| Eat Local - Eggs, Milk, Butter & Cheese |
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Keeping a few chooks isn't that difficult, even in a built up area. You get a supply of lovely fresh eggs and manure for your garden.
But if you don't want to keep chickens but do want good local free range eggs. then look out for Sungold Organic Eggs from Quail Valley Farms in Belgrove or your local free range egg producer. |
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Local milk is a bit trickier. Who knows where the milk we buy comes from or where the milk we produce in the region goes to?
Not many of us have room for a cow or a goat. Sharing an animal with another family is an option if you live rurally.
If you're just not that keen but do want local milk you can legally purchase 5ltrs a day from a Dairy Farm that is registered with the Food Standards Agency. Riverside Community Dairy Farm is one such farm but most dairy farms will be happy to sell you a few litres on a regular basis if you ask.
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Once you've got your milk you need to decide what to do with it. The first step is to decide whether to pasteurise it or not. You can pasteurise millk by heating it up to 75C and holding it there for 15 seconds or 65C for 30mins.
There are two schools of thought on this one - the raw milk, leave it as comes from the cow, school of thought and the pasteurise it and kill any nasties school of thought. Read more about it and make your own mind up. If it's for your own personal consumption it's up to you. |
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You might like to have a go at skimming the cream off the top and making some butter - another product that it's hard to buy locally.
Butter isn't hard to make in small quantities. A food processor will get you some of the way there.
Yoghurt is another easy one to start with and a difficult product to source locally. Get one of those Easi-Yo makers from the recycle centre and have a play. You don't need to buy their sachets of powder to make yoghurt. |
There are some top notch local cheese producers here now such as Neudorf Dairy and around the country.
However if you're on a tighter budget you might like to have a go at making cheese at home.
And as it so happens I know just the place to go to learn. Enroll in one of our cheese courses or buy a book and teach yourself. |
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