Saturday, May 8, 2010

Milk: Should you buy Organic?


I've had several friends ask me recently whether or not they should buy organic milk; is it worth the money? Well, here's the thing...... there is no right or wrong answer, in my opinion. It's simply a personal choice. If you have a little wiggle room in your food budget and you feel more comfortable buying organic milk because of what you've heard/read about hormones, then go ahead and do it. I know some people who buy organic milk for the girls in their family and regular milk for the boys. That's what works for them.
But, the follow-up question to whether or not I think THEY should buy organic milk always seems to be: Well, what do you buy? Here's the thing. I do buy some organic foods. I guy organic carrots and apples, for example. The cost difference is minimal and you eat the skin of those foods (well, you peel carrots, but still). But I don't buy organic milk. Why? Because I went to a conference a couple years ago and the speaker was talking about how the reason why most people buy organic milk is to avoid the hormones. He went on to say that milk comes from cows. Cows are animals and therefore, have hormones. If you drink milk, organic or not, you will get some hormones. And multiple studies have shown that the rBGH that is given to cows results in "no significant difference between milk from cows treated with rBGH and untreated cows" (source FDA). HOWEVER, I FOUND THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!!!!!! When I was at Whole Foods recently, I was thrilled to find that their milk was only $2.99 a gallon (nearly $1.00 cheaper than the milk at my local grocery store) AND their NON-ORGANIC milk states on the label that this is "Milk from cows not treated with rBGH." So, hey, if you want to pay non-organic prices, but still want milk from cown not treated with rBGH...... head on over to Whole Foods and buy the 365 Everyday Value brand of Milk!