresh produce. Those who can't do that have no other choice but to shop "locally". While the cost of shipping is admittedly very high and the retailers have to add this to the actual cost of an item, they also have a monopoly and just mark it up retail prices to insane levels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz0YYkvG_Lg

Sounds like the perfect environment for cooperative buying.

Dr.Vibrissae

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #17 on: January 23, 2014, 03:59:15 PM »
Pretty much what Clever Name said, except I've seen figures closer to $9 a gallon.

We buy organic raw whole milk from a Mennonite family here in central PA for $8 a gallon.  That stuff is heaven and takes weeks to go bad because they pretty much milk the cows, test it and deliver it a day or two later.  My three year old loves it and is, happily, an extremely healthy kid.

How long does it take you to drink a gallon of milk (or how much do you buy at a time?) that you know it takes weeks to go bad?  Growing up I could consume almost two gallons a week by myself, my family only started to have milk spoil once I moved out of the house haha.  I drink much less now, but only because I'm to cheap to buy as much as the two of us could consume if we went hog wild and drank it with every meal like we might otherwise.

ketchup

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #18 on: January 23, 2014, 04:02:46 PM »
$10-15/gallon is what milk should cost.  The fact that you can buy it so much cheaper is indicative of systemic problems with our current food production system (including unnecessary government subsidies for the dairy industry and a total lack of reasonable standards for animal welfare).

THIS! I think we as a society have forgotten the true cost and value of the things we consume. Meat should be way more expensive than it is, and likely should be consumed less often that it is. Of course, it is hard to understand how much a steak or pound of beef should cost when you can get a cheeseburger from McD's for a dollar.
Yes, this.  We get raw Guernsey milk locally here in IL from a farm and we pay $10 a gallon.  People think of $2 milk as reasonable, but that's subsidized, and in addition to that, is promoting the production process that leads to $2 milk, to which I am opposed (factory farming and all kinds of nastiness).  It's not cheap food; it's expensive food.  It just doesn't look that way on the surface.  And no, if you're paying $10 a gallon for milk, you don't drink it with every meal and go on a $70/week milk budget.  If apples went up to $15/lb, I would eat fewer apples.  The price of something should reflect the true cost of production and stimulate it being treated with appropriate value.

Oh, and raw milk is fucking delicious.  "Whole milk" from the grocery store only has to have a minimum of 3.25% butterfat (I think that's the number).  I know the raw milk we buy has more than that (I think Guernsey milk has 4.5%).  Whole milk from the store tastes depressing and watered down to me now.

dragoncar

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #19 on: January 23, 2014, 05:37:10 PM »
Pretty much what Clever Name said, except I've seen figures closer to $9 a gallon.

We buy organic raw whole milk from a Mennonite family here in central PA for $8 a gallon.  That stuff is heaven and takes weeks to go bad because they pretty much milk the cows, test it and deliver it a day or two later.  My three year old loves it and is, happily, an extremely healthy kid.

How long does it take you to drink a gallon of milk (or how much do you buy at a time?) that you know it takes weeks to go bad?  Growing up I could consume almost two gallons a week by myself, my family only started to have milk spoil once I moved out of the house haha.  I drink much less now, but only because I'm to cheap to buy as much as the two of us could consume if we went hog wild and drank it with every meal like we might otherwise.

If I bought a gallon of milk, I'd probably be throwing out 0.95 gallons after a few weeks.

Cinder

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2014, 06:51:12 AM »
Pretty much what Clever Name said, except I've seen figures closer to $9 a gallon.

We buy organic raw whole milk from a Mennonite family here in central PA for $8 a gallon.  That stuff is heaven and takes weeks to go bad because they pretty much milk the cows, test it and deliver it a day or two later.  My three year old loves it and is, happily, an extremely healthy kid.

How long does it take you to drink a gallon of milk (or how much do you buy at a time?) that you know it takes weeks to go bad?  Growing up I could consume almost two gallons a week by myself, my family only started to have milk spoil once I moved out of the house haha.  I drink much less now, but only because I'm to cheap to buy as much as the two of us could consume if we went hog wild and drank it with every meal like we might otherwise.

If I bought a gallon of milk, I'd probably be throwing out 0.95 gallons after a few weeks.

Ditto.  I always have this internal struggle of 'but it's cheaper per fluid ounce to buy a gallon then a half gallon' but a gallon of milk would spoil on us. 

Biggest thing that slowed our milk consumption... I now have oatmeal in the morning instead of cereal.  Much more filling, and less milk consumption. 

