A Moooooving Experience

In observance of Earth Day, my Express-Times assignment was to write about making your home menus more Earth Friendly. Through various channels, I was connected to local farmers and experts on sustainable food. My favorite, by far, was Farmer John Place, owner of Keepsake Farm in Northampton, PA.

While the newspaper interview only contained a bite of the conversations I had with Place, the information he provided in order to educate me, has reached far and wide. I extended our conversation to a radio interview, which will be broadcast on May 30 at 8 am on WNTI and I even went to Keepsake for a visit just to try raw milk for myself.

The important piece of the puzzle is that I have been skeptical about the safety of raw milk for years. It is illegal to sell raw milk in New Jersey but I have friends that either cross the border into PA (easy for me) or go underground to get their supply, exercising loopholes and keeping the farmers' names and locations under their hats. But Farmer John was convincing. He described conditions that he was privvy to in the corporate farming world that disagreed with raising healthy animals and food supplies. So, he raises his animals differently, is smart about it and is open to speaking about the experience and the resulting benefits. He's putting a new face on farming.

Millie and I took a sunny Saturday morning to drive about 35 miles to his farm. His own mama, Mrs. Place, mans the dairy store on the weekends and is a perfect hostess. An educator by profession, Mrs. Place was warm and welcoming and had answers to our many consumer questions. In the photo below, Mrs. Place introduces Millie to Walter, one of the luckiest milk-drinking cats in the world.

Here are some of the things you notice about Keepsake Farm: You notice the smell of grass and cows, just enough to let you know you're on a farm. The store is spotless and well-labeled. The window from the store into the milking room displays an immaculate salon full of happy cows who have the most beautiful coats you could imagine.

The best part about Keepsake (in my opinion) is that Farmer John keeps calves and mamas together from birth on. In the past two weeks alone, he's had 5 births on the farm. The calves all stand outside the pasture gate waiting for their moms to "get off of work" and come out and play in the pasture.

My purchases included 2 gallons of whole, raw milk, the most delicious honey vanilla drinkable yogurt, a pound of hamburger, a few dozen eggs, a chicken and some chicken backs for soup. On my initial swig, the milk had a more natural taste, which quickly dissipated (much to my dismay). Because it contains the natural cream, the milk must be shaken. The texture is wonderful and my appetite has never been so satisified as it has in the weeks since I've been drinking raw milk.

We enjoyed the hamburger on Mother's Day. I think I could have made 5 3-ounce patties, instead of the 4 4-ounce patties I grilled. The meat, while extremely low in fat, tastes very rich and satisfies quickly. I also enjoyed eggs for breakfast. The shells are super-durable and the yolks are rich and flavorful. I can't wait to prepare the chicken.

Since I've become a raw milk devotee, I've been surprised by the number of my Jersey friends who get a hopeful look in their eye when the ask where I get my supply. It has more of a following than I imagined. Thanks, Farmer John.