Golden Rule Dairy
Milk
Elfrida, Arizona
95 miles southeast of Tucson, down a pine tree-lined dirt road in the quiet community of Elfrida, sits a dairy reminiscent of our pastoral yesteryear. Golden Rule Dairy is picturesque: a modest country house, a big barn, and a small herd of content Jersey cows resting on acres of pasture at the base of the looming Chiricahua Mountains. Golden Rule is the quintessential dairy farm that industrialized milk producers pretend to be – and it’s right here in southern Arizona.
Raw milk is that which has not been pasteurized (heated) before it is consumed. “We wanted to produce raw milk because of the enzymes and good bacteria that stay intact,” Jared says, explaining that pasteurization kills many of the nutrients in milk. Golden Rule Dairy is a fully licensed and operational raw milk dairy. To receive their state-issued license, Golden Rule Dairy had to meet 3-A Standards: the highest and costliest sanitary standards that exist in the dairy industry. To retain their license, the Strites maintain an impeccable facility and test every batch of milk for harmful bacteria.
The lovingly-named Jersey cows that make up Golden Rule’s herd live their lives on open pasture, free to roam, graze, and lay down as they please. As a result of their lifestyle, the cows are impeccably clean – and they eat well, too. Their pasture grazing is supplemented with a diet of local alfalfa hay, sprouted barley, and hand- fermented crimp barley, which aids in digestion. When it comes time for their twice- daily milking, the cows shuffle calmly to the spotless holding area and wait until, three by three, the whole herd is milked.
We at Tucson CSA are proud to offer milk from Golden Rule Dairy, where the cows are happy and the milk is sweet. You can find 1⁄2-gallon containers of their milk in the CSA Shop every week. We also carry their raw cream and butter, as well as homemade granola in their varieties: Butter Pecan, Walnut Almond Butter (vegan), Healthy Crunch (un-sweetened).
Products We Offer
Find more info on their website: Golden Rule Dairy