The Price of Milk

As many of you are aware, the cost of milk is going up. Much to my dismay. I used to be able to buy a gallon for $2.00 at Kroger. Now, the cheapest I can find there is $3.50. For now, in our household, we buy two gallons a week: one skim gallon for Jay and I, and one 2% or whole for the three older children. Usually the 2% runs out a little more quickly, and they end up helping us finish the gallon of skim. We are already sometimes running out of the two gallons before the week is up, so sometime soon, I know I’ll have to up my quota a bit, and further increase the spendings on milk for the family. But that’s ok – I know we are so blessed to have milk to drink, and from what I read in an article recently (of course I cannot find it to link for my dear readers when I need it!) we were spending close to or around $4 a few years ago for a milk gallon anyway. So, I’m going to be thankful for the lowered price we’ve enjoyed recently.

But cow’s milk isn’t the only animal’s milk we buy for our household. While his older siblings drink more and more cow’s milk, Baby Josiah remains intolerant toward the stuff. It gives him terrible stomach trouble. When he became a year old, I had a very challenging time finding something his sensitive tummy could tolerate. After experimenting with lacto-free, soy, rice, various toddler formulas, almond, and even raw milk, we discovered a wonderful substitute: fresh goat’s milk. It is equal in almost every way nutritionally to the milk from a cow, and even better in a few key ways for little people, especially because it is more easily digested, and less allergenic than the stuff from the cow. Additionally, it is higher in calcium, vitamins A & B, and potassium than cow’s milk. Dr. Sears has a nice article on the nutritional breakdown of both milks, and a comparison between the two.

I have been grateful to be able to feed my littlest guy dairy fat and protein in this wonderful way, but it doesn’t come cheap. A little quart (that’s quart, not gallon, folks!) of this precious stuff costs me $3.79 – so even with the price increase in cow’s milk, I still pay more for a quart of goat than a gallon of cow. Thankfully, Josiah only goes through 2 quarts a week (I limit it, and supplement additional calcium and dairy via yogurt, cheese, and other mediums.)

But this week, I had a pleasant surprise: goat’s milk was on sale! ONLY $3.39/quart. Which means for the first time in months, I actually spent less on Josey’s milk for the week than for the milk that all the rest of the family will drink. I also stocked up as far in advance as I could, based on the freshness dates.

It is unclear to me whether goat’s milk will see any price increase in the near future. Personally, I hope it does not. The factors which seem to be driving the costs of cow’s milk up don’t seem to apply to the milk of the goat. But if my little quart of Meyenberg should go much upwards of $3.79, maybe I should consider the alternative of owning our own pet Nanny Goat!!

5 Replies to “The Price of Milk”

  1. Dad/John bought us a gallon of skim at Wal-Mart today for $3.38, which is cheaper (rather, less expensive) than Kroger or Sam’s Club right now. I think 2% is a little more. Of course, our problem is drinking a gallon before it turns bad!

  2. The 20-25 cents I could save by stopping in at Walmart to grab two gallons of milk each week makes no sense given the ginormously greater savings I net with Grocery Game sales/coupons at Kroger and Tom Thumb – I’d spend more in gas just to get there!!

  3. Agreed – especially with the price of gas these days! And no, we don’t make a special trip to a different store just to save a few pennies on a single item. But if we have to go there anyway…

  4. If you end up getting a goat, would you please send some goat’s milk to Houston??? Jacob has been enjoying drinking it but he drinks a little more than a quart a day. The last few days we’ve had to experiment with soy milk too.

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