Thirsty Thursday: Where is my milk from?

Yes for Thirsty Thursdays!!  There are two parts to today's blog:

1.  New website launched so you can lookup where your dairy products are from
2.  How you can use this!  Tips!

Check out this cool website I found:  Where is My Milk From?

According to a dairy magazine, Dairy Herd Management this new website,  http://whereismymilkfrom.com, was launched in January.  It lets consumers find out where their dairy products are from.  The site was created by Trevor Fitzgerald, a senior at Brigham Young University, who is studying information systems. Fitzgerald did not grow up on a dairy farm, but says he was interested finding out where his food comes from.

The information on the site originated from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but Fitzgerald says it was being made available in a several-hundred page PDF document that was difficult to navigate. Hoping to make the information more accessible and easier to navigate for consumers, Fitzgerald built the Web site.  Consumers can now enter the code found on their dairy products, and the Web site lists where the product originated from.  Dairy products from milk and cheese to yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese are included.

Here is a gallon of milk from my fridge: 

I typed in:  55-96 and found out that gallon of milk was processed in Sheboygan, WI.  Pretty neat!


So now what?  How can I use this? 

Cowtail Tip:  If you are concerned about buying local or transportation costs, you can use these plant codes to see how far your dairy products have traveled.  Get to know your local state codes.  Its amazing to see just how far some products have been transported.

Cowtail Tip:  When you are buying milk at the store, most of the time the "off brand" and "name brand" milk has the same plant code.  Usually the "off brand" is about $0.50 cheaper per gallon.  Milk is milk.  It's the same milk with a different sticker.  Great way to save a few bucks at the store! 

Surprised?!!