Our dairy is better for animals And better for you.
There are many reasons why our milk is unbeatable. The type of animals we keep, the health of our herd, the diet they eat, our hygiene practices, and processing methods all contribute to making our milk the best choice you can make for your health.
The first thing we need to get out of the way is that Not all milk is created equal. Supermarkets do a great job at convincing us that milk is a low value uniform commodity. And that one bottle is much the same as the other. We are going to look at some of the ways that our milk/dairy differs from your other options.
Processing
Supermarket milk is the result of a lengthy industrial process. Milk is collected from farms all over the country, driven to a central processing hub where it is mixed, pasteurised using a high heat, fast speed method, standardised (which is a process where all the cream is removed and then added back in controlled amounts to create whole, skimmed ect), homoginised (in which the milk is forced through a machine to break up all the fat particles to make them the same size) and then packed and transported again. A litre of milk you get in the supermarket might have milk from as many as 600 farms in it and be up to two weeks old before you pick it up from the supermarket shelf.
All the natural wholesome vitamins, minerals and fats present in milk are delicate. These are damaged and lost during the long periods of transportation and during the processing procedure. When the fat in the milk becomes oxidised it can affect the taste and the antioxidant properties of the milk.
In contrast our milk is single origin and fresh from the farm. After milking it is poured through a filter and used raw or gently pasturised at a lower temperature for a longer amount of time. This preserves the structure and nutrition that makes milk a superfood. Buying milk from one farm that hasn’t undergone a standardisation process means you will be able to detect seasonal changes to flavour and experience fluxuations in the amount of cream present as the animals diet changes throughout the year.
Diet of the animal
The diet of the animal has a huge impact on milk quality and taste. By ensuring the animals we work with have access to high quality food we can be sure that we are making nutrient dense food for you. Our animals are Grass-fed on diverse pasture, hedgerows and browsing trees. Supplementary British non-gmo beet (no grain and no soy) is also provided in minimal quantities for milkers while the land we have moved to regenerates.
Studies overwhelmingly show that meat and milk from animals whose diet comes mainly from grass and forage is healthier for us. Benefits of this kind of dairy are lower saturated fats, higher levels of CLA (when included in our diet this has been shown to improve our metabolic health and lower the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease) and be richer in vitamins A and E, and minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium.
For a more in-depth explanation and examination of this research take a look at this report.
The breed of animal
That’s right! Even the breed of milking animal makes a difference to the quality of the milk. We primarily select traditional breeds that suit our low input, grass fed system. Jersey cows thrive on grass. They are amazingly efficient at converting grass into milk solids, while modern breeds like Holsteins struggle. Trying to provide 100 % of a Holsteins diet during peak lactation from grass would be difficult and would present animal welfare issues.
In addition to being especially suited to their grass-fed diet, milk from Jersey cows contain more milk solids than milk from more modern breeds. That means there’s more vitamins, minerals, fats and enzymes per glass. On average Jersey milk contains 20% more calcium and 18% more protein (with a higher amount of A2 proteins, which are more digestible) than milk from other breeds of cow.
For people who struggle to digest some types of dairy, goat milk is known for having lower lactose and easier to digest proteins. Most importantly for us, goats milk is packed full of prebiotics which encourage the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. It has higher iron and vitamin A than cows milk and many people drink it to elevate eczema, asthma and digestive discomfort.
Hygiene and cleanliness
Hygiene and cleanliness are of a higher standard on a raw milk farm. There are much stricter hygiene regulations for the production of raw milk than for milk that is going to be pasteurised. We don’t rely on pasteurisation to hide unclean milking or farming practices. We clean our animals’ udders with warm water and the same scrub that surgeons use when preforming operations. This is not a standard practice in other dairies. Our milk is tested regularly for pathogens to be sure that our cleanliness is up to scratch.