Indio

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2014, 07:28:15 AM »
We consume so much dairy we need our own cow or goat. Grass fed, free range milk goes for $6 a half gallon in beautiful CT. For the amount of milk, yogurt, butter, buttermilk, farmer cheese, cream cheese, milk kefir we consume it would be cheaper for me to feed and milk my own goat in the backyard. I've thought about it but the neighbors are already nuts over the chickens.
I never throw out milk. If you don't drink the milk it can be turned into sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk. Expired milk doesn't need to go down the drain.

prodarwin

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #22 on: January 24, 2014, 07:31:00 AM »
I'm going to pretend I didn't see most of the posts in this thread and live in my world of denial.  $3.50 a gallon whole milk from Costco is delicious.  I drink ~2 gallons/week and love it.

AllChoptUp

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #23 on: January 24, 2014, 07:37:15 AM »
Quote
Quote from:  Dr.Vibrissae

How long does it take you to drink a gallon of milk (or how much do you buy at a time?) that you know it takes weeks to go bad?  Growing up I could consume almost two gallons a week by myself, my family only started to have milk spoil once I moved out of the house haha.  I drink much less now, but only because I'm to cheap to buy as much as the two of us could consume if we went hog wild and drank it with every meal like we might otherwise.

We buy it every two weeks - that's the periodicity of the dairy's drop point in our little town.  We buy 6 to 8 gals to last 2 weeks, we have to hold ourselves back from going hog wild. It's pricey and will make you fat really fast if you chug 16 oz at dinner every night. :(  I have to use small juice glasses for hubby and I or we lose control.  We drink it straight, in coffee (i love lattes) and make kefir with it.  Used to make yogurt too but the kefir covers our probiotic needs.

I know it lasts up to 3 weeks because we've had them in the fridge that long - a rare occurence though.

nico demouse

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #24 on: January 24, 2014, 07:47:48 AM »
$10-15/gallon is what milk should cost.  The fact that you can buy it so much cheaper is indicative of systemic problems with our current food production system (including unnecessary government subsidies for the dairy industry and a total lack of reasonable standards for animal welfare).

THIS! I think we as a society have forgotten the true cost and value of the things we consume. Meat should be way more expensive than it is, and likely should be consumed less often that it is. Of course, it is hard to understand how much a steak or pound of beef should cost when you can get a cheeseburger from McD's for a dollar.
Yes, this.  We get raw Guernsey milk locally here in IL from a farm and we pay $10 a gallon.  People think of $2 milk as reasonable, but that's subsidized, and in addition to that, is promoting the production process that leads to $2 milk, to which I am opposed (factory farming and all kinds of nastiness).  It's not cheap food; it's expensive food.  It just doesn't look that way on the surface.  And no, if you're paying $10 a gallon for milk, you don't drink it with every meal and go on a $70/week milk budget.  If apples went up to $15/lb, I would eat fewer apples.  The price of something should reflect the true cost of production and stimulate it being treated with appropriate value.

Oh, and raw milk is fucking delicious.  "Whole milk" from the grocery store only has to have a minimum of 3.25% butterfat (I think that's the number).  I know the raw milk we buy has more than that (I think Guernsey milk has 4.5%).  Whole milk from the store tastes depressing and watered down to me now.

Ketchup, I bet you are in the same are of IL as me. There's a raw Guernsey farm close by me, too.

FWIW, we pay about $8/gallon for organic, grass fed, non homogenized milk to be delivered to our home in glass bottles, buy 90% of all our other food local and organic and STILL manage to keep a fairly mustachean grocery budget.

Russ

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #25 on: January 24, 2014, 08:01:16 AM »
I never throw out milk. If you don't drink the milk it can be turned into sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk. Expired milk doesn't need to go down the drain.

+1

I do about a quart a week each of milk and yogurt, so I buy a gallon of milk and drink it for two weeks and then turn the rest into yogurt before it goes bad.

senecando

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #26 on: January 24, 2014, 08:10:37 AM »
I didn't know so many--for lack of a better word--grown-ups drank milk regularly. Do you drink it during breakfast?

But I forgot about cereal. Is that what it is?

(and it looks like I'll have to cross the border into IL for some raw cheese-makin' milk pretty soon.)

Russ

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #27 on: January 24, 2014, 08:25:08 AM »
I rarely drink it straight, I guess my post was misleading... about 1/3 of mine goes into lattes and hot chocolates, and the rest into ice cream, fancy sauces, oatmeal, baked things, pancakes, etc.

senecando

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #28 on: January 24, 2014, 08:28:36 AM »
I'm not much of a baker so I always forget that dairy gets all up in there.

prodarwin

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #29 on: January 24, 2014, 08:43:06 AM »
I didn't know so many--for lack of a better word--grown-ups drank milk regularly. Do you drink it during breakfast?


