I recently attended a friend’s wedding, which took place on a cruise starting in Miami. On the tail-end of the trip, we spent a day bouncing around Miami taking in some of the local sights.
As anyone who has visited Miami knows, this usually involves some scantily-clad, tanned and toned locals rollerblading, biking along the boardwalk or partaking in any number of similar activities. I also think the mantra “it’s always happy hour somewhere in the world” may be taken more literally in Miami than most other parts of the country.
After returning from the wedding, I had one day in the office before jetting off to Baltimore to tour some Horizon organic family farms, two of which were Amish.
Talk about culture shock. It doesn’t get more diverse than going from Miami to Amish country.
The visit, which I made with several members of the Horizon brand team, helped us “city dwellers” gain insight into all that goes into organic dairy farming (so much more than I could have imagined) and the issues that are important to these farmers, to inform our work on behalf of the brand.
We visited four farms in one (very long) day, including a Maryland farm owned and operated by Horizon, along with two Amish farms and one Mennonite farm in Pennsylvania. The day also included a lunch talk with well-known dairy veterinarian Dr. Hubert Karreman, who currently works with about 60 organic farms in and around Lancaster County, Pa.
I learned so much more than I can share in this post, but here are three highlights:
- Horizon farmers couldn’t be nicer. At each farm, the farmers took time out of their very busy days to show us around and answer our questions. I know the saying is “there are no stupid questions,” but I have no doubt some of our questions fell in this category. These farmers were incredibly gracious hosts.
- I can’t believe I never knew that a cow can’t produce milk unless she is pregnant or has recently given birth. OK, so for a minute I thought I was the only one who had never realized this fact until I started asking around and got that “I can’t believe I never thought of that before now either” look. I had a lot of these moments on this trip and feel so grateful to have had such knowledgeable farmers there to help me learn all I could about organic dairy farming, and in such a way that they kept it to themselves when I displayed my ignorance.
- It is no coincidence that the Horizon mascot is named “Happy.” Before the trip, I had no idea of everything that goes into organic dairy farming. It soon became very clear that the well-being and happiness of the cows on these farms is the farmers’ first priority. A tremendous amount of hard work and knowledge are required to keep the cows happy and productive — ranging from the rate at which the cows consume different types of grass to the rules that govern standards for organic milk production.
Needless to say, any week where you are both in Miami and Amish county is bound to be an interesting one. Let’s just say, I learned a lot about a lot of things that week!
Tags: Horizon Organic