Raw milk to go

We recently spent a wonderful, sunny week in Florida, and as I planned for the trip, I realized that our real food diet wouldn't be easy while we traveled. If I truly value this healthy food, then why would I give my family fast food and junk for a week if I have the ability to plan ahead and I have access to a full kitchen at my destination? I challenged myself to research and think ahead so that we could continue with healthy foods as much as possible. A few problems presented themselves quickly.

• Locating real food: I've spent months figuring out how to find the most affordable sources for raw milk, grass-fed or pastured meats, and organic fruits and vegetables in my own area. How can I find raw milk in another state? 
• Transporting: Real food is often very perishable. What foods should I try to bring in my luggage on an airplane, and what should I buy at my destination? 
• Ingredients: Many of my real food recipes call for ingredients that I've prepared ahead (chicken stock, roasted chicken, soaked and dehydrated nuts, etc.) What recipes could I make at the hotel that don't require other steps to prepare the ingredients? 
• Snacks: I don't buy many snack foods for our regular routine at home, but I knew we would be spending a lot of time traveling or standing in lines. I wanted to be prepared with healthier snack options for my little boys to keep up moral and avoid meltdowns. What are the healthiest, portable, non-perishable snack options for little ones?
• Planning for our return: I usually pick up my raw milk, cheese, cream, and meats every two weeks. Our trip fell on my normal pick-up week, so upon our return we wouldn't have access to our normal source of real food for at least a week. Where could I find another source of raw milk in my area to fill in the gap? 

As you can imagine, it took some work thinking through all these questions. I'll tackle these in a few different posts, and today I'll focus on the search for raw milk. First, I headed to www.realmilk.com, and I looked up Florida. I learned that Florida only allows people to sell raw milk for "pet consumption only." There are many different raw milk sources listed, and they are listed by town or county. We were heading to Orlando, and then we were taking a day trip to Clearwater early in the week. I ruled out the only source in Orlando very quickly. It's a co-op that ships their food from a farm in PA every two weeks. Wow, I was shocked at the prices! I guess it is really expensive to send the food that far, and I had a new-found gratitude for my home state. I wish the sources on the real milk site were organized on a state map because I don't know Florida well, and I was trying to figure out what towns and counties were close to Orlando or our travel route. I decided to focus on Tampa because we were going to drive through. I sent an email to Sarah from the Healthy Home Economist blog, and she sent me a list of natural food stores that sell raw milk in the Tampa area. Tampa is an hour and a half away from Orlando, so I had to plan a way to keep the milk cold during the trip. A soft, collapsible cooler from Trader Joe's and a blue ice fit the bill, and I packed them in my luggage for the trip.

We flew down to Orlando on a Saturday morning, but we weren't going to be in Tampa until Monday night. My family can finish a gallon of milk in two days, so I needed a temporary solution to get us to Monday. I remembered reading that people can bring milk on an airplane if they have a small child. I bought two Thermos before the trip, and I filled them with raw milk before we left. The milk lasted until we reached Orlando, so we didn't have to get the ultra-pasteurized milk in the airport. Score 1 for planning ahead! 

On Saturday night, I shopped for groceries at Whole Food's in Orlando, and I was excited to find some non-homogenized milk from grass-fed cows. I bought enough to last us until Monday. I filled our Thermos again for our day trip to Clearwater. As we drove back through Tampa, I called the natural foods store closest to the highway to check if they had raw milk in stock. We drove 20 minutes away from the highway, and I kept trying to assure myself that all this effort was worth it. The store only had 4 half-gallons of milk, so we bought all of them. Each half gallon cost more than a whole gallon from my local farmer in PA. I don't think we could afford to buy raw milk regularly if we lived in Florida. I know they have some direct buying clubs, so maybe the milk is more affordable if you get it from the farmer. We packed the milk in our cooler and headed back to the hotel. I was so proud of myself for finding raw milk in another state.

My boys went through the first half-gallon by Wednesday. I opened the second one, and there was so much cream on top that I couldn't seem to get the milk to pour out into my son's cup. I shook the container, and then tried again. The milk seemed lumpy, but I chalked it up to cream. At dinner, my son  refused to drink the milk. I assured him it was just full of cream, but when I tasted the milk I realized there was a problem. The milk was sour. :-( I felt sick pouring the whole half-gallon down the drain. When I opened the next two, they were also sour. Ugg. Fail. Three half-gallons of milk down the drain. (ETA: Further proof of my newbie status- Sarah just posted a long list of things to do with sour raw milk. Since we were vacationing, I didn't have many options, but if I have raw milk at home, I'll know what to do now.) My friend, who was vacationing with us, graciously offered my boys her skim milk. While I appreciated the offer, skim milk was not what I was working towards. On Thursday night, I sent my husband back to Whole Food's for the non-homogenized milk.  

I called the natural foods store, and I asked for a refund. They asked if I bought from the direct buying club or if the milk was the left-overs off the shelves. Then the store employee asked me to bring the containers in.  When I explained the situation, they were willing to give me a refund over the phone. I appreciated the refund, but I was so disappointed that all the planning and extra driving had resulted in my kids drinking pasteurized skim milk. The containers didn't have a "best by" date, and my guess is that people don't buy this expensive milk in the store very often.  More reasons to buy directly from the farmer if you can. My guess is that if raw milk was legal for human consumption in Florida, they would have to print a date on the bottle. If it was legal, then I could probably have found the milk in a closer store. Oh, to have raw milk vending machines like they do in Europe! I'm going to keep looking for raw milk when we travel, but I'm going to be suspicious of containers without dates if I can't ask the farmer when the milk was produced and bottled.
When we got home, I visited my local sparkly, new Whole Food's store for the first time. I was disappointed to see that they don't carry raw milk or non-homogenized milk. I needed milk to fill in the gap until I could pick it up from my farmer. I remembered that Martindale's, my local health food store, stocks raw milk, and I was surprised how affordable it was compared to Florida. Two gallons of delicious raw milk (with dates!) from my local store made me happy to be home.

This post is linked back to Sunday School at Butter Believer.