Yes.

Also lunch.
And dinner.
And between meals.
And in protein shakes.

jba302

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #30 on: January 24, 2014, 08:50:10 AM »
I would gladly pay $9/gallon for raw milk here in MN just as I did in CT, just can't find it here. I don't care for the taste of regular whole milk now, but I can easily go through 2 gallons/week on my own.

ketchup

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #31 on: January 24, 2014, 09:10:30 AM »
$10-15/gallon is what milk should cost.  The fact that you can buy it so much cheaper is indicative of systemic problems with our current food production system (including unnecessary government subsidies for the dairy industry and a total lack of reasonable standards for animal welfare).

THIS! I think we as a society have forgotten the true cost and value of the things we consume. Meat should be way more expensive than it is, and likely should be consumed less often that it is. Of course, it is hard to understand how much a steak or pound of beef should cost when you can get a cheeseburger from McD's for a dollar.
Yes, this.  We get raw Guernsey milk locally here in IL from a farm and we pay $10 a gallon.  People think of $2 milk as reasonable, but that's subsidized, and in addition to that, is promoting the production process that leads to $2 milk, to which I am opposed (factory farming and all kinds of nastiness).  It's not cheap food; it's expensive food.  It just doesn't look that way on the surface.  And no, if you're paying $10 a gallon for milk, you don't drink it with every meal and go on a $70/week milk budget.  If apples went up to $15/lb, I would eat fewer apples.  The price of something should reflect the true cost of production and stimulate it being treated with appropriate value.

Oh, and raw milk is fucking delicious.  "Whole milk" from the grocery store only has to have a minimum of 3.25% butterfat (I think that's the number).  I know the raw milk we buy has more than that (I think Guernsey milk has 4.5%).  Whole milk from the store tastes depressing and watered down to me now.

Ketchup, I bet you are in the same are of IL as me. There's a raw Guernsey farm close by me, too.

FWIW, we pay about $8/gallon for organic, grass fed, non homogenized milk to be delivered to our home in glass bottles, buy 90% of all our other food local and organic and STILL manage to keep a fairly mustachean grocery budget.
The farm I'm talking about is in Malta; our pickup point is from the family's house in Glen Ellyn (We're in Oswego).  Between raw milk runs, we'll occasionally get Kalona whole milk from Whole Foods (~$6.50/gal, organic, grass fed, non-homogenized).  It's the closest thing we can find to the raw Guernsey milk, although there's still really no comparison.  Assuming you're right about being near me, where do you get the rest of your local organic food?  We've gotten meat and eggs from a few "nearby" farms, and in the summer we go to the Farmer's market a lot (and last year we also did a CSA for veggies).  This winter though it's been a lot of Costco, Meijer, and Whole Foods for produce (plenty of farm meat still in the freezer).

I didn't know so many--for lack of a better word--grown-ups drank milk regularly. Do you drink it during breakfast?

But I forgot about cereal. Is that what it is?

(and it looks like I'll have to cross the border into IL for some raw cheese-makin' milk pretty soon.)
With breakfast, yes usually.  But not on cereal.  Later in the day I tend to prefer kefir.  We don't drink a whole lot of straight milk, but we use it in cooking and make kefir.

Be careful crossing state lines with raw milk.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but the FDA has a massive bug up it's butt about raw milk laws.  It's legitimately frightening.

nico demouse

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #32 on: January 24, 2014, 11:44:20 AM »

The farm I'm talking about is in Malta; our pickup point is from the family's house in Glen Ellyn (We're in Oswego).  Between raw milk runs, we'll occasionally get Kalona whole milk from Whole Foods (~$6.50/gal, organic, grass fed, non-homogenized).  It's the closest thing we can find to the raw Guernsey milk, although there's still really no comparison.  Assuming you're right about being near me, where do you get the rest of your local organic food?  We've gotten meat and eggs from a few "nearby" farms, and in the summer we go to the Farmer's market a lot (and last year we also did a CSA for veggies).  This winter though it's been a lot of Costco, Meijer, and Whole Foods for produce (plenty of farm meat still in the freezer).

Yep, same farm. :)

So, we do veg, fruit, and dairy as a CSA from Sandhill Organics. Milk from Freshpicks (Castle Rock). Meat CSA from Walnut Acres every other month. Eggs from Ferndell Farms. We so a seasonal and surprisingly affprdable blueberry CSA plus one for apples. Several once a year bulk purchases of things like onions, potatoes, peaches, apples... We supplement with bulk buys from Azure Standard, Frontier Wholesale, and from a local foods group on Facebook, and a once in a while trip to Costco or TJs to grab any odds and ends we might want that I don't make at home. Half the money saving is just that we almost never go to the grocery store any more. No temptation. Plus I'm pretty hardcore into the canning and preserving, so that helps. And we have a home garden as well.

