If the state of Wisconsin had a physical dairy heart, pumping milk from the happy cows roaming its land to the people just as pleased living nearby, milk trickling into the capillaries of the entire Midwest, it would be a smiling heart—I kid you not. This has everything to do with the fact that the dairy heart of Wisconsin is located in Clark County’s city of Thorp, the headquarters of Wisconsin Organics. This heart is fed by a handful of counties around it, along with arterial ones along the Mississippi River and north of Milwaukee next to Lake Michigan. The best of Wisconsin dairy is some fifty farms exceeding the standards of their organic label.
Unlike the policies of a conventional label, Wisconsin Organics knows more than just the names of contributing farmers. They are the farmers. They ensure respectful treatment of their animals. The land and feed the cows graze upon is carefully inspected. And the farmers themselves enjoy an economic security that reduces excess hauling, fossil fuel emissions, and the sprawl of urban developments.
Chad Pawlak, President of Organic Farm Marketing, owners of the Wisconsin Organics brand, grew up in Thorp. In the 1970’s the city’s 1,600 residents’ employment and lifestyle revolved around a century-old tradition of producing milk, cheese, and butter. Around the same time, local dairy farms and processing plants began to disappear under the industry’s nation-wide consolidation. Many independent processors lost their jobs, including Chad’s father. Near the turn of the millennium and the dawn of a consumer-driven, sustainable market, Chad decided to get his dad’s job back. When he began collaborating with other farmers, he discovered opportunities to rejuvenate entire rural communities in the Dairy Heartland.
“We’re about sensible sustainability for you, the consumers, the cows, the farmers, and the rural communities,” Chad told us. He looks at their certified organic label as proof: “Certification is important because it gives us a third party review that each year reinforces the positive environmental impact we are making. It lets us know how our local economic development is impacting a milk supply consumers demand.”
Chad does not shy away from boasting about the fresh and local qualities of their dairy products. “We think you’ll find the best dairy products coming from the soils, grasses, and seasonal temperatures of our small, family farms.”
The manufacturing process, he told us, is marginally different from conventional. Milk is picked up from local, certified organic farms and delivered to the bottling plant. After being placed in a silo and transferred to various parts of the plant, it is cleaned with high temperature, short time (HTST) pasteurization. This is significantly different; it means milk is heated to a moderate 165 degrees that kills harmful bacteria without “killing your milk’s flavor.”
“What makes our dairy exceptional is our farming method.” Organic milk means no pesticides, herbicides, artificial hormones, or antibiotics. No bio-solid-based fertilizers are used on the farms, keeping heavy metals away from our streams and vital waterways. They grass-feed their cows and supplement with certified organic grains. On these small farms, cows are loved, named, and given ample fresh air. Simply put, they are happy.
Their high quality milk is churned to butter (with or without salt), bottled as whole, 2%, skim milk, and voluptuous heavy whipping cream, and cultivated into nine varieties of cheese—Mild and Sharp Cheddars, Colby, Mozzarella, Reduced-Fat Farmer’s, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, Bleu, Feta, and Parmesan. Goodness Greeness carries them all. The future of Wisconsin Organics includes more varieties of cheese and a yogurt line.
This is a whole different kind of dairy. The contented cows and rejuvenated communities of farmers and dairy processors at Wisconsin Organics are the heart of what dairy should be. Their quality of life is somehow transmitted into their work. It is milk with a contagious smile.
Mercedee Renz, Goodness Greeness
