Over 25 years ago, dairy farmer Mike Reid grew tired of excluding everything from his diet. As someone with celiac disease, Reid had to cut out gluten, and he also didn’t consume meat or dairy products, so dairy was something he wanted to bring back into his life. In 1999, Reid became the first person in Idaho to receive his Raw Milk Ordinance permit and he started his own certified organic raw milk dairy farm – Paradise Springs Farm.
“When I saw what the nutrition was doing for me, and then later my family, I understood other families would want that same kind of nutrition.”
Mike Reid
Reid is an avid believer in the health benefits of raw milk. At his farm in Teton Valley, Idaho, his biodynamic raw organic milk, comes from grass-fed Brown Swiss cows and is packed with probiotics and nutrients.
When asked about the health risks of consuming raw milk, Reid said it can be dangerous if people aren’t taking proper precautions. However, at Paradise Springs Farm, Reid holds himself and his cows to the highest standard, maintaining very clean facilities and having the Idaho State Dairy Bureau do bacterial and somatic cell testing for his products every month.
Paradise Springs Farm products are available through online orders and can be delivered straight to your door. And, in addition to his organic raw milk, Reid produces raw whey and hard cheese.
Reid produces three types of organic raw cheese: Mahogany Ridge, Teton White Cheddar and Blue Bird Sky. The Mahogany Ridge is an Alps-style cheese produced once a year. Reid’s cows feed on wildflowers and native plants, and that flavor is captured in the cheese, making it an incredibly aromatic and flavorful experience. The white and blue cheddars are also treated in a very special way. The cheese curds are kept from annealing fully, enclosing just enough mountain air to encourage a naturally forming penicillium seen in the blue veins of the cheese.
“So, I have sort of a European world attitude towards cheese making where it’s aged in the cellar, and we’re trying to develop our own farm cultures, and allow the milk to do what it wants to do with the aging process. That’s kind of the job of a cheesemaker is to back off and not do very much.”
Mike Reid
Reid treats his cows like family, allowing calves to stay with their mothers and drink their milk on what he calls a calf share program. Reid doesn’t know of any other farmers who do this, but for him, it’s worth keeping his cows happy.
“Happy cows make happy milk, and happy milk makes happy people.”
Mike Reid
To set up your delivery, click here.
