Demand has gone mad for raw milk over the last few days as milk has been in the news! People are becoming more worried about milk with the new story that one of Europe's biggest dairy processors, Arla, are asking their farmers to use a new feed additive called Bovaer, which is designed to reduce cows' methane emissions by 27%. The company that has developed Bovaer claims there are no impacts on animal or human health after 15 years of trialling the product.
There are two angles on this: cows are designed to eat grass, which will produce around 4,500 litres of milk per cow per year, but grass isn't anywhere nutrient-dense enough to provide the energy and protein for a cow to produce the 12,000 litres of milk per year that cows are now being asked to do. Therefore, cows are fed a super-rich diet of energy and protein to do this. We know if we as humans have a super-rich diet, there's an chance, more than likely, we too will produce more methane! The second point is that methane is energy, it is a fuel, and we all know energy is only going to become more expensive. The question is, how do we convert this methane from going into the atmosphere into a harnessed energy source we need? Farming systems need to be reassessed, so that methane is stored instead of released into the atmosphere.
Whatever the truth about this new feed additive, it does feel that big companies are increasingly controlling what happens on farms, and the way our food is produced. People are struggling to trust the food industry and are also understanding that raw milk is an incredible food. Demand for our raw milk has increased to beyond what our cows can produce. This is compounded by the loss of land to development, that we can no longer farm, resulting in us producing less milk. For these reasons, we are not currently able to take on new customers on our doorstep deliveries wanting raw milk. We are buying in grass-fed organic milk that we pasteurise, so we can take on customers who want organic grass fed-pasteurised, non-homogenised milk.
Winter is always a tough time on the farm. Our staff work so hard to provide you with your milk on your doorstep, especially when it is windy and icy, we don't stop for bad weather!
Milk round deliveries for Christmas and New Year for most of our customers will be completely normal. The only exception is the Wednesday round which falls on Christmas Day, therefore the Wednesday delivery will arrive a day later (Boxing Day, Thursday 26th December) instead. The Wednesday New Year’s Day delivery will be made as normal.
We also have two new festive ice cream flavours in our shop in Borough Market: Gingerbread and Chocolate Orange! Be sure to have a taste if you’re stopping by. Keep an eye on our socials for our London market opening days/times over the Christmas period.
Finally, please contact us with your Christmas orders for our 28-day aged grass-fed organic beef: first come, first served.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
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