The beginning of a New Year is a time for reflection, a time to make some changes.  One for the Co-op newsletter and us is a change in our Price Shopper article.  Instead of making a list, shopping at two different stores and comparing prices, we will be focusing on a "staple" item.  We will look at availability, prices, and find out why the Moscow Food Co-op decides to carry certain brands.  Our first task is to find out about organic milk.

We found that there are seven different brands of organic milk available in Moscow, at the Co-op and the three supermarkets in our community.  The brands are Organic Valley, Horizon, Strauss, Safeway Organic, Stremicksi Heritage, and Natural Direction. All of these brands are certified organic; however there are significant differences between them.  We found that how the cows are treated, what they are fed, and farm practices are all areas of consideration.   We thank Peg Kingery, the Co-op chilled foods manager for the following information about organic milk brands.

The Moscow Food Co-op carries Organic Valley and Straus.  The Co-op also carries Spokane Farms, which although not labeled organic, does maintain sustainable practices.  Sustainable practices in caring for their land and animals are one of the main reasons the Moscow Food carries both Straus and Organic Valley.   Straus milk comes from a farm in northern California.  They are family owned, have about 270 cows, and maintain sustainable practices.  Organic Valley, although a large company, is a cooperative that since 1988 has stayed true its practice by "keeping family farms by use of sustainable means.”  Today Organic Valley has about 1600 family farms supplying milk across the country.  This means Organic Valley milk is supplied by a farm in the Northwest region that is certified by Oregon Tilth.

Of the other organic milk brands, the largest is Horizon. Although Horizon is labeled organic, its farming practices are questionable. Horizon maintains two farms: one in Maryland and the other in Southern Idaho. The Idaho farm maintains approximately 8,000 cows in area with limited pasture.  Although they meet the minimum requirements, it is not known how much pasture time their cows get.  According to the Cornucopia Institute, Organic Valley cows are on the pasture 365 days a year.  Horizon on the other hand refused to participate in the Cornucopia study.  Cornucopia maintains a website that informs consumers about the quality and sources of organics foods and you can find them at cornucopia.org.

It was difficult to find information on Safeway Organics and Natural Directions.  As Horizon, both companies did not participate in the Cornucopia study.  As Peg Kingrey explained, "we don't know where it (the milk) is from".  Stremicksi Heritage is from a company that recently was in court for work abuse and, until recently, had a low rating from Cornucopia. However it has turned its practices around and has gotten higher rating. Although their rating is not as good as Organic Valley, they come the closest compared to other brands.

The Moscow Food Co-op has done its research. The Co-op has chosen companies that sell high quality milk from cows raised with verified sustainable practices and not from diaries with unknown or unsustainable practices.  The average price for milk labeled organic in Moscow is $6.04 per gallon (with no specials or discounts at any store).  When we removed the prices of milk from companies with unknown or unsustainable practices, we find the average prices in Moscow of verifiable organic milk to be $6.79 per gallon.  The price at the Moscow Food Co-op for the best verifiable organic milk is the same at $6.79 per gallon.