Pondering milk

I know I've been quiet for a while on here, but today I've been pondering milk - and particularly where we source ours from. We're moving to Cambridge next year, and I've been remotely exploring who we might get our milk delivered by (I know it's very early to be researching that, but I kind of enjoy it!). It's made me re-think where we get our milk here from.

The other day in the supermarket, I noticed that Coles is now stocking 'Great Ocean Road' milk, which is made by the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory. It's far cheaper than the Parmalat Pure Organic milk we usually buy. I want to be thoughtful about how we use our money, 'voting' for a sustainable food system, without being extravagant (especially since neither of us has much of an income this year).

Here's my research about Warrnambool Cheese and Butter company and their milk:

• Their existing brand is Sungold (http://coffeesnobs.com.au/milk-froth-bubbles/32321-great-ocean-road-milk.html), but WCB and Coles are creating a new brand - but same milk (http://coffeesnobs.com.au/milk-froth-bubbles/32321-great-ocean-road-milk.html);
• They're Australian owned and local (Victorian and eastern South Australia) and 'Great Ocean Road' milk is only being delivered to Victorian supermarkets;
• Sustainability is at least on the radar of WCB - it gets a section on their website (http://www.wcbf.com.au/sustainability.aspx);
• The Ethical Consumer Guide like them because they're locally (Australian) owned, have voluntarily signed the Australian Packaging Covenant and have environmental claims on their website. They rate them as a 'light tick', 'lesser praise, no criticisms' (http://www.ethical.org.au/guide/browse/guide/?cat=172&subcat=197&type=15);
• WCB make it onto a list of alternative milk providers that are preferable to Coles/Woolworths on at least list of more 'ethical' milks (http://flavourcrusader.com/blog/2011/03/family-dairy-milk-organic/);
• "Sungold milk comes from the cleanest, greenest region of Australia and travels from the farm to the shelf in less than 24 hours, ensuring that Sungold is the freshest milk available." (http://www.premierspeedway.com.au/release.asp?NewsId=24520)
  

In contrast, regarding Parmalat's 'Pure Organic' milk:

• Ethical Consumer Guide likes the individual product because it is certified organic, but doesn't like the company because they're foreign owned, have joint ventures with Nestle, recently went bankrupt because of massive corporate financial fraud and their palm oil policy scored 1.5/9 by WWF's measurementsn (although they have signed the voluntary Australian Packaging Covenant). Their overall rating is a strong X, 'criticisms' (http://www.ethical.org.au/company/?company=504);
• They're certified organic by NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia), which means that they need to care very well for their animals and are definitely passing on excellent paddocks and soil to future generations;
• Frustratingly they don't seem to think it's relevant on their website to talk about where the milk comes from, or any of the environmental issues associated with its production and transportation;
• Local Harvest say they discovered that "the True Organic coop in Victoria provide the milk for Parmalat’s ‘Pure organic’ brand. The majority of these farms are located within 200kms of Melbourne." (http://www.localharvest.org.au/take-the-challenge/food-audit/)

Anyway, they're my ponderings. I kind of enjoy musing over these things, and definitely enjoy having made a choice that I'm pleased with ethically. Anyone else want to contribute?

Update: As it turns out, I've discovered that CERES Fair Food - who we are hosts for - deliver Schultz milk, which also happens to be cheaper than the 'Pure Organic' milk. I love buying from CERES because I like their buying policy - they buy local and establish relationships with as many suppliers as they can. Although Schultz is unhomogenised, which my daughter doesn't like, so we're also buying Great Ocean Road for her.

Our family's food priorities

When I first started exploring food priorities - other than 'cheapest is best' - I wrote these thoughts about what changes we were planning to make and why.

I have more thoughts than these now, about why each of these are important - but they're a good basic summary of what we're thinking about when we shop. And why in some cases, cheapest isn't necessarily the most ethical or godly choice.

I really wanted to bring it back to how these are relational issues, too, which is why put the reminder of the second commandment, 'Love your neighbour as yourself,' and also included the bits about who we were trying to love by making these choices. (And also remind us implicitly that there is a first commandment as well, to love God with every part of our lives.)

 

I wrote these mainly for our family, to avoid the activism fatigue I wrote about the other day - it's easier to establish new habits if I'm reminded of why we adopted them. Because they're stuck up in our kitchen, though, they've prompted a few interesting conversations with guests.

I'd be curious to hear about what food priorities your family/household use, and why.

Sustainable Table: What you can do

I posted last week about The Sustainable Table.

Here's their top 10 'What you can do' points:

1. Change the way you shop
2. Instigate household meat free days
3. Buy local, seasonal, certified organic produce
4. Reduce waste and buy a compost bin
5. Ethical and sustainable meat and seafood
6. Eat whole foods, not processed foods
7. Grow your own food
8. Avoid packaging
9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
10. Ask questions

It can be hard to know what steps would make a difference, and which are the most significant ones. So I really appreciate lists like this, because it's really hard to find time to do all the reading and research myself. I like the look of what these guys are doing, and how they are thinking - lots of their arguments are backed up with stats and quotes from relevant organisations.

However #1: It's never productive to feel overwhelmed and like that long list of things would take too much effort to ever implement in your shopping choices. Much better - and more gracious - to choose one new step at a time, implement those changes, and then come back when you're ready for another step. In the long-run, you're likely to make more progress than if you try to do them all at once and get exhausted.

However #2: I always feel slightly nervous taking any organisation's recommendations as true, and not looking into them for myself. My preference is to read a bit more broadly, listen to different views, and try to come to my own conclusion. I've said above why I think I like these guys, but I might not agree with everything they say. Taking one step at a time is good also because it allows you to research and become more informed about those issues. Organics and food ethics is an area where there is a lot of hype, and not always a lot of critical thinking - so I'd suggest that enthusiasm and careful evaluation of what actually makes a difference should go hand-in-hand.

That being said, I think these are really important issues and a significant way that our generation is responsible for stewarding this earth and loving future generations. So please let me encourage you to pick one of the areas above, become more informed, and implement some changes!

Sustainable Table

I'm really excited about this excellent new resource for thinking about food ethics:

http://www.sustainabletable.org.au/

There's a blog, book and website. I saw this book in a cafe over summer, and it's a recipe book with a summary of different food ethics issues at the back. I've already reserved the book at the library, and really looking forward to reading it.

The website has a wonderful section called 'Hungry for info'. They have information on the problems in our food system ('The coming famine), seasonal produce guide, info about meat, fish, eggs and chicken, as well as a section for sceptics.

The best bit, I think, is that this is an Australian resource. Praise God! So much of the information is designed for a UK/US audience, and our food system has different particularities. The issues and statistics used by these guys are all Australian.