Since 1943, Birchwood Farm dairy have been producing RAW, unpasteurised dairy products for sale to the community. Farmer Mike Tierney's grandfather, Howard Tierney settled on the farm with his young family from Ireland/Connecticut, selling unpasteurised milk, cream, clabbered cream, cheese, butter, ice cream, and pudding. He sold these in the community and even brought them to New York City with him everyday as they were a big hit. The production of these farm fresh products ended in 1961 with Howard's death and when Mike's father took over the farm he had to juggle it with his veterinary business. Eventually Mike decided to continue his grandfathers farm fresh products.
The Newtown, Pennsylvania farm have been selling raw milk for over 70 years and although they were certified organic for 10 years, they have decided not to pursue certification anymore. They still produce in the same fashion as they did when they were certified: the dairy is 100% Jersey milk, no grains or GMO fed.
Birchwood Farm's motto has been, "Quality before Quantity."
All the cows are Jerseys and have access to a 'salad bar' of pasture grass varieties. They milk twice a day and send their pathogen tests to a third party lab. Pennsylvania have very strict regulation on production and raw milk testing to ensure the milk is the safest it can be.
In the video below JoAnne Long says: "most importantly with our milk is the fact that it is a 100% grass-fed and there is no grain. So the diet of the cow has a big impact on the nutritional value of the milk." "Great care is taken to clean and prepare each cow before its milked. Not only that, but these grass-fed cows produce less bacteria in their stomach to potentially contaminate the product." This milk is highly nutritious and delicious.
Video: New Jersey residents cross border into Pennsylvania to purchase raw milk (Video may be invisible if viewed on a mobile device.) Alternatively click here to view the video.
New Jersey is a tiny state bordering Pennsylvania that still ban the sale of raw milk, but that doesn't stop people from driving to New York state or Pennsylvania (where it is legal to sell) to get it. The interstate sale of raw milk have been a very controversial and a long standing issue in the USA, with the government having gone to great lengths to curb it. However recent years have seen many states legalising its sale as people cry out for Food Freedom and the right to consume the food of their choice. Currently 42 out of 50 USA states enables raw milk access (in some form) with Illinois and West Virginia being the latest. See Raw Milk Nation map.
Birchwood Farm also run an Awareness program since the late 90's to help educate the poor, orphaned youth in their area about farms and farming. They bring these children to the farm and let them experience farm raised food, and general farm operation and life. The children have the opportunity to milk and interact with the cows. It has been such a success that it has been recognised by the "Points of Light" foundation, Washington, D.C. as well as many other local charity organisations.
