Whole Milk in Glass Bottles!

I am so excited that Nova Scotia finally has glass bottled milk. While we lived in BC we could buy glass bottled milk at the local grocery store (although it wasn't "whole" milk, nor was it that fresh or local). These bottles make me think of old time milk delivery people... except at my parents house they still have a milk "man" who delivers milk once a week, takes the cash out of the mason jar, peruses the list and leaves the change (he arrives at 5am ish).

Ouuu, aren't they pretty bottles? Love!

Fox Hill Cheese House, a local farm that sells at the Halifax Seaport's Farmer's Market has started selling milk in glass 1 litre bottles, as far as I know the only of it's kind provincially. Fox Hill Cheese is located in the Annapolis Valley (a few hours away from Halifax) and they have a "small" herd of cows that for the past four years have been exposed only to the farm's own nutrients.

When we stopped in last week to pick up our first bottle, the lady at the counter felt *very* strongly that we should try the milk, as it's whole milk and a higher fat percentage (about 4ish). I tried to tell her that I don't typically like milk 'straight up' so it really didn't matter what it tasted like, I was gonna suck it up and use it in my coffee. Which of course resulted in a weird look... so I took the little cup. Honestly? It tastes like milk. I don't like milk. So there ya go. I was really nervous I would hate whole milk, and since it just tasted like regular milk to me, I am hugely relieved.

Andrew on the other hand LOVES it. When we order coffee there is no "non-fat" part for him, it's always "yes fat". Since we don't drink a lot of milk, I really don't feel that bad using milk with a few extra fat percentages thrown in.

Our friend J. lets the milk set for 72 hours in the fridge to allow the fat to separate, takes an eye dropped and sucks up a bunch of the cream on top. She uses this for baking or coffee. Andrew clearly informed me I wasn't allowed to "steal" his fat. hah.

Today when we brought the bottle for an exchange, we learned that the milk was acquired from the cows (the milk was milked?) on Friday, bottled and sold to us on Saturday! Super fresh and local.

 Note the bilingual bottles- Yay two official languages :)

A few differences between regular store milk and fresh local milk:

• By purchasing local milk we're making sure all our money stays in Nova Scotia and sending a clear message to the agriculture industry that sustainable and ecological farming matters to us.
• Fresh whole milk is minimally processed which means the nutrients are more readily available for our body to benefit (yay!)
• Lack of preservatives (and homogenization) allows for us to process the milk without synthetic additives.
• Less plastic! If you don't exchange the bottle (which would be silly, since you'd pay a deposit every time) you can of course recycle the glass easily. The lids, sadly are #4 plastic.
• We're investing in our health and the future of our ability to sustain ourselves with farming.

We did chat with a dude on Saturday about the bottles (I just think they are so beautifully designed) and their choice on #4 plastic lids. Unfortunately it would appear he wasn't aware that HRM doesn't accept anything but #1 and #2 plastic. I did tell him that we collect our plastic bottles and bring them to the Aveda salon on Spring Garden as they send them away to recycle. He informed us that strangely enough, when they called the company to complain about the plastic number choice (for their other products as well) the company, Ropak, indicated they were the first and *only* company to complain.

Regardless, we are in love with our glass bottled, sustainable and nutrient rich milk! If any of you were nervous about drinking whole milk due to taste (or even fat content), I hope this helps give you a little nudge. Check out your local farms and Farmer's Markets to see if you can get some glass bottle fresh milk too :)


article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com