| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| bodger |
Unfortunately not Everyone can do it.Did you see the piece this morning on the BBC News about the farmer who has cut the middle man out ?He was four or five weeks into delivering his home produced milk to his customers doorstep. The cost of producing his milk was 17p per pint and he was being paid the same amount for his produce by the milk company. He's now delivering his milk in his own branded reusable glass bottles and getting 75 pence. The milk was unprocessed and the result was that for the first time in a long while he was starting to make a profit, no disposable packaging and most importantly they interviewed some very satisfied customers. It wasn't a particularly in depth report but one wonders what red tape and other barriers this chap has had to overcome to be able to do this. I would imagine that they would have been considerable. |
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| jocorless |
Yes I saw it - very interesting - I can't even get Organic milk from our milkie never mind Green Top milk | ||||
| thos |
Re: Unfortunately not Everyone can do it.
When I was growing up we owned the farm at the back and the tenants delivered their own milk. They stopped when pasteurisation became compulsory, and sold all the produce from their 50 head to the dairy. What gets me is that the pasteurisation machines are quite cheap. Mind you, he also kept his hens in batteries. |
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| Treacodactyl |
I saw the story too. I didn't think you could deliver non-pasteurised milk any more but I must be wrong. Let's home more places start doing this or allow collecting your own milk. | ||||
| Northern_Lad |
I get the impression that he was pasturising the stuff; there was certainly a big tank begin stirred at one point. It was then transferred to 5 gallon tanks before being taken to the ktichen for bottling. | ||||
| bodger |
Certainly a pound for half a gallon of milk isn't sustainable ! One wonders what the overall plan of the milk companies and supermarkets is. Where are they going to get their milk when all the dairy farmers are out of business?
Three farmers every week leave the dairy industry at present. The milk was sold with a green top on it and I'm sure they said it was unprocessd. Unfortunately they have chosen not to put this item on the BBC News website. |
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| Treacodactyl |
They definitely said it wasn't pasteurised. Just chilled to 3-4°C and bottled. I can't find any details though. 
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| Treacodactyl |
Found some more details from the BBC Breakfast site.
And from www.sussexenterprise.co.uk/viewPage.jsp?id=6320789
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| bodger |
I think that they will be inundated after the coverage this morning. | ||||
| ros |
green top? that used to denote homogenised round here? ours is delievered from a relatively local dairy, supplied by local farms, not organic, but real milk with cream on the top! |
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| thos |
IIRC there are potentially loads of nasties in unprocessed milk, which is why pasteurisation was made compulsory. I'm sure Cab knows.
Pasteurisers are fairly cheap. Brouwland sell them for €5K for 50L to €13.2K for 1000L. http://www.brouwland.com/shop/catproducts.asp?cfid=4&id=591&pid=583 |
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| bodger |
Presumably they have an animal testing regime in place that makes the milk safe. Goodnesss knows how you spell it but they have Brucellosis attested herds which is the most serious nasty about. | ||||
| guyandzoe |
Some bloke on the Archers is doing the same thing and he seems to be doing OK cos he's thinking of diversifying into cheese apparently.
guy |
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| LynneA |
We saw it this morning as well - had been watching the travel news to make sure train journeys were futile.
It just proves that there is a market out there if farms are willing to take the risk. The film has set Howard on a "Maybe we should look for an old Volvo estate" mindset again though. |
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| Solomon |
I may be wrong, but I seem to recall Cravendale milk being unpastuerised. It's filtered to remove the bacteria. Perhaps the legality is that the milk must be treated in some way? | ||||
| Helen_A |
 Nope - unpasturised.
There's quite a clutch of farms accross Sussex and Kent doing this now - mostly goats milk but a few with cows. They use some sort of micro filter and very good husbandy, cleaning routines etc. When I was still an animal milk person, the farm our milk came from used to have testing come back with lower mBac loads than the pastuerised places. (In the case of the Goats milk, on more than one occasion their testing would take a fortnight rather than the usual week to return a result, as it was proving practically impossible to culture anything ...) Helen_A |
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| bodger |
If you think of all the different farms that the bulk milk tankers that we see dashing up the motorways must visit, I think I'd rather take my chances and get my milk from one reputable source if given the option.  Couldn't find a cow emoticon 
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| Penny |
 I'm sure you can milk reindeer at a push!
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| Cho-ku-ri |
If only all the dairy farmers could all do this, and tell the supermarkets to bu$$er off. 
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| Penny |
But the great british public would not pay 75p a pint for milk  The well off would, the poorer wouldn't bother, with the consequent impact on the health of childrten
What I don't understand is the need to charge 75p Is that only because of the lack of economies of scale I wonder??
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| Andy B |
They would find the money for fags no matter how much they cost £1.00 for a pint of milk would be fair. |
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| bodger |
The cost of the milk in the supermarkets should be a lot more.
See my initial post as to the cost of production and what the farmer is being paid for his product. If the farmers got something like a fair price then there wouldn't be such a huge diiference in price between the 75 p a pint our man is asking and the price in the shops. The small producer featured obviously had much higher overheads per unit delivered to the door. Out of interest , what sort of price do people pay for an 'ordinary' bottle of milk delivered to step ? |
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| Cho-ku-ri |
Because somebody has to pay a driver to deliver it to your house for more than the minimum wage. It is the true cost im guessing. |
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| AdventureGirl |
I have just enquired from our local dairy about doorstep delivery and they have quoted 59p per pint in a glass bottle or £1.15 for 2 litres in plastic bottles. It is hard to think about paying almost twice as much to get my milk in a glass bottle. I can also get fairly local milk at my corner shop for 99p for 2 litres and then I am supporting the shop as well as the dairy. It is not always easy to decide what to do. |
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| gnome |
Everyone is keen on seeing Fair Trade products come from Africa and South America, and completely ignoring the fact we have unfair trade in our own back yard. how about we all make a stand for what we believe in and blacklist all the British dairies and supermarkets until they start playing the game properly and stop ripping off the farmers. | ||||
| Nanny |
i find this very interesting
i have thought about trying to source local welsh cream so make my butter with and have been told everything goes to the big dairies i woudl be prepared to pick up my welsh unpasteurised milk directly from a farmer at his door rather than expect him to deliver to me let's face it, most of us go out once a week or so and assuming it isn't out of my way that would be when i collect my several pints of milk and put them in the freezer like i do now with the stuff i buy...i would also then be able to buy my double cream for the butter i would be happy to do that as long as i could buy several pints in one go not one at a time..... i agree that they will probably now have more custom than they can handle.............. |
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| Kayte |
Unfortunately not everyone can do it.The mikman on my street charges 52p for a pint of milk in a glass bottle. I 'd love to be able to support him but I'd also like to be able to buy local,organic meat and have an organic veg box delivered etc. I try to strike a balance.I buy local seasonal fruit and veg from the market and get my meat from the Farmers Market. I buy organic milk, butter and cheese from the local organic shop.I cook a mixture of vegetarian meals and some meat dishes using local produce as opposed to organic that has travelled miles. (I grow my own veg and salad in the summer and will be getting some more chooks soon) This works for me. |