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Despite having a great deal less income than I did last year, I still buy organic milk. The supermarket price of organic milk is only 50 cents to, at most, one dollar more than regular where I shop so for me it's worth buying unlike other organic food stuffs that can cost double the price of non-organic. I really wish I could afford to buy more organic foods.

We are still buying organic milk. I buy Organic Valley, and each gallon is $5.50 on average. That is alot more than our Safeway brand milk, which is $1.99 a gallon. We can't afford organic meat for the most part, but we will continue to shell out 2x for organic milk.

You're all stupid. Organic milk is not any better for you than regular milk. Waste your money.

@harstad You may disagree with the previous commenters but that doesn't make them stupid. Serious Eats is a community of people passionate about food who engage in lively, inclusive discussions about many food-related issues, including organics. People buy organic milk and other organic products for many reasons, including taste and health, and I for one respect their reasoning.

Ed, first of all, I want to say that my household recently switched to ONLY organic milk, as soon as we heard of the dairies struggling a few months ago. We currently switch between brands to try to spread the love around. My husband is a milk lovin' man, and goes through a couple gallons a week, so we do our share. Probably 12-15 gallons per month.

Secondly, I mirror your sentiment about the importance of reputable news institutions like The Times. True, honest, courageous journalists rarely get the credit they deserve, and they should be applauded for their consistent heroism, especially those who literally risk their lives for a scoop.

Unfortunately, the papers that are flailing or failing, are doing so because they followed poor business models, and embraced new technologies too late in the game. I know, because back in 1986-1998 I worked on consulting projects with a few of the majors (I worked for one of the Top 3 Int'l firms) wherein we attempted to encourage them to embrace internet strategies, and almost all poo pooed the concept - until it was too late. The result is tragic. The same thing happened when I consulted with the state of California, when I was serving as Campaign Manager on a California state Senate campaign - years ahead of time - on how to avoid the impending bankruptcy that they themselves didn't see coming. But, I digress.

(Sorry to ramble. It's just frustrating to see the unnecessary price that is paid by such foolishness. Like the current issue of Gov. Ahhnold trying to close all of California's State Parks.)

Anyways, Ed, thanks for bringing attention to this crucial matter of supporting the Dairy Industry, and especially organic dairies, particularly in the face of of mass foreign import Milk Protein Concentrates (MPC's). I hope many SE readers are inspired to make the switch to organic milk, as a result of your post.

Organic milk is so much better. I used to drink the additive-free whole milk at Trader Joe's, but had to limit my quantities or I would have a stuffy nose the next day. Not so with organic milk, and it's so much creamier tasting!

If you don't like the kind with cream at the top, Horizon produces a nice version that is similar to the milk you know and love, only so much better. I'm not an Organic Nazi by any means, but with milk - especially, it makes all the difference, and truly is worth the higher price tag.

I guess I have made my points, and then some.

Cheers,

~ Paula

Stories like this make me sad. I live in NH, and recently our local paper (the Foster's Daily Democrat which is on the verge of going under I fear) did a story on struggling New England dairy farmers.

It's very sad. A family can't be a small dairy farm with 30 head of cows and survive. And if they're organic and not pumping them full of hormones, they yield is 20% less -- another big hit. Ultimately, the farmer must get big or get out. This is why factory farming exists -- and why I feel it's so important to support these farmers regardless of cost. Choosing to buy organic milk from small family farms is better for the family, and better for the cows.

Incidentally, in the article in my local paper they interviewed a local organic dairy farm who is only able to stay going because of their strong on-farm sales of raw milk at $8/gal. If our state didn't allow them to sell raw milk they would have gone under.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090312/GJNEWS_01/703129826

I will stick with locally and responsibly farmed Ronnybrook for as long as they're around!

Let's give Harstad the benefit of the doubt. We all deserve that sometimes. I am curious as to what people think about Horizon organic milk. It didn't fare that well in a milk taste test Steingarten and I did a few years ago (damn, maybe it was more than a few years ago).

I stopped drinking organic milk a few months ago, after numerous cartons of it seemed to go bad quite quickly.

Organic milk can be high here in TN. Recently Kroger began offering organic milk in their brand name. It's not too much more than non-organic milk, and MUCH cheaper than Horizon or other brands. It's the only brand of milk I buy now.

Oh, and I have one bit of annoyance. Non organic milk comes in that plastic container, which I can recycle. Organic milks around here all come in wax-coated cardboard, which I can't recycle easily around here.

I found I was less "intolerant" to organic milk, but ended off switching to soy because it was cheaper....

I just couldn't justify the cost when our family goes through so much milk. I try and buy the hormone free kind. As the descendant of farmers (not dairy though) I feel for them, but when it comes down to it I have to be able to afford not only to feed my kids but to clothe them too so cutbacks have to be made.

It's a health issue for me, so I HAVE to buy organic milk. The cost isn't exorbitant either at ~$3.50 for 1/2 gallon in Cleveland. We go through a 1/2-gallon every 3-4 weeks.

I don't buy organic milk. We just don't consume that much milk. On the occasions that we need milk, I tend to purchase the Simply Smart stuff because whatever Frankenstein process they've done to it means it will last forever in the fridge after it's been opened. Normal milk goes bad too quickly and I hate to waste food.

