You might think the Seasonal Shopper flipped out in the midst of a spring harvest of leafy-dark spinach, baby beets and piquant fresh herbs to write a column about milk and dairy products. While milk is available year-round, milk from cows grazing grassy pastures is at its peak of flavor and richness in spring and early summer. For Sauce readers who value taste and quality, the dairy market this spring offers a range of choices.
Shoppers at the Clayton Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings from May 28) and the Central West End Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings from June 4) will have a chance to buy raw milk from Dan West of Living Springs Farm. He grazes Jersey cows on land carved from an old dairy homestead in the Mark Twain National Forest.
“Raw milk tastes like milk. It has enhanced flavor,” said West. “In early spring it’s lighter, but as the pastures green up, the milk gets richer in color.” West and his family don’t care for the taste of pasteurized, homogenized milk. “We call store milk white water, especially skim milk.”
West doesn’t use growth hormones, antibiotics or medications. Instead, he said he relies on good management and natural remedies: “Our animals are out on pasture. They live in a healthy environment. Plus, we believe in building a good immune system in our cows.” He sells whole milk only, cream rising to the top, in glass containers in gallons, half-gallons or quarts.
West doesn’t pasteurize or homogenize the milk. That’s OK in Missouri if sales are direct from the farmer to the consumer. But raw milk consumption is not without controversy. While some say that pasteurization destroys too many nutrients in milk, others argue that any benefits from raw milk are outweighed by the risk of harmful bacteria in unpasteurized milk.
Unlike raw milk, organic milk sold at retail outlets undergoes the pasteurization process and is available in skim, reduced fat and whole varieties. “Our customers want organic, hormone-free dairy products,” said Jason Nosser, grocery buyer for Whole Foods Market. “In fact, we test marketed Farmer’s Creamery organic milk, which is pasteurized but not homogenized. We sold a lot of it.” Homogenization creates evenly sized fat globules that stay suspended in the milk rather than “creaming” to the top.
Debbie Klemme, manager of Sappington International Farmers’ Market, found Horizon Organic milk is a high priority for many of her customers. “We were out of Horizon product for a little while. Our customers shopped elsewhere until we got it back on the shelf.”
Still, organic is only a small part of a large and lucrative dairy market. “Organic represents a little pinkie in the dairy market,” said Dave Drennan, executive director of the Missouri Dairy Association. “It’s a niche market.”
Even if they’re not buying organic, most consumers do care about what goes into their milk. Mark Vance, vice president of marketing for Illinois-based Oberweis Dairy thinks customers today are more educated than ever, and they want choices. “We are not organic, but we work with farmers who do not use rBGH [recombinant bovine growth hormone] because we believe the increased production puts undue stress on cows,” Vance said. “But let me be clear, there is no study out there that shows a substantive difference in milk from rBGH-treated and non-rBGH treated cows.”
“The central issue with us has been and always will be quality and taste,” Vance said.
Oberweis relies on a network of family farms with herds of 200 cows or fewer that produce milk under exclusive contract. A full-time dairy manager works with the farmers to keep quality high. In addition, Oberweis uses processing methods and storage systems to fight what Vance calls the enemies of good taste in milk: heat and light.
Oberweis has home delivery and six company stores in St. Louis County selling everything dairy. You’ll find city dwellers on pilgrimages much the same as county folks make to Ted Drewes for scoops of Oberweis ice cream.
West and Vance have significant differences when it comes to product, but they share a passion for the welfare of cows. West’s careful management of his small herd of Jersey cows mirrors Vance’s concern for the welfare of the animals in the large dairy system.
“We take care of cows,” Vance said. “That’s what we do. Happy cows really do give good milk.”
This article appears in March 2024.