First Field Trip of the School Year - Mountain Fresh Creamery

Mountain Fresh Creamery was opened a couple of years ago in a town 30 - 40 minutes from our home. We have already visited a couple of times to purchase milk, butter, ice cream, and grass fed beef. They don't process milk everyday, so we were excited to go today for a field trip with our home school group and see some processing done as well as talk to the owner.

So many families from our group signed up that we had to split into two groups. First we all had a tasting of their milk, either chocolate or white. I can attest that their chocolate milk is the best I have every had, and I have drank a lot of chocolate milk in my day. Next the owner showed us a short video and explained to the kids what homogenized and pasteurization was in terms of processing milk.  The Creamery's milk is only pasteurized to a temp of 145 degrees and is not homogenized. 

The owner's dairy is actually 6 miles down the road. They have 60 Holstein cows and treat them like their children. No antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. All the cows can go and come as they please inside the barn or out, and have sawdust and hay beds. In the summer they have the option of going inside the barn where misting fans are available to keep them comfortable. 

After the tour everyone could purchase ice cream or milkshakes from the silo they just built.  It is wonderful to have a choice of local dairy products now that is close. Currently I am bartering for raw milk, but when that runs out I will go back to purchasing dairy from Mountain Fresh Creamery. The milk we watched being processed today into chocolate milk was milked from the cows last night and this morning. You cannot get much fresher or local than that. I did learn that once they mix the cocoa and sugar to the milk it has to sit 24 hours before drinking. He said it tastes completely different if you taste it the day it was made. If you are ever in Cleveland, GA be sure to stop by and pick up some great tasting dairy products from Mountain Fresh Creamery. They also have lots of fun hats, shirts, etc. to purchase.