Our small herd is comprised of Jersey-crosses, which are 100% forage-fed, have A2A2 genetics, and are hormone/antibiotic-free! At Straight Up Outside, our mission is centered on nutrition. We aim to provide our community with delicious milk through sound agricultural stewardship.
Why drink raw milk?
Besides the comfort of drinking a locally grown, fresh, and delicious product, there are TONS of health benefits to drinking unprocessed milk. But don’t take my word for it, check out these studies from the scientific community:
Keeps kids healthy!
“Numerous scientific studies have shown that raw milk is correlated with decreased rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, otitis, fever, and respiratory infections.” RawMilkInstitute.org, December, 2019.
“An important study published in 2015 confirms what many mothers have observed—children on raw milk don’t get sick as often.” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
A great source of nutrients!
“Raw milk, and especially raw milk from pastured animals… is a great source of calcium, iron, Vitamins A, D & K, phosphorus, zinc, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and omega-3 fatty acids, plus many beneficial enzymes and probiotics.” RawMilkInstitute.org, December, 2019.
“Meat, eggs, and dairy products from pastured animals are ideal for your health. Compared with commercial products, they offer you more “good” fats, and fewer “bad” fats. They are richer in antioxidants; including vitamins E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. Furthermore, they do not contain traces of added hormones, antibiotics or other drugs.” Health Benefits of Grass-fed Products, EatWild.com
“… Moreover, raw milk supplies enzymes and carrier proteins to ensure that 100% of every nutrient is absorbed.” Realmilk.com
It’s delicious!
Our milk is completely unprocessed, full-fat, and over 4.5% butterfat! Here are a few testimonials about how tasty our milk is:
“Such a delicious treat that made the best ice cream I’ve ever had :)” -Tim G.
But is it safe?
In the 1800s, dairy farms moved into the city and built factory milking and cattle housing facilities. Cows were fed all sorts of things, including spent grains from local distilleries. They soon found people (and cows) were getting sick from the poor conditions and dirty milk! As a result, pasteurization technology was invented in order to kill off ALL bacteria.
But pasteurizing milk is just a band-aid fix to a larger problem… poor quality milk.
At Straight Up Outside, we focus on producing high-quality milk; utilizing attentive animal husbandry and ethical milking practices, with frequent testing completed by the Dairy Herd Information Association’s (DHIA) certified lab or with coliform testing strips at home to ensure bacteria counts (coliform) are low.
How about the cows?
In modern-day, industrial agriculture, a dairy cow will complete about 3 lactations (roughly 4 years of life). In a pasture-based, holistic farming scenario, a cow is known to have 7-9 lactations. Living and producing milk for much longer than a confinement cow! Our relatively young milking herd consists of 8 Jersey-crosses.
