Milk Now Available from New York State Organic Co-op

Just got word that NYMILK, a co-op of 20 upstate organic farms, is now selling milk at Greenstar in Ithaca.

"Our goal is to create and maintain a brand based in New York, made by New York farms and made available to New York consumers," Dean Sparks, one of the faces behind NYMILK, wrote me in an email. "This lowers food miles and gives NY consumers a real chance to support farmers in their neighborhoods."

NYMILK is not the only organic milk available here in Ithaca, of course. Evans Farmhouse and Hillcrest Dairy are two local producers, available at Greenstar and through Garden Gate Delivery. And, Wegmans and P&C stock national organic brands of milk, such as Organic Valley.

A few weeks ago, I met a NYS farmer who is part of the Organic Valley Co-op and I asked her a question: Since Organic Valley is a national brand, doesn't that mean your milk is shipped of to some faraway Wisonsin processing plant and then shipped all the way back here to our stores? "No," she said. "That only happens in the rare case when our NYS processing plant can't handle the volume produced."

Regardless, Dean Sparks explains another benefit of buying NYMILK. "All three of the national brands (Hood, Organic Valley, and Horizon) have lowered their pay price to farmers," he wrote. "We have not done that and will not do that. We want our farmers to make a livable wage, send their kids to school, and live above the poverty line."