Maine's Own Organic Milk -- MOOMilk -- will be available in  grocery
store dairy cases this weekend throughout Maine, and in selected stores
in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Produced by 10 Maine family organic dairy farms in Washington,
Aroostook, Penobscot and Kennebec Counties, the milk will be trucked by
Schoppee Milk Transport of Holden to Smiling Hill Dairy in Westbrook for
processing, then distributed by Oakhurst Dairy of Portland and Crown O'
Maine Organic Co-op of  Gardiner. That makes it the only organic milk
available in Maine that is produced, trucked, processed and distributed
exclusively by Maine family businesses.

"This truly is local milk," said Bill Eldridge of Bar Harbor, MOOMilk's
general manager, "customers who buy MOOMilk will know they are
supporting the Maine economy by supporting Maine family businesses."

In addition, Eldridge said, customers should know that 90 percent of the
profits from MOOMilk will be returned to the farmers.

"We aren't a co-op," he said, "we're a special kind of low-profit
business, with a mission to make just enough to keep running and return
most of our profits to the farms. Under our charter, we exist to help
farm families stay in business by making enough to keep their operations
viable."

The farmers own part of the company and have three seats on the
seven-member board of directors, he said.

Maine's Own Organic Milk Company was formed through the cooperative
efforts of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA),
Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Department of Agriculture after the H.P.
Hood Co. of Boston notified a number of Maine farmers that it would no
longer be picking up their milk after last summer. At the time, those
farmers were faced with either going out of business or finding a
conventional, lower-paying, market for their milk. While there is good
demand in Maine for organic milk, Eldridge said, the demand for local
milk is greater. Finding a way to fit into both of those market niches
is what made the project possible, he said, adding that every carton
will feature a story about one of the 10 farms producing for the company.
.
MOOMilk will be available in half-gallon paper cartons, in whole, 2
percent, 1 percent and skim. In coming months, the company will offer
retail customers organic butter, cream and half&half, but for the
startup these products will only be available to wholesale markets,
Eldridge said. The milk will be homogenized and pasteurized, he said,
also making it the only organic milk available in Maine that is not
ultra-pasteurized.

The farms shipping to Maine's Own Organic Milk Company are HB  Farms,
Woodland(Aroostook); Griffin Family Farm, Perham; Kauffman Family Farm,
Smyrna; Oliver Farm, Hogdon; Chase Organic Dairy Farm, Mapleton; Tide
Mill Farm, Edmunds; James Pond Dairy, Charlotte;  Rocky Ledge Farm,
Perry;  McKusick Dairy Farm, Dexter; and Windy Acres Farm, Clinton.

More information on MOOMilk may be obtained at MOOMIlkCO.com, or by
contacting Eldridge at gweconsult@roadrunner.com or by
calling 242-5034. Inquiries may also be directed to MOOMilk secretary
David Bright at dbright@brightberryfarm.com or by calling 234-4226.