My first Noris Dairy delivery

You have to love a farm whose motto is "Purity in Food."

Loyal readers (if there are any left after my long absence) may recall that I blogged about the lack of Noris Dairy products at New Seasons (and their subsequent replacement by the high quality but non-local Straus Creamery out of California). If not, click here for the old post... Theoretically, this change was supposed to have ensured consistent supply of organic, glass bottle dairy. New Seasons (at least the Arbor Lodge store) has still not been able to maintain that consistency.

So, I'm taking matters into my own hands. For an order of $15 or more, Noris will deliver to your door free of charge. I talked to a few of my friends, and we easily exceeded that dollar amount. This week, I got half and half, yogurt, eggs, cheese, and milk. Next week, more half and half, and probably some butter too. I can't tell you how excited I am to have Noris back in my house!

Here's how it works, you download an order form from Noris' web site, fill out out, and fax it in. I'd recommend calling after you fax the first time to see what day they will be in your area. When that glorious day arrives, put a cooler outside, leave a check for the correct amount, and when you return home, viola, dairy for you to enjoy.

Here's a direct link to the order form, in case you want to download and fill out right away (and who can blame you. Go for it!).

Need more convincing? Check out their "About Us" page.

And finally, this little blurb from Salon (from way back in 2005)...

Already, some small dairy farmers say the big dairies are squeezing them off the shelf. About 30 miles southeast of Bansen's farm, Franz Wenz, owner of Noris Dairy Inc., the only independent organic milk producer and bottler in the Northwest, says only large operations like Organic Valley and Horizon can afford to spend big bucks on flashy marketing and offer supermarkets exclusive deals at lower prices.

"The big guys can bury us," says Wenz, an Austrian native with bushy eyebrows and heavy jowls. "They can make exclusive deals and say, 'You just take our product and we'll give you a good deal.' The stores don't understand that they're hurting themselves when they depend on just one company that can then control the price."

To stay in business, Wenz and his family have carved out a niche by selling and personally delivering their glass-bottled milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream and sour cream directly to more than 300 customers in the Portland and Eugene area. Wenz says he and his family intend to stick it out, despite hard financial times.

So, today's lesson, boys and girls? Buy local. Support the little guy. Enjoy purity in food.