No one has ever become poor by giving

Name: Miller's Bio Farm-Quarryville
Rating: 4.9 (468 reviews)

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April 19, 2019

The farmer launched a GoFundMe campaign last week to raise money for a bottling machine so he can lawfully bottle and sell raw milk in Pennsylvania. And, it was a big success! The farmer surpassed his $15,000 goal!

The farmer will use these funds to purchase a bottling machine, build a wall (which is also necessary for the bottling permit), and pay off some of his outstanding bills (of which there are many). Once his permits and licenses are in place, the farmer will be able to reopen his store to new customers (more on that in the coming weeks).

Once the fundraising goal was met, the farmer and I had a good conversation about suffering.

Choosing to be a farmer is, in many ways, choosing suffering. It is back breaking work making hay or moving chicken tractors. It is relentless. The cows need to be milked twice a day, every day, no matter what. And, it is unpredictable. One terrible storm can ruin an entire season, create bounties of extra work, and sink you into debt.

And why do farmers choose this suffering? Well, there’s probably lots of reasons. For our farmer, it was his calling. He wants to give back, because we need real food. He wants to regenerate the soil, provide nutrient-dense food for families, and treat animals respectfully. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary.

Suffering is unavoidable and needed. It is a part of life.

Everyone goes through periods of suffering - in their families, their jobs, their marriage, and their communities. It is human nature to persevere. Periods of suffering allow you to feel greater intensities of happiness.

After the long cold winter of hibernation, the spring blooms look magnificent.

When the farmer met the fundraising goal, he gave notice to his suffering. And he gave notice to the generous people that are supporting him. It is the collective goodness pushing him out of a period of suffering.

Sincere thanks to everyone who donated and shared the campaign. Many thanks go out to the Real Food Consumer Coalition, who helped the farmer immensely in the past few months. Also many thanks to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the USDA, who have also been very kind and helpful.

As Anne Frank wrote, “No one has ever become poor by giving.”

Human nature to help others is hope for the future. Thank you for hope.

Farm Updates

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Let’s take a look at what rennet is and why it’s used in cheesemaking, compare the different types of animal and vegetable rennets, check out the labeling requirements for rennet, and consider the potential health consequences. Keeping all this in mind, Miller’s Bio Farm aims to produce the most nutrient-dense, natural, A2/A2 cheese we can and gives you all the info you need to make the choice that’s best for your body!

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

It used to be true that, if your egg yolks were darker in color, then the better the egg's nutrition. Conscious consumers of the past would look for that deep orange yolk and stray away from lighter yellow yolks. It's sad, but this simply isn't the case anymore. Here's why you can't trust cheap store-bought eggs with orange yolks and need to know your farmer instead.

No one has ever become poor by giving

More from the blog

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566