Going goat: Local families try goat milk amid formula shortage

Go Goats Milk Farm in Middletown sells raw, unpasteurized, goat milk that some families substitute for baby formula as formula shortages continue. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not recommend drinking raw milk, as it can carry bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli, and listeria, but Go Goats owner Lisa Gromacki said contends that drinking raw goat milk has advantages over pasteurized cow milk typically sold in stores.

“When they pasteurize it, they take all the vitamins out, so actually they have to add vitamins,” Gromacki said. “And real milk only lasts eight or nine days. The milk in the store’s got two months — that’s not milk if you ask me.”

Popular health websites, such as Healthline and WebMD, note both the disease carrying dangers of goat milk as well as its nutritional benefits. According to Healthline, goat’s milk tends to have more protein and fat than cow’s milk, as well as more calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and copper. It also has less lactose, which makes it easier to digest for some.

R. William, of Greenville, NY put her one-year-old daughter on goat milk when formula became scarce. She wrote that her daughter “has had no issues with the milk.”

According to Healthline, introducing goat’s milk to infants one year of age or older is safe if the milk is pasteurized. William wrote that she did her own research and talked to her doctor before starting her daughter on the raw goat’s milk.

“We trust Lisa and Go Goats [Milk] Farm to reliably provide us high quality fresh milk for our daughter during this formula shortage,” William wrote in a message. “All their animals are obviously very happy, enjoying a clean healthy environment.”

Gromacki’s goats run free over her multi-acre property. Visitors may be greeted by a few kids, baby goats that is, running up to them.

Along with her staff, Gromacki milks her 24 “milker” goats twice a day — once in the morning with machines, and then again in the afternoon the old-fashioned way. Between them all they can produce 8-10 gallons of milk in a day or two.

Customers have specifically sought out Gromacki’s product, some driving hours from New York City to pick up milk. Gromacki can’t legally bring the raw milk to markets, and her customers must come with a cooler to keep the milk at the right temperature.

State inspections twice monthly check to see that Go Goats Milk follows all regulations for processing and selling their dairy products. Gromacki has a special sterilized room where she processes and bottles the milk. If Gromacki doesn’t sell her milk within a few days, she uses it to make cheese, which comes in both sweet and savory flavors.

Jillian Useo of Westtown, who has worked with Gromacki for 13 years, said she switched her children to raw goat milk after breastfeeding them — her daughter at two years old and her son at one year old.

“My kids love, love the goat milk,” Useo said. She said her daughter, now 4, always asks to make sure it’s goat milk before taking a sip.

Gromacki said that people should do their own research about goat milk and make decisions best for their family.

Her message to those on the fence: “Try it.”