You are farther west than me, though.


Miamoo

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #33 on: January 24, 2014, 04:07:52 PM »
Who's in Malta?

Here's one in Cortland . . .

http://nadigfamilyfarm.com/

Milk $8/gal and very reasonable prices on beef & pork.  Not to mention some really nice people running it.

greaper007

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #34 on: January 24, 2014, 09:35:27 PM »
You guys realize that Bota box wine is only $.93 a serving, right?   That's about the same price, and you can catch a buzz.

dragoncar

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #35 on: January 24, 2014, 09:37:55 PM »
You guys realize that Bota box wine is only $.93 a serving, right?   That's about the same price, and you can catch a buzz.

I wonder if this would work on milk:

http://spikeyourjuice.com/

greaper007

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #36 on: January 24, 2014, 09:45:34 PM »
You guys realize that Bota box wine is only $.93 a serving, right?   That's about the same price, and you can catch a buzz.

I wonder if this would work on milk:

http://spikeyourjuice.com/

Experimentation is the cornerstone of civilization.   

ketchup

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #37 on: January 24, 2014, 10:22:21 PM »

The farm I'm talking about is in Malta; our pickup point is from the family's house in Glen Ellyn (We're in Oswego).  Between raw milk runs, we'll occasionally get Kalona whole milk from Whole Foods (~$6.50/gal, organic, grass fed, non-homogenized).  It's the closest thing we can find to the raw Guernsey milk, although there's still really no comparison.  Assuming you're right about being near me, where do you get the rest of your local organic food?  We've gotten meat and eggs from a few "nearby" farms, and in the summer we go to the Farmer's market a lot (and last year we also did a CSA for veggies).  This winter though it's been a lot of Costco, Meijer, and Whole Foods for produce (plenty of farm meat still in the freezer).

Yep, same farm. :)

So, we do veg, fruit, and dairy as a CSA from Sandhill Organics. Milk from Freshpicks (Castle Rock). Meat CSA from Walnut Acres every other month. Eggs from Ferndell Farms. We so a seasonal and surprisingly affprdable blueberry CSA plus one for apples. Several once a year bulk purchases of things like onions, potatoes, peaches, apples... We supplement with bulk buys from Azure Standard, Frontier Wholesale, and from a local foods group on Facebook, and a once in a while trip to Costco or TJs to grab any odds and ends we might want that I don't make at home. Half the money saving is just that we almost never go to the grocery store any more. No temptation. Plus I'm pretty hardcore into the canning and preserving, so that helps. And we have a home garden as well.

You are farther west than me, though.


WOW!  That is some great information.  I might have to message you at some point for some specifics.  Thanks!
Who's in Malta?

Here's one in Cortland . . .

http://nadigfamilyfarm.com/

Milk $8/gal and very reasonable prices on beef & pork.  Not to mention some really nice people running it.
http://www.iloverawmilk.com/  They are super awesome, and have a pickup location relatively close to us.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2014, 10:31:58 PM by ketchup »

JR

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #38 on: January 25, 2014, 10:19:12 AM »
How much for a gallon of organic human breast milk? Grass fed of course!

lcg377

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #39 on: January 25, 2014, 01:17:45 PM »
I would gladly pay $9/gallon for raw milk here in MN just as I did in CT, just can't find it here. I don't care for the taste of regular whole milk now, but I can easily go through 2 gallons/week on my own.

What part of MN do you live in? There are a few producers listed here: http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder/minnesota/#mn

You can probably look up your local farmer's market to see if any of them are available there.


Nords

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #41 on: January 25, 2014, 07:58:44 PM »
These stories are a lot more humorous when you don't drink milk...
Come on man, don't you like cheap conventional milk filled with puss and sadness?
It's expensive around here to begin with, and it goes bad faster than we drink it.  I've lost track of Hawaii's dairy industry, too, but last time I checked most of our cow's milk was flown in from the Mainland.

Almond milk seems to last forever, and without refrigeration too.

Like ykphil says about food in the Arctic: when you've eaten submarine food underwater for 90+ days, you get a lot less picky.  Except that even today I can't stand the sight/smell/taste of three-bean salad.

CanuckExpat

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #42 on: January 25, 2014, 11:48:59 PM »
I don't drink milk but I would stop for sure if I had to buy a gallon every week for that much. Hopefully by the time I have kids I'll have my own cow.

