The Weblog
The local foods movement is alive and well in Champaign County! Here are some updates on other projects while we finalize our virtual market:
Local Producers Map:
Our local producers map is ready for publication and you will soon be able to find it on gochampaign.com. Copies will be distributed around the community, in the local telephone book, and other “hangouts”. The guide lists the location and contact information for nearly 50 local producers within our county. The map was a project of the Local Food Council and printed with the help of some local sponsors including the Monument Square District, Champaign Bank, the Community Improvement Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and others. It is a great start to finding a local source for Champaign County’s finest!
Your Sunday Weblog!
Today’s weblog comes from our new vendors at Dugan Road Creamery!!
Get to know them!! They also sent pictures that cannot post to the weblog site, but I will be adding to their Grower’s Page!!
Get excited!! They are bringing their products in just a few short months!!
XOXO,
Cosmic Pam
Nelson Dairy was established in Urbana, Ohio in 1988. The farm has been in constant operation since that time. However, that is not the beginning of the family farm. Chris Nelson has been in the dairy industry his entire life following in his father’s footsteps. The family farm is currently in its fourth generation with hopes that the fifth generation will stay involved in the dairy industry, only time will tell. In the fall of 2015, Chris and Joyce made the difficult decision to down-size their herd due to the tumultuous industry. Keeping the family farm profitable has been a struggle for many local farmers inside the dairy industry and agriculture in general.
With some imagination and the desire to develop a niche market of their own, The Dugan Road Creamery was born. The creamery will begin production in late spring 2017. The initial offerings will include fluid cream line milk (with gallon and half gallon quantities available) and yogurt (with quantities still being determined).
So, what exactly is cream-line milk? It is pasteurized, just like milk at your local grocery store, but the biggest difference is that the milk is not homogenized. Homogenization is the process after pasteurization where the milk is mixed and the cream line (or fat content) is permanently mixed into the body of the milk. This high-pressure process breaks down the fat molecules so that they can dissolve into the milk, preventing separation. It has been hypothesized that this process can also reduce some of the health benefits of milk consumption. Dugan Road Creamery products will be made with a minimal amount of processing (pasteurization-only) resulting in milk as close to nature as possible.
We look forward to providing more information on both the humans and cows behind our product in future blogs. We hope to show our customers that we provide quality dairy products while upholding the strictest standards of animal welfare, land eco-sustainability, and product quality. We welcome any comments, questions, and visitors to the farm as we begin this new adventure. Thank you for helping to bring our family farm from conventional to sustainable.
Chris, Joyce, and JD Nelson
Dugan Road Creamery