3 ms·

As a fellow Québécois, I have one major issue with the current system. I live very near a dairy farm; I know the owners well and I love their approach, how they

As a fellow Québécois, I have one major issue with the current system. I live very near a dairy farm; I know the owners well and I love their approach, how they treat their cows, etc. I'd love to buy _their_ milk, but I just can't. A couple times a week, a truck comes in, takes all the milk and brings it to a plant in St-Hyacinthe or whatever (1+ hour from me) where it gets mixed with the milk from all the other producers. So yes, we have managed to protect the "family farm" model, but you can't actually buy their milk. To me, that's pretty stupid; I don't mind the price, but I do mind not knowing where my milk comes from.

belval 6y ago
I get your point but raw milk is 3.5% fat it has to be processed to be ready for human consumption so I don't see how it can get much better than a plant "only" (on a global scale) 1 hour away. To be clear I am not a fan of all the restrictions either. One of my friend brought fresh cheese curds from his farm to a diner between friends and explained that just for doing that the fine could be as high as 4000$.
- valarauko 6y ago
  > I get your point but raw milk is 3.5% fat it has to be processed to be ready for human consumption I'm confused - are you suggesting that raw milk is unfit for consumption due to the fat content? I ask because I (and probably lots of the other Indians on here) grew up drinking raw buffalo (Asian Water Buffalo) milk at home. That's about 7-8% fat. I knew plenty of people who got raw cow milk as well. Of course, it was standard practice to "cook" the milk before consumption, which would cause cream to separate out. The cream would be skimmed off for other purposes, but usually the kids got the full cream milk.
  - davidivadavid 6y ago
    Right, 3.5% is your typical whole milk you find everywhere. Nothing special about the fat percentage.
  - belval 6y ago
    Not at all, if that what you like I don't see any issue with someone liking whole milk, but at least around here 1-2% is way more popular so for my preferred consumption it would still need to be processed, that's what I meant.
greedo 6y ago
That seems to be a choice of the dairy farm to either outsource their processing or to sell to bulk purchasers. I live in the US, and a local dairy decided to start selling their product and skip the cooperative exchanges. They bottle their own milk and sell it to grocery stores. Best of all it comes in a reusable glass bottle (they charge a deposit). Their prices are higher than the more generic milk at the store, but I think the taste is much better. I also have a coworker whose father owns a small dairy farm that sells directly to the co-ops. Different business model. https://www.burbachscountrysidedairy.com https://www.burbachscountrysidedairy.com
- AlanYx 6y ago
  >That seems to be a choice of the dairy farm to either outsource their processing or to sell to bulk purchasers. No, in Canada it's not a choice. Any farmer that has milk quotas cannot sell directly to consumers, even inside the farm gate. Some provinces allow farmers a "personal use" exemption, which enables non-milk farmers (i.e., farmers who happen to own a cow or two; quota holders are ineligible) to sell very small quantities of cow milk to consumers inside the farm gates. The largest I believe is Alberta that has a 50 litre a day exemption.

belval 6y ago

I get your point but raw milk is 3.5% fat it has to be processed to be ready for human consumption so I don't see how it can get much better than a plant "only" (on a global scale) 1 hour away. To be clear I am not a fan of all the restrictions either. One of my friend brought fresh cheese curds from his farm to a diner between friends and explained that just for doing that the fine could be as high as 4000$.

valarauko 6y ago
> I get your point but raw milk is 3.5% fat it has to be processed to be ready for human consumption I'm confused - are you suggesting that raw milk is unfit for consumption due to the fat content? I ask because I (and probably lots of the other Indians on here) grew up drinking raw buffalo (Asian Water Buffalo) milk at home. That's about 7-8% fat. I knew plenty of people who got raw cow milk as well. Of course, it was standard practice to "cook" the milk before consumption, which would cause cream to separate out. The cream would be skimmed off for other purposes, but usually the kids got the full cream milk.
- davidivadavid 6y ago
  Right, 3.5% is your typical whole milk you find everywhere. Nothing special about the fat percentage.
- belval 6y ago
  Not at all, if that what you like I don't see any issue with someone liking whole milk, but at least around here 1-2% is way more popular so for my preferred consumption it would still need to be processed, that's what I meant.

greedo 6y ago

That seems to be a choice of the dairy farm to either outsource their processing or to sell to bulk purchasers. I live in the US, and a local dairy decided to start selling their product and skip the cooperative exchanges. They bottle their own milk and sell it to grocery stores. Best of all it comes in a reusable glass bottle (they charge a deposit). Their prices are higher than the more generic milk at the store, but I think the taste is much better. I also have a coworker whose father owns a small dairy farm that sells directly to the co-ops. Different business model. https://www.burbachscountrysidedairy.com https://www.burbachscountrysidedairy.com

AlanYx 6y ago
>That seems to be a choice of the dairy farm to either outsource their processing or to sell to bulk purchasers. No, in Canada it's not a choice. Any farmer that has milk quotas cannot sell directly to consumers, even inside the farm gate. Some provinces allow farmers a "personal use" exemption, which enables non-milk farmers (i.e., farmers who happen to own a cow or two; quota holders are ineligible) to sell very small quantities of cow milk to consumers inside the farm gates. The largest I believe is Alberta that has a 50 litre a day exemption.