We consume so much dairy we need our own cow or goat.

How feasible is this really; I assume the difficult part would be keeping them constantly producing milk, if you wanted it to you be your only source of dairy, you would need multiple animals right?

soccerluvof4

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #43 on: January 28, 2014, 01:37:29 PM »
4 kids- 6 gallons a week...Solution for us. Aldis. $2.29-2.49 a gallon for skim. Personally I cant drink a glass of Milk. Yuck!

jba302

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #44 on: January 28, 2014, 02:51:41 PM »
How feasible is this really; I assume the difficult part would be keeping them constantly producing milk, if you wanted it to you be your only source of dairy, you would need multiple animals right?

Depends on how good your land is for grazing primarily. I have some dairy cow friends and asked about this, and was told up here in MN 1 acre would be sufficient if the ground was planted correctly (lots of high protein, etc) to need virtually no assistance in feed. Some spots in Texas are like 80 acres without any outside feed inputs. Dairy cows can produce milk for a long time but produce the most when they are pregnant around once a year: 9-12 months on, 3 months off.

Logistically it seems not unreasonable to have a cow if your property would allow it, but you can't miss any milkings so that would be an issue. If you miss a day they dry up and you have to wait for another pregnancy. 1 cow would be sufficient for a family, they produce a shitload of milk. Something like 6 gallons.

Yes I have looked into this. Wife is not fully on board. Yet.

Shor

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #45 on: January 28, 2014, 02:55:41 PM »
Costco: 2 gallons whole milk for $6 lasts about 10 days, just for me.
GF hates milk.. we call it "yucky juice"! :)

CanuckExpat

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #46 on: January 28, 2014, 09:59:48 PM »
Dairy cows can produce milk for a long time but produce the most when they are pregnant around once a year: 9-12 months on, 3 months off.

And you just borrow a stud as needed and then make your own veal?

the fixer

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #47 on: January 28, 2014, 10:30:13 PM »
I've looked into this a bit before too. You're probably better off selling the calves instead of eating them.

And yes dairy cows produce like 5-6 gallons of milk per day. It's pretty much impossible for one family to use that much milk. I guess you could make a bunch of cheese or yogurt to keep for the months when your cow is pregnant, but even that wouldn't use it all and those things won't keep that long. You would need to find people to take your milk.

Another option is a goat. They also produce a lot of milk, but not as much as a cow. You have to get used to goat's milk of course. The advantage of a goat is that it will eat anything and mow your lawn for you. This can also be a disadvantage depending on how you look at it :)

For the record I've bought $6/gallon grass fed organic milk in the DC area and Seattle. There's at least some pasturing of the cows but I don't know exactly how much. If you buy by the half gallon it's usually about $8/gallon in both places. The milk I buy is pasteurized, so I don't know raw milk prices.

galliver

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #48 on: January 28, 2014, 10:33:50 PM »
I remembered my grandma's goat and I got curious. Apparently my vague memory is pretty accurate...I remembered a quart or two of milk from the goat every day. I didn't know how long it lasted after the birth of kids, though, since I was only around for a few months at a time (and I was five or six, so I didn't really wonder about these things at the time)--apparently it's typically a year but maybe up to two. Also remember my cousin taking her to graze, and that she was mean. But apparently that was just that goat and is not typical.

http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/01/a-simple-guide-to-raising-milking-goats.html

Dicey

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Re: A Gallon of Milk
« Reply #49 on: January 28, 2014, 11:23:03 PM »
My brother has extreme allergies. Growing up, goat's milk was all he could tolerate. It was expensive and was available at just one dairy and only came in quarts. I remember my dad making many trips there, just to get my brother's milk. Perhaps he threw the receipts away too, so he didn't have to think about how much it cost. With six kids to feed, it was hard on the family's budget. Perhaps this guy's kid has allergies like my brother did and he was/is committed to buying what's best for his kid's needs, despite the cost. What you see isn't always the whole story.

That said, here's my Sprouts tale and tip: Our new house is about 1.5 miles from Sprouts, which happens to be the nearest grocery of any kind. I grab the dogs, my backpack and my MIL who has Alzheimer's and we all walk there and back. (Sorry, can't trust her on a bicycle, so it's shank's mare for us. She waits outside with the dogs while I shop and they keep her from wandering off.) I make sure to do our Sprouts shopping trek on Wednesdays, when you can "double up" by buying from both the current and past week's circulars. All I buy there is the produce, but boy, do they have some great deals! Much as I love Costco, Sprouts often has better produce for far less. So, if you're going to go shop at Sprouts, Wednesday's the day.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!