So I know it's important to buy organic milk if you can...

[AnUnusuallyBigAdventure]

because of all sorts of nasties, so we do
But what about CHEESE?
I am thinking specifically cream cheese which DS (11 months) has a huge thing for. I can get some organic but it is TWICE the price of Philly.

Is it worth it?
TIA

yes, that's it!

in his recipe (which some mnetters hate but we love it), he cooks the pasta with the broccoli and near the end he bungs some slivers of potato in there.

I feel all cosy and satisfied now, knowing that italians do cook potato with past sometimes, just like jamie said

Si si si. He's always right!

pointy - it was the OP that said 'nasties' and I just used her terminology. Most people think there are 'nasties' in non-organic milk and that is why I suppose they buy organic milk. I am just not sure how rational that response is.

As for removing calves from milk cows it has happened since time began. If you don't the calf drinks all the milk and there is non left for us! It is nothing to do with the organic movement. Organic cows have their calves removed as well.

Some calves are not removed from their mothers in what are called 'suckler herds' but these cows do not produce milk for humans as they are beef breeds and not designed to produce large quantities of milk. They keep their calves with them and then the calves are slaughtered once they get big enough.

it is n ot true that all organic cows have their calves removed at birth. There are suckling systems for organic dairy farming too, wherer calves stay with their mother for up to four months.

I read about it.

I only buy organic milk. I've a farming background and live next to a dairy farm which was pretty awful until they went bust and sold out...

The cows were literally milked to death and the calves were generally unhealthy... so what quality was the milk...

The land they fed on and their silage was made off was severely depleted, particularly in lime and magnesium, so the calcium content of the milk would be questionable. The tanker would regularly not take the milk as it didn't pass the quality check (antibiotic contamination, cell count etc), so it got poured onto the land beside my place. Now I'm not saying all dairies are like this of course.

The cows also got fed fish meal and various other industry by-products to boost their protein intake and therefore make more milk.

The land was slathered in slurry and tons of nitrogen to get the grass growing rapidly every season, which also affects mineral balance. Now that another farmer is running the show he has had to add a lot to the soil to begin to fix the imbalance.

I bought organic milk so I was sure I wouldn't get any from my neighbour! I'm fairly confident that organic and non don't get mixed and miss-sold.

How do they stop the calf drinking all the milk?

They must separate them in some way or perhaps milk the cow and give some to the calf.

Perhaps they take no milk at all from the cow for the first 4 months. That would be a very expensive system of milk production though as cows produce most milk just after birth.

I think som eis milked, some goes to the calf. I probably read about it in one of Joanna Blythman's books (food journalist type person). I don't remmeber enough to give full details.