Local Milk

From time to time on this blog we've written about local agriculture, including a post I wrote about a controversy in Fall 2009 where the Georgia agriculture department seized a large shipment of raw millk from a local purveyor.

Today's Athens Banner-Herald has an article about a local farm producing small batches of low temperature pastuerized milk.  To me this is a nice compromise - locally produced milk that is pathogen free and tasty.  Unfortunately, in my experience it doesn't seem to last as long as milk that's been pastuerized at high or ultra high temperatures, so the hubby and I sometimes have difficulty finishing a half gallon (the smallest size available) before it goes bad.  (Obviously we don't drink much milk - we use it more for tea and cereal) However, it's super popular locally and it often sells out at our daily co-op.

Another interesting aspect of the article is the farmer discussing how much agriculture officials struggled to understand that his process is perfectly legal.  It seems like there's an initial reaction against milk processing that isn't being done in the predictable way, by large dairies.  I guess it's another version of small businesses being tripped up by red tape. It's great the farmer was able to get this worked out, because my guess is that local ag is a small but growing part of Georgia's very significant agricultural economy.  (And with home building at a stand still, we need all the economic growth we can get!)

Jamie Baker Roskie