Since we milk seasonally (March/April through December/January), there are 2-3 months where we don't have any of our own milk. No milk for coffee, no milk for cheese, none for our cereal, etc. Of course, all of the milk we drink is raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk, and we'd like to continue drinking raw milk even when our goats are not lactating.

Raw milk mozzarella "bocconcini" made with milk from Brian's Jersey cows

So we buy milk from a local farmer that produces raw cow's milk from Jersey cows. His name is Brian Harville and you can find his contact info through the Tennesseean's For Raw Milk website by contacting Shawn Dady. I believe he delivers to Murfreesboro, Nashville and many surrounding suburbs. Brian was recently featured in The Tennessean in an article titled "Health Claims of Raw Milk Debated. Farmer Sees Increased Demand, Despite a Lack of Government Oversight".

Brian rotationally grazes his 20+ herd of Jersey cows on a farm about 10 minutes away from us. I go once per week and pick-up two gallons of milk for us to drink and a few gallons of milk for Sweetbreads to make cheese with (which we split with Brian and his family).

Sounds all well and good, right? Milk straight from the cows, from a farmer we know, just down the road. Well, in many states it would be totally illegal for us to pay for his milk. Fortunately, it's perfectly legal in Tennessee.

You see, raw milk isn't the milk you get in stores.