Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Rhody Fresh

Dairy farmers are some of the most ingenious people I know. Talk about milking a product for all its worth. There are so many by-products you can make from milk: cheese, ice cream, butter -the list goes on and on. The story behind Rhody Fresh is not uncommon. Dairy farmers all across the country are facing the same situation: loss of farmland to urban development, competition against huge dairy processing plants and the generational decline of family members who are unable to support/run the farm. Some farmers succumb to their dwindling prospects, but others rise to the occasion by demonstrating their entrepreneurial spirit.

The Rhode Island dairy farmers, worried about their future, decided to pool their resources together to create their own brand of milk, but what makes Rhody Fresh so special is that the idea actually worked. And it worked big time.

I’m not much of a morning person so the idea of heading to a dairy farm at 5am was not too appealing. However, the cows are on such a milking cycle (they have to be milked every 12 hours) that there’s no way to avoid expelling them of all the creamy, white stuff at this early morning hour. Fortunately, I got to try my hand with the milking apparatus and I was pleased as pie that good ‘ole Bessie didn’t try to kick me in the process. In case you don’t know, cows are pretty finicky animals. And they’re smart, too.

I spoke with some local townspeople about the Rhody Fresh brand and they seemed to be big fans. The cartons come in these nicely-designed packages and the milk does taste a little different from the traditional, store-bought brand. The chocolate milk was my personal favorite!
There were a lot of lessons to be learned at the very beginning of Rhody Fresh, but now the RI Dairy Co-op seems to be on a roll with dozens of stores (including large chains) selling their product. They hope to expand their line into cheeses and other products, but in the meantime they’ll take it one day at a time - thankful for the tremendous support they get from the local community.

Yolanda Vazquez

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