WWYD? Organic milk vs conventional (hormone free)

[redvlagrl]

We are in Canada where none of the conventional milk can't have hormones as I understand (please enlighten me if you have more info on this)

Right now we buy 4L of organic homo milk from Loblaw's for $9.09. Conventional would be around half this.

Is it really worthwhile to stick with the organic as DD drinks it?

For a while we were getting 1L glass bottles of unhomogenized from the HFS, but this was costing us $5 a L, which seems crazy to me.

We buy mainly local, uncertified organic produce for the most part and conventional meat. Would we be better off buying conventional milk (if it truely is hormone free) and spending our money on local meat or saving our money?

Thanks!

[lil_earthmomma]

Canadian milk is truly hormone free!!!

I guess your question depends on your budget. Dh and I are university students, so we buy conventional milk, and conventional meat. (We are getting a half a grass fed cow, but that's not till next fall) We don't eat any processed food, so I feel good about the fact that my kiddos ingest very little HFCS, MSG and other nasties that are in processed packaged food.

We all make compromises. When we get out of school, we will hopefully be able to buy more organics (right now our daily eaten salad greens are organic, and that's about it), we will buy ethically raised grass fed meat, milk and eggs.

[redvlagrl]

Thank you, lil_earthmomma!

I think we will switch back to conventional milk. We also don't buy much processed food (only crackers, yoghurt, cheese).

I won't be getting EI for my maternity leave this time (I am a musician and my job doesn't pay into EI for me ), so we need to save some money. Although we can live on DH's salary, it's tight because of his student loans and our (at the time very necessary) car loan.

In an ideal world, I would also be getting everything ethically raised, etc etc, but at this time, we just can't swing it.

Thanks again!

[mamadelbosque]

I get "voluntary organic" raw milk locally. But before that I just got hormone-free conventional milk. IMO the "organic" milk available around here (horizon) was/is no better than regular milk... its just twice the price.

[Ellp]

Yeah, we do conventional milk here too. I did however do organic milk for the kids for a full year though when they were starting on milk products. Now with 2, a 4yo and a 2.5yo, there's no way I could afford to keep organic milk on hand. They go through it too fast and at nearly $10 a 4L jug here, thats no budget do-able.

[carfreemama]

Here in Nova Scotia, to buy organic milk means out-of-province. There are local farmers trying to get an organic processing plant authorized, but the Canadian milk processing system is extremely complicated. However, what I've heard is that farmers who do produce organic milk simply add it to the conventional supply. We buy the local brand that's rumoured to have the most of this. So I've been tempted to buy organic for dd, but have so far not. It really is sooo much more expensive. I do look for local yogurt, cheese, etc. and I sometimes buy local organic goats' milk. I generally buy local over organic if I have to make a choice, or just do without. I definitely think you get better bang for your buck with local meat, especially since the grocery stores (here at least) don't stock local beef; it's all from out west, though there are plenty of conventional and organic local beef producers.

[weliveintheforest]

I would rather get conventional milk and grass fed meat.

[redvlagrl]

Yeah, I have decided we will go to conventional. But try and get more local meat. We have an awesome butcher nearby that's totally local.

[ju1ia]

my boys were going through so much milk a day I decided we 1. needed to be buying organic and 2. needed to be drinking less milk! I think milk is a little overrated anyway, so now that we're buying half as much milk, I feel like we can afford to pay twice as much for organic. that's my theory anyway.
I have been reading lately that not only are the hormones bad for us, but the pesticide ridden junk-food type feed they give the cows is no good for us either. so there are some other things to think about!
meat also - I've been trying to stick to the fish and chicken so we don't have to pay for the expensive meat as often!

[redvlagrl]

Thanks jul1a. Did your reading suggest how much pesticide actually makes it through to milk? It's a no brainer for me when it comes to things like liver, but I wonder how much would actually make it through to the milk?

DD doesn't drink much milk at all - *maybe* a cup a day if we're lucky and I have to try and increase my intake. We go through 4L a week including the milk we use for baking and cooking.

[Megan73]

I've made the same calculation – that organic milk may not be worth the cost in Canada but I try to invest the savings into buying more organic produce. I need to go investigate organic meat...

[Marnica]

While trying to determine the most important thinks go buy organic on a budget is tough, I think milk (and meat) are the most important ones (along with certain produce). With the milk, it is not just about the growth hormones. "Organic" milk also means that the cows have been fed organic feed. Non organic feed is often laced with chemical pesticides and are from GMO's, all of which wind up in the cows (meat and their milk).

[luv-my-boys]

Originally Posted by Marnica

While trying to determine the most important thinks go buy organic on a budget is tough, I think milk (and meat) are the most important ones (along with certain produce). With the milk, it is not just about the growth hormones. "Organic" milk also means that the cows have been fed organic feed. Non organic feed is often laced with chemical pesticides and are from GMO's, all of which wind up in the cows (meat and their milk).

exactly. The thing with meats/dairy is not only the hormones but the possilbe pesticides/herbicides/drugs that could end up in the end product. So although hormone free is a great step (totally pick it vs. hormone laced) you still have the whole pesticide/herbicide/drugs (antibiotics) things going on.

A good example of this would be U.S poultry which can not have certain added hormones...great until you find out that conventional poultry is often fed grain laced with arsenic and antibiotics arnt ruled out either So although im not worried about hormones in my poutry im a little worried about the arsenic and the drugs they have given the animals.

Here is a great article on labeling in the US:
http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=3032
article on arsenic in chicken feed:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/food...enic060405.cfm