Milk.

Today I bought a glass quart of milk at the Farmer’s Market from the people from Ronny Brook and I realized how long it has been since I have bought real milk for my house.  I don’t drink much milk and when I put something in my coffee it tends to be soy because I find it sweet in addition to milky.  This morning I wanted some granola with milk, not yogurt as usual.  I was about to buy some Silk Soy Milk (the largest, most widely available soy milk provider in the US) when something stopped me.  I found that more important than the health and flavor of soy milk is the source of my food.  So yes, being a cheesemonger I probably consume quite enough dairy but reading more and more about soy just makes me feel uncomfortable about eating the popular bean.  Soy is rarely produced on a small scale; it is produced on the same agribusiness fields as corn and other highly subsidized crops.  In addition because there is such a high demand for soy products in the US beans are often imported from South America or even Africa.  So yes, less energy is used in the actual growing and cultivating of soy in comparison to the much longer production chain for cows but when it is being shipped around the world it becomes difficult to say.
When presented with the two creamers for my coffee or liquid for my milk I think it will still have to be circumstantial.  Drinking cow’s milk from an unknown source frankly for me is just gross.  So for my coffee from the corner store I will get some soy, but when I am home and able to buy my milk from the farmer I think I am back on real dairy.  I would rather support a small farmer upstate than a giant anonymous agribusiness that can’t be traced and possible connected to some sort of bio-fuel. (A)