In this episode, our host Mike Nelson interviews Chuck and Sarah Curtiss, husband-and-wife team behind the Willow Marsh Farm and storefront! Their fifth-generation farm offers a special option that nobody else nearby yet does – the production and sale, direct to consumers, of raw milk and raw milk products, including cheese, yogurt and more… What’s the deal with raw milk? How is it made? Is it safe to drink? Why do so few farms produce it? Hear the answers to those questions and many more here, in this stellar episode!
00:00 – Intro & Ad
01:00 – Show Begins, Introductions
01:52 – An Introduction to Willow Marsh Farm, and the Curtiss Family
04:07 – Fifth Generation! A History
05:26 – The Government “Helps”
08:00 – Let’s Build a Store
09:15 – Inflation Drives the Public Home
10:04 – Discovering Raw Milk, and Breaking the Myths
14:30 – Pasteurization-Intolerance: Are You REALLY Allergic to Milk?
17:12 – Rediscovering the Good of the Past… And Rejecting Factory Processes
18:41 – Farm Awareness Needs to Spread! Local is Best!
22:09 – The Utility of Cheese Whey
22:46 – Expansion Plans
22:54 – Vertical Integration: Every Piece of the Process
27:00 – Investing in the Future
29:00 – The Best Pigs of All
31:19 – Social Media: The Informative Tool
32:02 – The Horror of Factory Farming
33:21 – The Price of that USDA Stamp
34:55 – Rise Above the Storm
36:29 – Building is Easy… Staffing is Hard
37:54 – “Pig” Stands for Pain In the Gluteus!
39:12 – Misleading Labels: “Organic” and “Farm-Raised” Don’t Mean Much!
41:59 – The Country of Origin Law Really is CoOL!
43:54 – Say No to Greenwashing!
44:46 – Get the Good Stuff: RealMilk.com
47:29 – “We Can’t?”
49:35 – The Bronx Farmers’ Market
50:40 – Where’s All the Chuck’s Cheddar?!
52:11 – There’s Plenty of Room for All of Us!
54:26 – The Cheesemonger’s Eye
55:46 – How to Get in Touch: willow-marshfarmstore.com
56:37 – Closing Remarks