I buy as much Ronnybrook as I can - the stuff is amazing (but it can be hard to find outside the NY,NJ,etc region).

I don't drink a lot of milk. But when I found out that the organic milk didn't go off as fast I switched.

@Doctrine: Valefar is right, maybe not the most well put, but right. I'm a scientist, not spouting some random news story: The gene that is responsible for the capability of humans to digest milk sugar shuts off after childhood in most people. Notice how there is a market for lactose intolerant items? That being said, I drink/use milk because I like it. I feel bad for the farmers: they are producing a superior product, and getting screwed for it.

Neither my husband nor I are milk drinkers, just a little in coffee or tea in the morning. My one year old daughter, on the other hand, puts away a fair amount of the stuff. Because of that we always buy organic. It doesn't seem like a sacrifice to spend the extra money on her. If it was just for us, we might opt to save a few bucks.

@Adam--surprised to hear that organic milk went bad quickly. I used to buy organic milk from Costco. I remember when we started drinking organic milk it cost less than $8 for 3 half gallon cartons. The only reason I bought that much milk at once (for a two-person household) was because the expiration date was usually over a month later. Thanks to the ultra-pasteurization, I guess. Maybe you got a bad batch or your fridge is too warm.

We stopped buying the milk from Costco back when gas prices went through the roof and the same 3-pack was about $10...no additional savings for buying in bulk. So I bought one carton at a time at the grocery store. In later months it became a focus for my husband that we were drinking organic milk and to his way of thinking, it was a luxury. We continued to drink organic, but then one day we went to the market and organic was almost $5 for half gallon and regular was under $2. And we debated over $3 in the middle of the dairy section. He convinced me when he pointed out that none of the cheese and yogurt we were consuming were organic--and I ate more of those things everyday than I drank milk. So, we switched back to conventional milk.

When my niece and nephew are visiting, I will buy organic milk for them.

In Rhode Island we have Little Rhody milk which is local but not organic so I buy that because given the chance I generally chose local over organic (unless of course there is local organic).

I drink only soy milk. Cows milk does not taste good to me, it leaves a horrible after taste in my mouth and I used to be so thirsty after eating cereal. I also only have 1/2 c. a day usually in cereal so the extra cost is not a problem. Plus soy milk does not come from factory farmed cows and most people here know the harm to cows and people when we consume products from factory farms.

from ilovebutter : "Ultimately, the farmer must get big or get out. This is why factory farming exists"

i just have to say, i'm pretty sure this is ot why factory farming exists. it is -because- factory farming exists that this is what small farmers face.

i think it's interesting that people (i'm not sure anyone here, but people) would buy unsustainable milk instead of just buying -less- milk. we live in a culture of not only instant gratification, but where we think we deserve and should have access to whatever we like whenever we like it. milk isn't water. no one -needs- to drink milk (though i recognize that it might be the best option for some people who need certain nutrients). if organic milk is a dollar more expensive, just drink a dollar less of it than you normally would.

thank god for ronnybrook..... commercial milk is one of the ten most toxic foods you can ingest..... organic for me, spend money on good, quality food and save money on doctors.

@Doctrine:

Thanks for picking a paper that isn't biological, is 4 years old, and from a journal with an impact factor of 2.3!

Maybe you would be interested in something more relevant, informative and recent (Impact factor of 4):
Lactose digestion and the evolutionary genetics of lactase persistence. Human Genetics, 2009, Jan; 124(6): 579-91

It has been known for some 40 years that lactase production persists into adult life in some people but not in others. However, the mechanism and evolutionary significance of this variation have proved more elusive, and continue to excite the interest of investigators from different disciplines. This genetically determined trait differs in frequency worldwide and is due to cis-acting polymorphism of regulation of lactase gene expression. A single nucleotide polymorphism located 13.9 kb upstream from the lactase gene (C-13910 > T) was proposed to be the cause, and the -13910*T allele, which is widespread in Europe was found to be located on a very extended haplotype of 500 kb or more. The long region of haplotype conservation reflects a recent origin, and this, together with high frequencies, is evidence of positive selection, but also means that -13910*T might be an associated marker, rather than being causal of lactase persistence itself. Doubt about function was increased when it was shown that the original SNP did not account for lactase persistence in most African populations. However, the recent discovery that there are several other SNPs associated with lactase persistence in close proximity (within 100 bp), and that they all reside in a piece of sequence that has enhancer function in vitro, does suggest that they may each be functional, and their occurrence on different haplotype backgrounds shows that several independent mutations led to lactase persistence. Here we provide access to a database of worldwide distributions of lactase persistence and of the C-13910*T allele, as well as reviewing lactase molecular and population genetics and the role of selection in determining present day distributions of the lactase persistence phenotype.

Your paper, on the other hand, is trying to demonstrate the genetic difference based upon geography. I don't care how the mutations came to be, my point was that they exist.
Globalization, one of the points that this site takes joy in, is what propagates the mutation. People, thru random mating, are getting copies of whatever culturally-related polymorphism their parents had. So instead of having 1 or 2 mutations, we might have 3 or 4, thus cementing the lactose intolerance in the population.

