Our local dairy comes from family owned and operated Homeland Creamery in Julian, NC and is delivered mid-week. These happy cows are pasture raised, free to roam and never treated with hormones. Homeland Creamery is also committed to using sustainable farming practices such as recycling cow manure as fertilizer and No Till soil conservation. See the description below from Homeland's website on how they go about preparing their milk products.
The most unique quality to our products is the method in which we pasteurize. Most milk today is pasteurized under the HTST (High Temperature Short Time) Pasteurization method. Under this method, milk is pasteurized at 161 degrees for 15 seconds. This method allows milk plants to pasteurize more milk in a shorter period of time.
At Homeland Creamery, we know that you can’t rush flavor. Vat Pasteurization is one of the earlier methods used in cooking milk. This method heats the milk in batches at a lower temperature for about 30 minutes. During this method, a high percentage of the milk's natural enzymes and beneficial bacteria is retained which adds to the flavor and health benefits of the milk.
While we may not currently carry their ice cream (it's amazing, by the way), we do carry some pretty awesome dairy options from Homeland Creamery including:
2% Milk (pre-order item)
Buttermilk
Chocolate Milk (the best you'll ever have)
Eggnog (Thanksgiving through Christmas)
Half and Half
Heavy Cream (great for making butter, ice cream, or just adding to your coffee)