When I was a kid, milk played a starring role in our family food culture. We always had a gallon or two in the fridge. Not the jug, but the big, boxy container that required both child hands to pour. We all had milk and cereal for breakfast in those days, and after school on special occasions my mom treated us to the wonders of warm chocolate chip cookies and milk. My dad was an accomplished milk drinker as well; he would play baseball all day with his buddies on the streets in Dayton View, and afterward Grandma would make him a bologna sandwich, washed down with a nice glass of ice-cold milk. I inherited my grandma’s cookie jar, which sits as a memento in the corner of my office right now.

So what happened to those idyllic days of dairy consumption? As we get older, it seems harder to enjoy. Maybe it makes you feel a little bloated. And then, much of popular health culture has turned against milk, decrying its difficult digestibility, its fat content, and questionable nutritional value. And yet there are cultures that, unapologetically, still thrive on dairy: from France with its innumerable cheeses, to India with its ghee and cream, to the mighty Maasai of East Africa who are prodigious consumers of pure whole milk. What gives? Could it have something to do with the type and quality of milk?

Yes, and that brings us to proudly introduce you to our Dorothy Lane Market A2 Guernsey Milk. This is not milk from the good old days—it’s better, much better! Richer in flavor, higher in nutrition, and easier to digest than any milk we’ve ever had.

Our milk is the brainchild of our friend Adrian Bota who grew up in Romania drinking milk from the family’s cow as a child. Adrian attended Akron University, met his wife, and settled in Northern Ohio. When their first daughter came along, he wanted to give her the gift of good milk so he set on a journey to make it happen. Through his research, he learned that most cow’s milk in the U.S., including organic, comes from factory farms and contains a protein known as A1. This protein is linked with lactose intolerance. However, certain cow’s milk, specifically with the A2 protein, is much more digestible, similar to goat’s milk, which also has A2 protein.

Adrian’s story converges with my own education. I remember as a kid my dad would speak with reverence about the best milk in the world coming from two heritage breeds from the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Their milk, according to my dad, was the ultimate! So you can imagine how proud and excited we are that our DLM milk is entirely Guernsey A2 milk! It’s produced not far from here in cooperation with Adrian by two Amish family farms, the Keims and the Yoders.

Guernsey Cows – The Key to the Golden Age of Good Milk

These fine folks raise their cows on their own grass pastures and entirely avoid the use of growth hormones, antibiotics, or GMO feed. They represent generations of farming wisdom and a love for their work. Their beautiful brown-speckled Guernsey cows are smaller and produce less volume, but a more nutritious, rich milk. In fact, compared to regular milk, ours contains 33% more vitamin D, 25% more vitamin A, 15% more calcium, 12% more protein, and a whopping 300% more Omega-3 fats! Our milk is low-heat vat pasteurized and non-homogenized—yes with the gorgeous cream on top. Its beautiful golden tinge reflects its superior nutrition and unequalled rich, creamy flavor.

If you abandoned milk long ago, maybe it’s time to give ours a try. We are proud to make this milk a prominent part of our food culture once again. Yes, right now at DLM this is milk’s golden age.