Milk Survey - Please help

[chakken98]

I'm going to have to say price is what drives me in buying milk....I can't drink it but my family doesn't seem to care what type I bring home as long it they have it for whatever they use it for...

 

[Jdvn1]

You mean through retail channels then ... not through neighbors and "trading" and what not. Okay.

Ah, the barter system. I miss the good ol' days...

 

[Jdvn1]

When I was in college, there was a local dairy called Gustafsson farms (or something like that). They had the best tasting, freshest milk -- they even guaranteed it for a week beyond the expiration date.

There's a brand that's relatively hard to find in the US (but is massively popular world-wide) called Parmalat. Their milk stays fresh for many months (like, 6 months? Maybe more?) and doesn't even have to be refrigerated.

 

[EricNoah]

We share a (glass) bottled milk delivery with someone at my wife's work. The way it works is kind of inconvenient (she has to bring a cooler to work once every 2 weeks) and we only get a set amount but I like the quality and better still I love not having plastic gallon containers to throw away or recycle. We'll keep doing it as long as it's possible.

So ... packaging material and taste/quality are our factors.

 

[was]

usually grab 2% with the farthest expration date

 

[kenobi65]

There's a brand that's relatively hard to find in the US (but is massively popular world-wide) called Parmalat. Their milk stays fresh for many months (like, 6 months? Maybe more?) and doesn't even have to be refrigerated.

Aye. Parmalat's never been able to make much of an inroad in the U.S., though, at least a few years ago, they had some visibility in the east coast.

Americans tend to be resistant to change (witness our incapability of adopting the metric system or dollar coins), and the whole concept of shelf-stable milk just wigs people out, I think.

For me, I always buy 1% milk (will switch to 2% if the store in question doesn't carry 1%). Will almost always buy a gallon, unless we're going to be out of town. And, I try to check the expiration date, to make sure I'm not buying soon-to-be-cheese.

 

[Jdvn1]

Aye. Parmalat's never been able to make much of an inroad in the U.S., though, at least a few years ago, they had some visibility in the east coast.

Down here in Texas, you can find it, though very very rarely. There even used to be a Parmalat Gelateria. Yum!

Americans tend to be resistant to change (witness our incapability of adopting the metric system or dollar coins), and the whole concept of shelf-stable milk just wigs people out, I think.

Hey, I use dollar coins! Yeah, my SO is weirded out by shelf-stable milk. I told her she could refrigerate it if she wanted... (it doesn't need it, but I like it cold anyway)

 

[Aurora]

I told her she could refrigerate it if she wanted... (it doesn't need it, but I like it cold anyway)

My milk has to be ICE COLD. To the point that sometimes I put ice in it. I know watered down milk is gross, but I drink it fast enough that the ice doesn't really affect it.

 

[kenobi65]

There even used to be a Parmalat Gelateria. Yum!

Makes sense, since Parmalat is an Italian company.

They had some serious financial problems a few years ago (financial shenanigans by the founder, I think), and nearly ceased to exist, but they seem to have rebounded.

Hey, I use dollar coins!

As do I (they're perfect for the parking-payment machine at the train), but we're in the distinct minority.

It's estimated that the U.S. would save $500 million a year by switching from paper $1 bills to $1 coins. A coin costs more to make (20 cents, vs. 4 cents for a bill), but a coin has an average circulation life of 20 years, while a bill has an average circulation life of 18 months. And, that doesn't count the impact to the economy of reducing the number of bills to be dealt with, especially in the vending-machine industry.

However, every time the idea is floated, too many people scream blue-bloody-murder about the "death" of something as American as a dollar bill, and so it seems like no one in the government is willing to champion the idea. It's an idea that makes perfect rational sense, but the emotional arguments seem to win out. (Also, folks point to how Canadians eventually accepted the "loonie", though they had no choice, since it was introduced in conjunction with the phasing-out of their dollar bill. It seems like few things rankle Americans more than a good idea being forced down our throats.)

 

[delericho]

I need to buy a particular size of container to fit in the door of my fridge(s). Otherwise, I just grab whatever they've got.

usually grab 2% with the farthest expration date

What's this 1%, 2% thing? It's not something we have (by that name) in the UK... unless I've been missing something all these years.