Turkey is here! Shop whole Thanksgiving birds and cuts. SHOP CORN & SOY FREE TURKEY.

A brief history of the raw milk debate

Raw milk is a highly contested issue in modern history. Is it a healthy nutrient-dense “cure-all” for nourishing your body, or is it a dangerous vector for spreading life-threatening disease? The two camps are split. It is a complicated issue with mixed battles of bad science vs. personal testimony, morals vs. politics, education vs. advertising, and big agri-business vs. small farms.

Do we have the liberty to choose our food?

Being born and raised in America, I have been trained to believe that I have “freedom”. I was taught the Pledge of Allegiance on the first day of Kindergarten, with the closing words “with liberty and justice for all”. I have said those words every school day since (and then some). That’s more than 2,160 times.

Health benefits of bone broth and how to make it

Bone broth is one of the oldest healing foods. It is an excellent way to utilize the whole animal, extracting goodness from parts of the animal that would otherwise be inedible - bones, skin, tendons, marrow, etc. Today’s store bought “stock” and “broth”, in many cases, may not be real. Companies use lab-produced meat flavors in bouillon cubes and various soup and sauce mixes. The best way to get a true bone broth with real healing benefits is by sourcing it from a local farm or by making it yourself using bones sources from quality sources.

Healthy cows means higher prices.

You may have noticed that the price of milk went up this week. The reality is that it’s expensive to produce wholesome nutrient-dense milk, especially when you need to buy in feed. The farmer pays close attention to his cows’ diet and health. In the warmer months, this is fairly straightforward and easier to control. Plant the right crops and make sure the cows eat them at precisely the right moment of freshness. In the colder months, when the herd’s diet is supplemented or fully on hay, it becomes more difficult to make sure the cows are getting what they need.

We NEED fat, good fat is good.

I have been liberally spreading tallow balm on my skin this week, 3x per day, and it got me thinking about fat. Fat, especially saturated fat, has been vilified in the US since the 1960s, when the low-fat craze started. It has really done a number on our cooking and our health as a society, because not all fat is bad. In fact, we NEED fat for so many basic bodily functions.

Conference Review and Tallow Balm Discovery

I had an amazing time at the Wise Traditions Conference in Minneapolis this past weekend. Here’s a quick overview. I ate delicious and nourishing food, all sourced from small organic regenerative farms like ours and packed with nutrient-rich animal fats and organ meats. I learned a ton from the varied vendors and speakers specializing in healthy diet and lifestyle. And, I gave out thousands of samples to potential Miller’s Bio Farm customers from around the country. Next year, the conference will be in Baltimore, and I hope you can attend!

The fastest, cheapest, best food. Is it attainable?

So much damage has been done to our food system by the expectation for the perfect trifecta – the fastest, cheapest, best food. However, we all know that you can’t have all three. Maybe two, but not three. Low-cost, quick-to-prepare, tender, flavorful food has been achieved (think McDonald’s, which feeds 1% of the world population daily). But, at what cost? What do you really lose when you disregard quality?

Should you freeze cheese... or anything else for that matter?

We have many members who freeze items they get from us. I heard from a couple members that they even freeze cheese, so I had to try. I froze a block of Swiss for about 2 months and then defrosted it in the fridge. The texture changed from a chubby bouncy cheese to one that was crumbly. The taste was still great. Why? What does freezing do to food?