Business & Tech
Arruda's Dairy: Always Fresh, Always Local
A gallon of milk and a steak can still be purchased from a local family run dairy that uses local resources.
When much of America’s food is being produced miles and miles from where it's consumed, it’s great to know here in Southern New England that a gallon of milk or steak can still be purchased from a local family-run dairy that uses local resources.
“All our cows are home-fed, grass, corn, hay and grains," said Tony Moniz of . "All this comes directly from the local area farms and farmlands. We store it in these 300-foot tubes and we have over 47 of these tubes on the farm during the year. This assures that our cows consistently eat the same all year long."
Moniz is a 3rd generation farmer whose grandfather, Joseph Arruda, began farming in 1917 in Little Compton. Together with his mother, Jean, and brother, Joe, they manage and run three different farm businesses as well as a small store located at 408 Stafford Road in Tiverton.
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First, is Arruda’s Dairy. Arruda’s has 118 milking cows and consists of 275 acres of land. All this milk is produced and packaged under the Arruda's Dairy name right here in Tiverton.
There are gallons, half gallons, and quarts of whole milk, 2% milk, 1% milk and skim milk. They also have chocolate milk as well as any Rhode Islander’s favorite, coffee milk.
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“We take core samples and send them to UMASS at Amherst to check for vitamin and salt needs,” he said.
Moniz Dairy, the second business run by the family, has 225 cows and is 300 acres large. Although these cows are treated and fed the same as the Arruda milking cows, their milk production is collected and sold to larger producers such as Garelick Milk.
The third entity is Arruda’s Red Barn Beef. This is Tony Moniz’s own start-up and his pride and joy. Red Barn Beef will use a projected 40 steers, or castrated bulls, for 2011 production.
When it’s time to slaughter a steerm this too is done locally at Adams Farm, a family-run, new state-of-the-art, USDA inspected, meat processing plant in Athol, MA.
As for the milking cows, at the end of their life's milking cycle they are sold at auction. But, there is an interesting fact Moniz said is not mainly known.
“The biggest buyers of these former milking cows are fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s," he said. "They know they have been fed well and treated good over their average 8 year to 10 year life. So your Big Mac may have come from here."
Back at the dairy, the Arruda cows are milked twice a day with the milk held in a 5,000 gallon refrigerated tanker waiting for the production run. Milking can start as early as 4 a.m.
“The regular schedule for the production runs are four times a week and always in the evening," Moniz said. "We start at 7 p.m. and finish just after midnight. It used to take us a lot longer but we installed a state of the art new processor two years ago."
“It can be some long hard days," he added, "but there’s a certain satisfaction in seeing your product you made here on your own farm going home to feed someone's family."
