Slow Goat

Well it's been a long few weeks. As it turns out, I did not get a chance to visit Capriole Farm in Indiana. But I am re-scheduling a visit later this summer.

I recently learned about Caprine Estates, a dairy goat milk manufacturing and marketing company in Bellbrook, Ohio. With the price of gas, this sounds like a much more economical choice. Caprine is the first Grade A goat dairy processing plant in Ohio since the 1930s, and they have a herd of over 1,000 goats!! Much, much bigger than anything I plan to do in the future, but definitely worth a visit I think.

Forgot I said I'd do a book report on Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats...coming soon-ish!!!

Currently I'm reading The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid. It's not so much about goats, but definitely a good read on the history of cow's milk production in America and the shift from raw milk to the ultra-pasteurized, homogenized "milk" found at your local grocery store.
(Also, I should probably mention now that no, I have never tasted raw or un-pasteurized milk. I'm working on that too...it's hard to come by!!! And I hope to help change this in the coming years.)
But I think this book is really a great read for anyone interested in knowing where their food comes from. It says a lot about our culture and where we've come from in the past 100 years.
I just skipped ahead to the chapter on homogenization, because I don't understand that process yet, and I learned something ...
Apparently General Electric (GE) ran a campaign in the 1950s to bolster the popularity of homogenized milk production with the slogan, "Progress is our most important product." This campaign "succeeded in convincing Americans to accept a product designed solely for the profit and convenience of manufacturers and distributors...and hastened the demise of traditional foodways, of which milk with the cream on top was one." p. 239. My favorite part of this little story is that Ronald Regan was GE's choice mouthpiece for the campaign. Apparently he hosted some popular TV show called "The General Electric Theatre."

Well that's all for this week. Enjoy!