Maple View Dairy, located in Hillsborough, North Carolina, is a former supplier to the Farm to Home milk delivery service that delivers cow’s milk to the people of Asheville. We were interested to learn more about Farm to Home’s suppliers, as the owner previously described his work and mission as “zen.”
“This work fulfills basic needs for me,” says Flaum, the Asheville Milk Man. “Like how to make a living in a barebones way, how to do something that’s ethical, something with integrity. Something good happens without me even having to think about it,” he said in an article that was previously published online.
Although the farm closed down in September of 2021, it is important to review their practices, which are widely accepted by consumers. Indeed, while they were still supplying Farm to Home Milk, the FHM website read, “All Milk is produced from happy cows.” What we found on this supplier farm, however, was a far cry from “ethical.” When calves were born at Maple View Dairy, they were only allowed to be with their mothers long enough for them to clean up their birth fluids. After that, they were taken away and raised in calf hutches for about 6 to 8 weeks.
At just a week old, the male calves were sold at livestock markets, where they were used for “beef” and meat production. Female calves languished pitifully on chains, completely deprived of the maternal nurturing and companionship they instinctively long for. As is typical on dairy farms, calves could not even run or play. “All Milk is produced from happy cows?” We learned that when their mothers became less productive and couldn’t get pregnant again through artificial insemination (which is overwhelmingly used to impregnate cows in the dairy industry), they too were sent off to slaughter.
Maple View Dairy used to deliver milk to Asheville, North Carolina through the Farm to Home milk delivery service. They also supplied to:
- Buxton Hall in Asheville, NC
- Vortex Doughnuts in Asheville, NC
- High Five Coffee in Asheville, NC
Asheville Dairy 