by Shannon Nichols

Created on: November 15, 2008   Last Updated: January 23, 2012

Certified Organic milk comes from farms that are inspected by a third party verification system. The original intention of organic certification was to provide the consumer a food product that was minimally processed. It was the anti-green revolution. The original organic dairy farmers were small family farm operations that truly believed in the basic concept of healthy soil makes healthy grass makes healthy cattle makes a healthier food. For the most part that is still true in traditional dairy states.

As the movement became a significant economic force, things changed. The big guys got involved and the quality and the original mission were thrown out with the day´s manure. Organic milk now includes rather large confinement farms that hire certifiers who hire in-house inspectors who are then trained to turn a blind eye to violations in the National Organic standards. The large brand labels are then Ultra High Temperature pasteurized, homogenized, synthetic vitamins are added... It is no longer milk. It is milk food. It is then hauled half way across the country.

Is regular milk better then? Where do you think the big guys learned their tricks? The good thing about organic milk is that cows are not fed rBST, rumensin, or genetically modified feed. The land is not treated with synthetic chemicals. Not all conventional milk is treated that way. The problem lays with co-mingling of milk on tank trucks and silos prior to processing. The problem is that the consumer generally does not know enough about the foods they are buying and the processors like it that way.

The best milk is local milk produced on a farm near you. This gives you an opportunity to ask the farmer and processor questions about manure handling, hormone usage, packaging, chemicals used in processing and any of the other questions you should ask any producer or processor of the foods you eat.

Most organic farms follow the more strict interpretation of the standards to included management intensive grazing. You don't have to be organic to be a grass based farm. Grass-fed milk has the higher concentrations of CLA (good fats). You should also ask about old fashioned vat pasteurized cream top milk. Cream naturally rises to the top and the rest is the a lower fat or skim milk. It is the best stuff there is. Minimally processed, doesn't need synthetic vitamins because none were taken out and the taste is like being in Ireland.

The Cornucopia Institute, a watchdog organization, has compiled a rating of as many organic milk labels that it can find. This list offers consumers an opportunity to put a face behind the labels and to see how they stand up to the original intentions of organic certification. http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html It is easy to navigate and the best place to buy your milk is the one closest to your home and with the best rating.

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