bluetrek31's Profile

I moved to Pennsylvania last year (from Florida) and found the local farms much more developed and willing to accept visitors to show off their goods. It was during this time that I found Bear Meadows Farms, a raw milk and free range egg producer not too far from where I live. I stopped by one day, driving up the gravel road, past new McMansions and beside the cows belonging to the farm, holding fast to this old land.

I then met Jeff, the owner and operator of the farm. He has 42 milk producing ladies which he and his wife personally milk (machine milking) twice daily. I asked about the raw milk, in terms of bacterial content and contamination issues. Jeff was straight with me and showed me the reports from the PA certification agency. His numbers were FAR below the state standards for the number of harmful bacterial colonies/chemicals/free radicals permitted both on the cows and in the milk (these numbers were even below those allowed for pasteurized/homogenized producers). He runs a really clean operation, which is saying something when the cows come in muddy from the fields.

Jeff let me come to a milking one night. He and his wife rounded up the cows and lined them up in the milking pavilion. I had only ever seen a cow being milked on TV, specifically, an episode of Reading Rainbow when I was younger, but this experience was like no other! Jeff explained that the sweet bovines act like a bunch of second graders on a field trip! They know their names and each one has a personality. I could see this as they corralled them into the milking stations, Annabel (no lie, that was one of the girls' names) would saunter up without a care in the world while Nell would almost skip up to be milked. It was so special for me to see EXACTLY where my milk comes from.

Jeff gave me my first half-gallon for free to let my stomach get used to the new bacteria. It's like eating a lot of yogurt, in terms of reacting to the addition of good bacteria. After that sample, I was hooked! It tastes great, but even better than that, the milk directly supports a local farmer with a small operation.

I realize that not all raw milk farms are like Bear Meadows, small and personable, but I feel that supporting the raw milk cause supports the community AND my health.