change of course

I had a rolling bit of commentary from the ride in this morning into the steady headwind. Thinking about the Road Commission meeting yesterday about the disruption of the last bridge usable by cyclists between east providence and providence. Thinking about looking up to see if there were other bridges than the I-5 between Vancouver and Portland. I don't remember if 205 has bike access. Somehow I don't think so. But I got imaging this isn't much different than if they closed I-5 (to bikes) and anyone wanting to go between the cities would have to ride way the hell out of the way.

Not conducive for decreasing vehicle traffic and getting people to realize the benefits of alternative modes of transportation. Sure they could do the whole bike on bus rack deal. But what if you have a trailer? How does that work??? Bike on front, trailer on bus via wheelchair access? I suppose that might work. Hmmm.

Anyway. Someone defiled the name of the Hawthorne Valley Farm. I can't sit idly by and fire cheap shots back via the comments. No. This is more important than that.

Bolocks to you for thinking HV is 'hand' made; small batch.

Is that said out of jealousy or offense or ignorance? Or a bit of all three. And since people never really take the literal meaning of words I'm not suggesting this person is ignorant. Far from it. But everyone, with out exception, is ignorant about something.

So, Ya see. While I haven't been in the giant factory there in New Hampster that churns out more organic yogurt than most it would seem. A formerly small company with great ideals that let their recent expansion and capital growth get fueled by some giant French MegaCorporation certainly knows every last little place that is making yogurt in the country. Esp those Organic Yogurt brands they compete against.

This big corporate yogurt giant (talking the NH branch including the SF and BC brands) does make a fantastic product. Great and consistent stuff. No question there. But. Ya see. There is a small Association that includes a Biodynamic Farm, a Nursery through grade 12 Waldorf School, and a market.

They have a full dairy on site. I could go on and on. But first I will offer up a quote from their Dairy web page:

Hawthorne Valley Farm was one of the first dairies in the United States to be certified as organic. The products we make from our biodynamic cows’ milk can be enjoyed with the assurance that our cows are grass–fed on our pastures throughout the spring, summer, and fall. In late fall and winter, they are fed our biodynamic hay and baleage from our fields; limited amounts of certified-organic grain are fed to our dairy cows for the purpose of helping them maintain condition. They are given no hormones or antibiotics and are tended with gentle, caring hands.

* Demeter-certified biodynamic dairy processing plant
* products include farmstead yogurt, quark, and cheeses
* raw milk available at the Farm Store
* products available at the Farm Store, Green Markets (Union Square and Inwood, NYC), and through our CSA; yogurt and quark distributed east of the Mississippi River to natural foods and grocery stores
* cheese is sometimes sold through mail order (call for availability)

Hmm. Either this CXRacer guy is being a dink, or he's just mis-informed, or HVF is not so truthful.

Okay. Add this to the equations. One of my little brothers lived and worked there for 6 years. He actually worked in the dairy, putting the yogurt into boxes for transport.

So why is this yogurt special? Unlike the Nancy's stuff out west where they put powdered milk into milk to make a thick yogurt (damn stuff is REALLY thick), or worse than using powdered milk as a "thickening agent" (in my opinion) Pectin.

Here, again. Let me pull a bit from their descriptions of the Yogurt:

* Old European–style
* made with live cultures
* no thickeners or emulsifiers added

I've heard someone talk about the european Yogurt market driven first by taste, then by "organic." American consumers don't really care what the yogurt tastes like. How many actually consume large quantities of PLAIN yogurt? Or how many use plain yogurt to mix with their granola/muesli in the morning? Or use it as a topper to dishes? Go stand infront of the dairy case some time.

Think of it this way. It would be like switching the quantities of flavored milk with plain milk in the store (make all plain flavored and flavored plain in stock quantities).

Fact of the matter is, Hawthorne Valley Yogurt just flat out tastes great. Doesn't have any thickeners. Sure the cream rises to the top. That's what happens when you take warm freshly pasteurized organic whole milk and mix it with living cultures. You get some amazing magic.

I may not have ever been inside a yogurt factory. But I ain't no city boy. I've been around my share of farms. Hell being around an Ag school has some knowledge boosting advantages in this department. Growing up walking down to the end of the dead end road, then through the forest, out into a friends pasture and coming back home with a big wide mouth glass gallon of raw milk probably isn't something most folks have done. Maybe that single example doesn't shed light on everything. That and yogurt is just a simple microbiology project. Anyone who has done a few years of sterile cell culture work, or spent time trying to keep cell lines alive or clean probably could make yogurt. It ain't very complicated. It ain't all that special. But why, oh why, do people insist on it being thickened or solidified? Wait. They don't want it natural and lumpy. yeah. gotta be smooth, homoginized, processed and clean.

Great Grumbling Fuzzle sticks. Real food is pretty amazing. People should try it more often. That said, another key benefit is the microwave and dishwasher safe quart containers the yogurt is sold in from HVF. I don't take lunch to work any other way!!!

So. Excuse me while I have just one more nice chocolate chip cookie that i brought to work in a HVF yogurt container that my wife made last night with my cup of Coffee Depot Tanzanian peaberry that i brewed here in my office.

Coffee and cookies.

Heddwch
G