Is organic milk better for us and the planet? Is it worth the extra money? Despite a couple of weeks of cursory research, the answer to these question remains foggy to me. The bias is so intense around this issue that it's next to impossible to find a conclusive reason to drink or not drink organic milk. Harmony Organics claims that it tastes sweeter and cleaner than conventional milk. They also claim their cows are treated "with love and respect", like "members of the family". Is that worth up to double the price?I'm not totally convinced that organic milk itself is worth the extra cash. But when I found it in reusable glass bottles, I was sold. Given my quest to reduce plastics in my life, the shiny glass bottles sang to me about simplicity. When I was a kid, we used to visit our relatives in a small town in Northern Ireland. These bottles reminded me of the wonder I felt there when I discovered that a real live milkman actually picked up and delivered small bottles of milk at the end of the lane. It was like a time machine. Now I've found the next best thing. Harmony tells us that they reuse the bottles about 15-20 times. Sounds good to me. For now, that makes it worth the hefty $3.49/L. Lucky one of my kids hates milk!
my recent suspician over the whole thing has let me lapse back to "regular", and I do get a little bit of glee everytime I pick up a bag and think of the money I am saving. (duh?). I too have become bored of reading the endless reports on organic Vs regular, it's too hard to weed out the marketers, hippies and zealots. where are the normal people when you need them? nudge Hilary! Anyway, glass sounds like a good reason, I will have to keep my eye out and maybe invent my own nutrional reasoning.
ReplyDeleteI was just sitting here thinking about the milk again, and now I'm curious, how do they get their milk bottles back to reuse? Do you have to save up your milk bottles to be picked up or dopped off somewhere? Is the "milky" guy back on the job? (that's what we called him in the 'ole days)
ReplyDeleteYou pay a $2 deposit on the bottle, then can either trade it in for a new one next time, or just return it to the store for your $. May not be very convenient for most people, but there's a store at Queen and Beech that carries it. Nice excuse to go down there for sushi and beach walks. :)
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