local milk

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

In the past few months there have been several threads on this community about local milk and/or milk delivery. It has been pointed out that Crescent Ridge Dairy delivers local milk to towns all around Somerville but not to Somerville itself (see their delivery map which conspicuously omits our entire beloved town from existence).

I emailed Crescent Ridge a while back to ask about the chances of them adding a Somerville delivery, and got back a typically wishy-washy answer from a sales-type person (you know, "we are always considering new opportunities" or something vague like that).

I also did a little looking into other options for acquiring locally-produced milk in the area, and found that:
* Shaw Farm milk is sold at Kickass Cupcakes. However, since most of my shopping would be done with kids in tow, it just isn't feasible to be going into a cupcake store on a regular basis. ;) Also, it's inefficient for me to have to buy four quarts when I want a gallon.
* Shaw Farm milk is also sold at Wilson Farm in Lexington. This is a bit far for me to justify going on a regular basis just for milk.
* Shaw Farm's website does not list Kickass Cupcakes on its list of stores that sell its products, which leads me to wonder where else it might be available that isn't on the website.
* I heard a rumor that Dave's Fresh Pasta carried local milk, but this turns out to be incorrect (at least according to the somewhat confused person behind the counter there this evening).
* I also heard a rumor that McKinnon's Meat Market in Davis Square carried local milk, but have not investigated this yet since I'm a vegetarian and the place intimidates me.
* You can also get Crescent Ridge milk at Whole Foods, which is an okay option but still not really convenient for me (and again only available in quarts, at least at the Central Square location).
* Hood delivers, but the milk is not necessarily local and (from what I can see) is factory-produced.

Anyway, with the foregoing in mind, my questions to you are:
* Do you know of anywhere else in the immediate Davis Square area where locally-produced milk can be purchased?
* Do you know of any other establishment, besides Crescent Ridge and Hood, that delivers milk to Somerville?
and finally,
* Would you be interested in signing up for regular milk deliveries from Crescent Ridge if they added Somerville to their delivery area? I was thinking that it might work better if a bunch of us banded together to approach them saying "here are x people representing y gallons per week who really want to give you their money." If you would be interested in that, please post here (or email me at this username at gmail) and let me know.

Thanks everyone! Now let the flaming begin. :)

Comments

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I think I probably already know the answer(s) to this, but can you explain why raw milk is preferable over pasteurized milk?

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

First off, the flavor is better, though I've found that unlike store-bought pasteurized milk, the flavor varies a fair bit between different farms and even times of year depending on what the cows are eating. Some raw milk I've had didn't taste so good, so shop around.

Second, my understanding is that raw milk contains certain bacterias (lactobacilli) and enzymes (lipase) that aid digestion, and those bacterias and enzymes are destroyed by pasteurization. Please note that I am not an expert on this, but I can vouch from personal experience that for me, raw milk is easy to digest whereas pasteurized milk can be problematic.

Added bonus of raw milk--there's cream on top that I spoon into my coffee and it tastes amazing.

[kidsmokes.livejournal.com]

does this mean that if you do the gallon milk chug with raw milk you won't vomit?

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And after chugging a gallon, I can hear the heartbeat of a mouse a block away.

[faster-gun.livejournal.com]

wait, really though, because if I can do this I can probably get my lameass roommate to give me $50 bucks.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

Um, good luck with that. I once drank a gallon of water, after running five miles through a desert in 95 degree heat, and that was stooo-pid. I'd think a gallon of anything except maybe Coors light would turn out bad, real bad. But your results may vary.