Organic Milk Site

As you know demand of organic milk continue to grow. There are a lot of reasons, but the main are improved taste and food quality over industrially farmed food.

If you ask people about taste of organic milk a lot of them answer that taste must be “how it used to”.

If you are at least forty years old and you taste an organic milk you’ll come back in the past and remember a taste of real milk. Isn’t wanderfull feeling.

Comparing real organic milk with regular we can find a lot of advantages of first. According to research organic milk is higher in vitamin E – 50% more,  beta-carotene, which is a source of vitamin A – 75% more, antioxidants – three times more and higher in omega 3,which is vitally important fatty acid. Becides, milk  contain such  necessarycomponents as calcium, potassium, vitamin D. It’s very usefull to drink natural milk, also you can add some milk in coffee and you can prepare a cappuccinos for your kids. Organic milk is especially good for body development of our kids. Another studies have shown that daily norm of calcium is 800 mg for kids 4-8 years old and 1,300 mg for kids 9-18 years old, and according to this studies eight-ounce glass of organic milk you can give about 300 mg of calcium.

The organic production process is quite difficult, everything is controled to create safe and natural output product. This milk doesn’t have any pesticides, hormones and antibiotics.   Regular observation, exelant feeding techniques and mineral-based treatments help to maintain well health of cows.

Production process can include such operations as pasteurisation and homogenisation, what’s the difference between them?

First procces need to kill harmful bacterias in milk. This operation is the process when milk quickly heat after this cool it. The temperature of heating can be 72 degrees of Celsius and 62 degrees for heating time 15 seconds and 30 seconds accordingly. It’s considered that the flavour is better when heating temperature is 62 degrees.

Second procces need to surrounded fat molecules, which is rised to form a creamy layer, throughout the milk. It is a process when milk is passed through tiny holes and the fat granules acquire equal size.

In our days you can find all kind of dairy products at the supermarket but as for me there is no better than old natural milk.

Of cause real natural milk costs more money, but I think it’s fair price for exelant taste and perfect quality.

Today organic milk is occupying significant share in dairy bussiness and this share continue to growth with large velocity.

The main question: What are the reasons that push people to spend more money. May be it’s health or environmental benefits. But researches does not show significant advantages of organic milk.

Nevertheless demand for organic milk is bigger than supply and as a result gallon of organic milk costs approximately two times more than gallon of regular milk.

Current situation and future prospects assist dairy companies to look for loopholes in the rules to convert regular products into organic. Fortunately, watching groups of consumers don’t sleep and try to have an influence on dairy companies. One of these watching groups, the Cornucopia Institute sent a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture with request to investigate the infringement of rules connecting with organic production in such dairy companies as Horizon and Aurora. The representatives of Cornucopia Institute demands to annul a certifications of Horizon and Aurora because of nomerous violations of standards.

Let’s try to ununderstand what exectly means term “organic milk”.

There are four requirements of the USDA that can identify milk as organic, but every requirement creates a lot of confusions.

The requirements are next:

Milk must be without  bovine growth hormone (BGH). Sometimes farmers add this hormone in feed to increase production of milk. Some people think that BGH assists cancer development, but in fact it’s just a protein hormone and in case penetration in our body it will be destroyed in digestive tract by enzymes and acid.

Second requirement is that farmers don’t use any antibiotics to treat cows, which  produce organic milk. In case if it is nessesary to use antibiotics, cow must be isolated from herd for a 12 months.

Next requirement is that cows must eat only organic feed without pesticides. It can be fresh grass or grain. Of cource organic feed may contain sustainable farming practices within the normal established range, that don’t affect the nutrition of organic milk.

Last requirement for organic milk is that organic farms must have adequate space for graze, called “access to pasture”.

The main subject of much controversy is a term “access to pasture”. It’s very unclear term that can give loophole to confine a time of pasture, so in that way cows eat not fresh grass but still produce so-called organic milk.

After all saying I think milk is an important product for us but there are other healthful foods we need pay attention, for example, fruits, vegetables and fish.

Hope this information will be usefull for you.

The biggest organic dairy brands in the USA are Horizon and Aurora.

Horizon has own two farms and buys milk from more than 300 independent farmers. Market share of Horizon is 55%. The other one giant is Aurora Organic, which has two farms and has relationships with numerous stores through all country. Market share of Aurora Organic is 10%.

Now we can say with all confidence organic milk is one of more attractive product of dairy industry because of damand of this product much higher than supply, that’s why organic market with big steps and that’s why the largest food corporations are trying to squeeze in to this niche. In one side we have wide choice of organic goods but from an other side lure of high profit margins leads to lower quality so-called organic products.

It’s need to make a note that usual organic farm has between 50 and 100 cows, but, for example, the Horizon’s farm in Paul, Idaho has 4000 cows, besides they buys between 5 to 10% from Vander Eyk’s farm, which has 8000 cows. In 2001 the USDA accept the decision that cows must have an “access to pasture” and get part of nutrition from fresh green grass. That decition was realized in USDA’s standards.

But these standards just sow confusion, because it permit to confine cows in case illness, lactation, birth and slaughter. Well known fact is that in Horizon lactation lasted approximately half of cow’s life, in this period cow must be confine. But it’s interesting another fact that the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which is advisory body of the USDA have already known about this in 2001. This loophole can be succefully used by other big players of organic market.

Of couse Horizon and Aurora have farms with arid lands and extensive grazing can spoil land, but this is lame excuse. Another point of view is that these companies just save their money.

Since then organic dairies continued growth rapidly and in 2005 representatives of the Cornucopia Institute decided don’t wait any more, they gethered all nessesry information with photographs of employees and confined cows and make a request to the USDA to compel Horizon, Aurora and Vander Eyk meet one’s engagements that concerning pasture requirements.  4700 consumers signed a petition that was presented in February 2005 by OCA. This event engrossed attention of farmers from all parts of the country. After this NOSB offered some changes in rules that would have  made things concerning “access to pasture” clear.

But in August the USDA have refused the NOSB’s suggestions calling them equivocal and without plain regulatory intent.

Of couse  the USDA has own favourites. Jim Riddle, says “It’s business as usual. That’s the way USDA works at higher levels”.