Still like milk. Still don't think that it's necessary for me (although now I might want to check my SNPs). Still think you were rude in your original comment.

Although, I have cut down on the amount, I have not stopped drinking organic milk. Actually, I drink full-fat (whole) raw milk, which is milk that has not been pasteurised from cows that are only grass fed. It is delicious milk! Full of probiotics and very tasty. And because the milk from these cows eat what cows are supposed to eat, the fat (cream) is a good balance of Omega 6 and 3.

I find even the organic milk, because it has been pasteurised (thus killing off all of its goodness), to not be healthy--if I drink too much of it I get constipated. Also, if for some chance I am not able to drink this raw milk, when it is sweet, in a timely manner, because it is full of the good bacteria, it doesn't spoil, it just gets sour and naturally turns into a cheese or yogurt or clabber, depending upon when I get to it.

The price of raw milk has always been more expensive than the organic or supermarket milk. So, I am used to paying more. However, the price has not gone up, perhaps that is because the cows are grass fed, so the dairy owners who "make" it haven't been negatively impacted by the cost of feed. The reason why I drink less of it, is because I have to make my money stretch further these days, given the global economic collapse.

I used to drink only organic milk, but then I stopped caring so much. Sometimes I get it, and sometimes I don't. Nothing wrong with regular local milk or eggs.

I would not deprive children of milk if I could possibly help it. They will drink milk while it is often difficult to coax them into eating other sources of the vitamins and minerals they get from milk. As for adults, dark green leafy vegetables are a better source of minerals, including calcium.

Having said all that, I am not willing to give up on milk or other dairy products. They are important for cooking and straight consumption. They bring pleasure to life and there is absolutely nothing wrong with a little pleasure.

we buy organic raw milk. after pasteurization even organic milk isn't very healthy.

We trade homemade, fresh baked bread for raw milk. If we want it fresher, we can milk the cow ourselves, but since I grew up doing that, I will gladly pass. Our milk supplier sells us this grand stuff as pet food, since it is illegal in this state to sell raw milk. If I were to buy milk, I would buy organic, but the price is truely outrageous.

"we buy organic raw milk. after pasteurization even organic milk isn't very healthy."

Oh sure, for I'm guessing, oh, 99.5% of the population, they must just be ignorant or lazy to not run down to their local grocery store and buy raw milk! Oh wait...

Having an infant about to transition onto cows milk I have done a lot of reading about milk and will surely purchase organic when he starts to drink it. Up till now, I've always purchased the cheap non-organic kind, and I quite frankly, am a perfectly healthy 34 year old. It will sting paying more for it, but I hope it never reaches a point where organic will become unavailable. But what am I thinking... I will just buy raw milk *rolls eyes*

I won't drink milk if it has any sort of 'smell.' I don't mean the normal smell after it's been open a couple days; I mean any smell. I know, it's strange. I used to buy 2 or 3 of those small containers of regular milk so it would always be fresh. I started buying organic and not only does it taste cleaner, but it last so much longer that it's worth paying a little bit of a premium.

I like the Organic Valley non-fat but I don't like that it only comes in half-gallons. I live 37 miles south of NYC. Does anyone know of a store between here and there where organic milk is sold in quarts?

When my husband and I "cut back" and figured out what we would and wouldn't give up, organic milk was one of those "keeps". Yes it costs more but we figure the price is worth the taste. Plus we get our milk in bottles which are returnable so now carton waste. We'll give up going out to eat once a week or getting a cheaper brand of something else to keep up our organic milk drinking.

The thing people were looking for with organic milk mainly was that it was drug free. No hormones and no antibiotics. Many believe that the increased amounts in milk over the years has hurt a generation of milk drinkers. Now that bovine growth hormone has been almost disappeared from milk producing cattle people aren't as worried.Look for labels that state hormone free. It is really the best choice in this crappy economy. Buy organic milk if you want to waste money.

For one summer, when I was a child, I drank milk like most people drink coffee or water. Never drank a glass of the stuff after that. Whenever I would try, my stomach wanted to throw it back up. So I finally quit. Good thing my mother didn't insist. I now drink organic soy 'milk' but only if it's chocolate. Don't know why milk bothers me, since other dairy products don't, just milk.

I feel for any small/family farmers today. They don't stand a chance against 'agrifarms', which are driving out the local guy.

Thanks for reporting this. Our organic milk consumption as decreased due to allergies to casein, but half of the family still consumes milk & butter. I buy Organic Valley almost exclusively, the Safeway brand (and many others) do not have the same ethics in my opinion. There are so many loop holes in the system as to what substitutions can be made if organic feed becomes to expensive. Besides I like to support the littler guy.

For our family it is more responsible and better for us to purchase organic. I will continue to do so. My husband always says "you can pay for better food now or the doctor later."

Quality?

Youve got to be kidding!!! This rag will go out of business because it DESERVES to go out of business. Its no different than any other business. If what you got isn't what the public wants, adios...and good riddance.

It would be a good paper if all I wanted was editorials DISGUISED as reporting.