Last year on vacation we found farmers markets, farms, and vineyards all around us in the northeast tip of Massachusetts and nearby New Hampshire communities. We moved up from eating local corn and a few blueberries and tomatoes each summer to buying nearly all fruits and vegetables from local sources. Wonderful for us in both taste and nutrition — and also a small help to local farmers.

This summer we discovered that both Massachusetts and New Hampshire allow legal sales of real (fresh, unpasteurized) milk direct from dairy farms to customers. In situations like this, often each gallon produced already has an intended owner, but with two googling sessions and three emails, I connected to Cyndy Gray, owner of Just Dairy. Cyndy founded Just Dairy to deliver five participating farms’ milk to customer drop-off points in 14 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts. Cyndy fixed me up with a three week standing order for three gallons of grass-based fresh milk, we worked out the arrangements for the first pick-up — and I have Robinson Farm yogurt underway in a makeshift incubator, right here at the beach, during vacation!

Much happiness. I surely did not want to have to give up my daily delicious low-temp home-cultured grass-fed antibiotic/hormone/chemical-free yogurt for three weeks. New systems like Cyndy’s delivery company are making for wider and more stable distribution of farmers’ wonderful foods to hungry and appreciative people like me.