To want to pay more for my milk?

[hillyhilly]

I don't want to screw British farmers but aside from a farm shop, I genuinely don't know where I should buy it.
I try to buy organic where possible and generally buy from Aldi though I do top up at Morrison's and Sainsburys local stores
I've looked for a facebook page but the one I found is not as active as it should be given the current focus.

I've also switched back to buying our milk from Waitrose (had been using Lidl recently) based on what they pay, which still isn't enough, and am thinking about going to organic as well.

We used to have a milkman but it was Dairycrest and they were unreliable. The reason I wanted a milkman was so that we had milk for breakfast but they regularly didn't deliver until mid-morning so we stopped. I really do think the milk delivery companies missed a big chance in the 1990s and 2000s by concentrating on business to business rather than plugging the 'green' aspects of milk delivery - reuse being better than recycle, less journey miles bringing milk to people rather than people to the milk, etc etc.

If we had an independent milkman, I'd use then like a shot.

I would buy British Fairtrade milk. (luckily for me i can afford to pay extra).

I would not support an across the board increase as protecting industries from the laws of supply and demand always ends badly.

Its a painful time for dairy farmers, as it is for oil employees being laid off, and courier drivers, and was for builders in the recession, miners, british leyland workers etc, public sector employees, the list goes on.

I assume those who are keen on artificially high prices are also pretty vocal on threads about the 'cost of living crises' 'minimum wage' 'supporting the EU'. It strikes me a somewhat schizophrenic position to take.

I'm also astonished by the number that say they would but actually can't be arsed to do so. This thread has shown umpteen ways to pay a fairer price yet is full of people going to ALDI and Asda.

I buy the Duchy milk from waitrose have done for a long while, hope that is still ok.

Plenty of people I know recently have laughed at me when I was a bit shocked by the gleeful purchases of four pints from Asda/iceland at 89p.

Trust me, they don't need to be saving that money and seems a bit bizarre when they all buy fair-trade.

Try Cravendale and any other ARLA products like anchor butter. ARLA are a farmer owned cooperative, including 3500 uk farmers which obviously aim to get the best for its members ie the farmers :)

Arla was put down on another thread Hobbitopolis, is Cravendale actually okay after all?

I agree with getthefeck, it's a really odd attitude to say "just increase the price twofold, I can manage" and think that's job done.

I will switch to Yeo Valley if that's the most accessible supermarket milk which also pays farmers a fair price. Duchy's can sod off, I'm not supporting old Charlie anymore than I have to.

Oh ffs it's not as simple as paying 90p more for your milk when switching to Yeo Valley because they sell it in litres not pints so I'm paying more for less rather than more for the same amount.

If the milkmen are from Dairy Crest that's no good as they are almost as greedy as the supermarkets. Sainsbury's are the least worst, Morrisons, Lidl & Aldi the worst. I'm going to start a petition about it if there isn't already one.

When I'm in the UK, if Dad runs out of milk from the milkman, then I get Duchy milk because it's unhomogenised and I prefer that (as is the bottled milk)

I feel SO bad for farmers these days. People are always after the cheapest they can get and it's actually putting people out of business and ensuring the welfare of the animals is not the first thing on anyone's mind

That's just it, isn't it? I feel bad for farmers too and think it's ridiculous how much they get.
On the other hand, when it's £1 for four pints in our local mini supermarket, I'm sorry but I'm going for that when we don't have much money spare.
It's the supermarkets who are to blame.

I would buy Duchy's because it's 4 pints for 85p more than I pay for the same amount now. Yeo Valley is 90p more for half a pint less. But I feel conflicted about supporting Duchy Originals.

Oh ffs it's not as simple as paying 90p more for your milk when switching to Yeo Valley because they sell it in litres not pints so I'm paying more for less rather than more for the same amount.

Isn't that the point of the thread? To pay more per unit? That's what we're saying.

Sorry, am I misreading you

The "oh ffs" was at myself, I posted that I'd be happy to switch for something that is fairer for the farmers, but on looking it up it's not as easy as just changing what I buy because some companies use litres and some use pints.

I'd be happy to pay £2 for 4 pints (twice what I currently pay for the amount I buy). If you buy Yeo Valley however, you get 2L (3.5 pints) for £1.90 - but if you buy Duchy's you get 4 pints for £1.85 - and Duchy's seem to come out even better for farmer/animal welfare than Yeo Valley despite this.

Despite that, I have other reservations not linked to milk production about supporting Duchy's Originals, so I'm not sure where I stand right now.

Well I'm sorted!

we had a milkman, (local dairy) and then moved and I was lazily buying milk from Morrisons with weekly shop (I get 12 pints a week) so 3 x 4 pinters for £3. - though I did buy Yeo Valley this week.

But I can get really easily from this dairy and it's £1.60 for 4 pints

So not excessive and only dairy and local shop in it's way.

So thank you for making me think, rather than the robotic supermarket buy

and the dairy is the farm dairy - so even better

Only a small thing but at least it will keep the issue live.

Of course the reason why we have too many dairy farmers is because of artifical prices set by the EU encouraged the production of more milk than we could consume or export, so was all thrown away. Then quotas were introduced which effectively meant no new farmers could produce milk.

I am happy at the concept of paying more for milk but the practicalities mean I don't.

I do our weekly shop at Lidl and don't want to go to another shop just for milk. I used to have a milkman but then he started delivering on only a few days a week and the fridge was rammed full with milk bottles (x4 DS) which was impractical and meant there wasn't room for much else.

It is not a good reason not to pay more and I feel ashamed when I pay 89p but I am not prepared to change my habits when I would rather the supermarket changed theirs.

My parents had acquaintances who were dairy farmers. (I even remember, as a kid, hand milking cows under the benevolent eye of a cowman.) They were relaxed, friendly places with contented animals. I doubt that that's true these days.

I think milk is definitely under priced and I can understand why it needs to be more expensive, for the welfare of the animals and the farmers, but the fact is many people don't earn a living wage. I'm one of them.

Money is very tight a lot of the time and I buy what I can afford. I can't afford Duchey organic milk. I wish I could but I can't.

I have a question for MNHQ on this topic.

I have noticed that they have teamed up with Arla, to find panel members for surveys and things, in return for free stuff.

Is it ethically right (not sure if that is the right phrase) to endorse a company that pays one of the least amounts per litre for milk to the dairies compared to others?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31058356

I don't know why, but it feels a bit like advertising Nestle, and makes me feel uncomfortable.

I'm not sure if I have worded this correctly. I might sound like a knob.

Bring back the Milk Marketing Board

Just for people to see.

Pricing