Where is my milk from?

A website helps you find out exactly where your milk originated.

Mon, Mar 29 2010 at 12:41 PM EST

Photo: Colin Purrington/Flickr

You know milk comes from cows, but do you know where the cows that gave the milk actually live? If you bought from a local dairy farmer, maybe you do. But if you bought your milk at the grocery store, you probably don’t.

I usually buy one of two different brands of milk — organic milk from my local Wegman’s market or Lehigh Valley Farms non-organic but rBST-free milk. I buy the latter once in a while when I run to the closest supermarket to grab milk in a pinch. That particular store brand’s organic milk tastes just awful and their name-brand organic milk is outrageously priced.

I didn’t know where the Wegman’s milk originated. Now I do. According to the website Where is my milk from? it comes from the Upstate Niagara Coop Inc in Rochester, N.Y. That’s about 350 miles away from my house. The Lehigh Valley Farms milk falls into the 100-mile range that many locavores would be comfortable with. (However, oddly, that dairy doesn't show up on the Where is my milk from? site.)

By inputting the code located near the expiration date on a container of milk, you too can find out where your milk originated from. In the photo above, based on the numbers 34-1594, I can tell that milk came from a dairy farm in New Jersey.

I’m a huge proponent of local foods, and a significant portion of our food budget goes toward local foods. However, I’m also a huge proponent of organic milk for my children, and with the amount of milk my family goes through, the price for organic at Wegman’s keeps me buying it there. For me, this site is interesting just out of curiosity.

For those who are committed to buying all of their food as locally as possible, this website can help them determine which of their grocery stores’ milk options are the best for their needs.

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