Every Monday, usually around 6:30 a.m., Lisa Larsen drives to the Meijer store in Ludington, Mich., loads 24 gallons of milk into her Jeep Cherokee, and heads 20 miles east to the Caritas Food Pantry at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Custer. The pantry is open Mondays and Wednesdays, noon until 2, and the fresh milk is among the most popular items.
For Larsen, whose family milks 650 cows near Scottville, Mich., it's a chance to help her community and boost nutrition for families that may not have had the same taste for milk back when the pantry only offered powdered varieties. "It's important to give," Larsen said. And it's another part of how dairy farmers in Michigan and nationwide are helping other families in rural and urban areas stay nourished in unpredictable times. From local action to national initiatives such as the Dairy Donation Program, dairy families are giving nutrition to the families who need it most.
For more of Larsens and profiles of other dairy-farm families, visit NMPF's Sharing Our Story page at https://bit.ly/3uaw0GC.
Categories: Michigan, Livestock, Dairy Cattle