What is non-GMO dairy?

Our whole milk, 2% milk, skim milk, cream, cheese curds, and sweet cream butter are all non-GMO dairy products. If you want to understand non-GMO dairy, you have to look at the beginning of the milk making process: the cow. At the Takes family farm, we do not feed our cows crops that have been genetically modified in a laboratory.

Long before we opened the doors of our creamery to the community, we knew how valuable it was to focus on natural and local products. With this in mind, we make non-homogenized and non-GMO dairy that is as close to its natural state as possible. The Non-GMO Project defines a genetically modified organism as a “plant, animal, microorganism or another organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology.” The result of changing a plant or animal’s genetics is an organism that does not occur in nature.

Our 150 Holstein cows are fed a nutrient-rich combination of corn, roasted soybeans, alfalfa, and whey. Most animal products, like milk and cheese, are at a high risk of containing GMO’s because the animals are fed genetically modified crops. At Dan and Debbie’s we have the unique ability to control each step of the process, including growing the crops fed to our cows. We have 400 acres of land where we grow non-GMO crops.

According to the Non-GMO Project, “A growing body of evidence connects GMOs with health problems, environmental damage, and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.” They point out that 64 countries require genetically modified foods to be labeled, but the US and Canada have no such requirements. The safety of GMO’s is unknown due to a lack of credible independent long-term feeding studies. This is why we choose to deliver non-GMO dairy products to the families in our community.