Moo Moo Mr. Cow

Welcome to Moe's!
Oh wait. Wrong place.
Welcome to Mayfield Dairy, where our milk is vacuumed and you must wear a hairnet! And if you are one of the lucky few, a beard net. Yes, there's such a thing. Luckily, Allison, Noah, and I narrowly escaped the amount of facial hair one must possess to score one of those bad boys. Whew...

I like to learn new things about food, agriculture, why fresh milk is amazing, the area I live in, etc. It makes me feel smart and well-informed...

• Ever wonder why their milk is bottled in yellow bottles? Let me tell you: Mayfield packages in the yellow plastic because it helps protect the milk from UV rays that decrease the nutritional value and the taste. Within the first two hours of sitting on the store shelf, milk packaged in the regular carton loses 25% of nutrients and flavor. Who knew? (Apparently Mr. Mayfield...)
• Here's a fun cow fact: Cows spend six hours a day eating and eight hours a day chewing cud. That's fourteen hours of food consumption. Holy cow...

The free tour (checked off Al's bucket list of things to do before she leaves the great state of Tennessee) was "entertaining" as usual, though Al and I both agreed that we could never work in a place like that - showing up for the same job in the same room using/cleaning the same machines with very little human interaction and extremely loud noises every single day. Thanks, but no thanks. I am grateful for the folks who do, but that ain't for me.And of course we grubbed on some Ice Creamier and did a little front porch sitting (thanks for treating us, Allison) where littleford got his first taste of rainbow sherbet (I think this word should end in -bert, not -bet, right?). Like everything else he puts in his mouth, I think he approved judging by the fact that he downed half of our scoop. The boy is an eating machine.

I found a little joy and humor in watching him figure this out.

No babies were harmed in the taking of these pictures.He did eventually figure it out.Allison & Noah... I am pretty sure Al is his first attempt at a girlfriend.Can you see his dirty little feet? Love it.
Love the boy, love the dirt.

I will say that even with knowing the ins and outs of the Mayfield's Dairy, their milk is so dang expensive it's hard to justify buying. I wrestle with this because I know it's better, more controlled, fresher (hello, it's basically coming from my backyard), but I am still a cheap, self-indulging, look-for-the-best-bargain-and-don't-ask-questions, processed-product-filled, American.

Curses.

Maybe they should start charging for the hairnets to drive down the milk price.
I can't think of anything better than a cherry red hairnet to spend my money on.
Blast.