It Begins With Milk

In the 1960’s a dozen eggs cost 57 cents, and a gallon of milk was 49 cents.  You might even remember the back porch milk box lid thumping closed as the milkman left a fresh delivery of bottled milk. This usually signaled a race with my siblings to the milk box for the honor of getting the first pour where the cream had floated to the top of the bottle. Recently, milk box deliveries are making a comeback using locally produced Washington milk. You may have also noticed Washington produced milk on menu boards in coffee shops, adding local flavor to your favorite latte. Farmer’s markets, grocery stores, and supermarkets are also purveyors of a variety of local Washington milk. But milk is just the beginning of a broadening market of craft foods like cheeses, yogurts, and hand-crafted ice cream.  No matter what your source is, all Washington produced milk contains respectable amounts of protein, the B-vitamins riboflavin, niacin, and B-12, coupled with essential minerals like calcium, potassium and phosphorous. Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is often voluntarily added by the processor. Also worth mentioning is that all Washington dairy processors have banned the use of rBST (growth hormone) by the dairies that ship them milk. A lot has changed since the 1960’s, and Washington milk and crafted dairy products let us know that our future is going to be tasty!