A comment on one of my previous posts (about milk) raised an interesting point about product availability. At his (the contributor’s) closest food market–the corner store–Berkeley Farms milk is readily available. The person writing lives in West Oakland. He was unsure about the farming practices of Berkeley Farms dairy. I googled them, pocked around on their fairly standard corporate website and found the following under the “heritage” tab. Here’s what it says:
As California’s oldest continuous milk processor, we pledge to continue our commitment to provide customers with the highest quality products and services.
BERKELEY FARMS HERITAGE
Berkeley Farms has grown to become Northern California’s most popular dairy brand. For more than 90 years, we’ve been dedicated to making superior-quality dairy products for California’s families. Part of this dedication is exemplified in the 1998 opening of our state-of-the-art processing plant in Hayward, which replaced our 50-year-old Emeryville facility.
The $55 million plant, located on a 20-acre parcel on Clawiter Road, is the largest rBST-free milk processing plant on the West Coast and the most modern facility of its kind in the United States. The new facility fulfills a public commitment by Berkeley Farms to maintain its headquarters and milk processing plant in the Bay Area. Berkeley Farms is owned by Dean Foods, a Fortune 500 company and a leader in the dairy foods category.
OUR PROMISE
As California’s oldest continuous milk processor, we pledge to continue our commitment to provide customers with the highest quality products and services. The foundation of this pledge comes from the two pillars of pride and respect.
Delivering the finest products
We take pride in our ability to consistently deliver the finest products through our family farms and our advanced husbandry.
Respect for both our customers and employees
We respect our customers and their desires for a healthy, nutritious product and their concerns for the environment. We shall always place their needs first and strive to develop innovative ways to respond to them.
We respect our employees and recognize that no company can achieve greatness without its most important resource – the people who work for Berkeley Farms. We promise open communications with them and to provide opportunities for self-expression and growth.
Standard of Excellence
We pledge to make excellence the standard by which we judge our achievements.
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Here’s what I think about this dairy:
Aside from pledging not to support rBST-milk, I don’t see a lot of information about specific business practices or field standards. The available information does not include mention of where in California the cattle are raised or how the milk is pasteurized and treated.The lack of information leads me to believe that something is either being hidden or is not known on a corporate level because the controls over the farming are not of primary concern. Of more interest is how to become the most consumed milk product in Northern California–a fact they boast on their website.
However, beyond their business practices, I think the most important part of this story is the question of waht’s availble in each of our local markets. What’s more, what can each of us afford. At this point it is a luxury of location and budget to eat the foods that are best for the planet and our bodies. How can we shift that paradigm?
