For Battenkill they did give me this explanation on why they are not organic:

Organic means no antibiotics are used on the cow. For all natural (which is what we are) we use antibiotics (only if a cow is sick). When a cow is sick and given antibiotics they are taken away from the healthy herd and they are given antibiotics and all of their milk is dumped until it is tested negative for antibiotics and the cow is better. Then the cow is put back with the rest of the herd…therefore none of the cow’s antibiotics are transferred through their milk for our (human) consumption.

Hi Charlie, Yes if you read the guide you will see that Organic for sure and grass fed if possible.

Sorry it’s coming. There are so many plant based milks! Have you asked your pediatrician? There are many organic ones. My favorite is Malk almond milk. They also have oat milk which is delicious and might be easier to digest than nuts or a 1 year old.

My 1 year old is apparently lactose intolerant and I am having a tough time deciding on a milk type. Especially because so many plant milks are hard to find organic!

Any favorites?

I have been looking online for a while now trying to figure out which formula to put my 4 months old baby girl on and i made up my mind for HIPP but i have read a lot about how Holle Goat milk is closest to breast milk and you have also said the same thing in your article.. So I am gonna order Holle from this online store. Heard they deliver pretty quick.

Thankyou

I was going to comment the same thing. Info from 2007 is so outdated and therefore irrelevant to today’s standards.

Yes, their milk is organic and therefore is grass fed some. They do offer a kefir that is 100% grass fed but not a milk as far as I can see.

Hi Christina,

Thanks for the update. They don’t offer 100% grass-fed but I am sure after the publicity they started upping their standards for the organic milk which is supposed to be grass fed at least 120 days.

Hi Tierney,

We did not look at Wegman’s but in doing a quick search it looks like their milk comes from organic dairies in New York. However, it also said they have had to go other to other sources for their organic milk and they don’t specify where. My concern is that I don’t see a 100% grass fed version. However, their organic milk should be grass fed some.

Hi Danielle, We did not review every milk. As I stated in the guide I would look for organic and grass fed but non-homogenized and not ultra pasteurized is great too!

Yes! I was just looking to see if Wegman’s was mentioned (I’m outside Boston and they are popping up everywhere in Massachusetts!).

https://www.cornucopia.org/scorecard/dairy/

Great point!

At Straus Family Creamery, we source our organic milk from nine local family farms, including the Straus dairy, all of which are located in Marin and Sonoma counties. The certified organic cows spend time out on pasture whenever the weather permits, grazing on the rich, sweet grasses that are typical for Marin and Sonoma Counties in Northern California. In our region of California, with long wet and long dry seasons, it is not economically viable to feed the milking cows a diet of 100% grass year round.

The majority of the cows’ diet consists of forages, which include fresh grasses, silage, and hay, depending on the time of year and pasture growth. They are also given a variety of certified organic, Non-GMO Project Verified grains such as rye, barley, flax meal, soy, and corn.
All purchased feeds are certified organic and are tested to be non-GMO.

We work closely with a dairy nutritionist who has served on the National Organic Standards Board to create a balanced diet for the cows—which is better than a 100% grass-fed diet would be—in order to maintain their health and milk production.

Nicole, the whole “we wouldn’t want to be forced not to treat sick cows” thing is a common line from conventional dairies/farmers, and it’s quite dishonest. The truth is organic dairies will treat a sick animal the same as a conventional dairy would, giving them whatever care is warranted. The difference is on an organic dairy, that animal has to be segregated from the herd because it is no longer considered organic. For organic dairies that also have conventional herds, they would just transfer the sick animal to their conventional herd. For dairies that are organic-only, they simply sell the animal to a conventional dairy after it recovers. I’m not familiar with Ronnybrook, but it sounds like they’re trying to manipulate you.

I’ve talked to many, many conventional farmers at farmers markets about why they aren’t certified organic, and they come up with all kinds of excuses that sound good and they often say their products aren’t any different, but when I query their actual growing practices, they are rarely following organic standards. If you’re avoiding organic because of the cost and hoping the less expensive option is nearly as good, you’d likely be disappointed. Organic products cost more to produce, so if a product is significantly cheaper than the organic option, that tells you they’re not doing much differently from other conventional producers.

Omg yes on the egg post!!!

Thank you for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive post!!

Would be super interested if you ever did a similar post on eggs! (Organic, free range, pasture raised, etc)