Resources In The Wider Community 1

Student Information Resources In The Wider Community 1

If you’ve ever had a drink of milk, eaten a sandwich or consumed a meal from a local food establishment, then you have enjoyed some of the many conveniences This is a Ready-Ed Publications' of our readily available food supply. However, how often have you considered what resources are used to produce those foods for your consumption? The phrase ‘farm to fridge’ refers to the stages of food production, from growing crops and raising book preview. livestock to supermarket sales and consumption. An investigation of these stages enables us to gain an appreciation of the natural, capital and human resources involved in our food production systems.

Go to www.readyed.net.

The Dairy Industry – Farm to Fridge

Every year the average Australian drinks 106 litres of milk, eats over 13 kilograms of cheese, uses nearly 4 kilograms of butter and consumes 7.5 kilograms of yoghurt. Many other products, including muesli bars, chocolate, soups, breads and cakes also have milk as an ingredient. So what resources does the dairy industry use to meet the dietary needs and wants of the wider community? The fi rst stage of dairy production involves the raising of cattle on dairy farms for milk. In 2013 there were approximately 6,400 dairy farms in Australia, with an average herd size of 258 cows. Most farms are family owned and operated, and may employ an additional labourer or farmhand. Farms generally consist of: a homestead where the family live, large machinery and a storage shed, the dairy (where the cows are milked), storage vats for the milk and numerous paddocks divided by fences. Cows kept for their milk will be left to graze in the paddocks all day and eat a variety of grasses. Farmers use fertilisers and irrigate their pastures to help them grow. Milking of the cows occurs twice a day, usually at around 5.30 am and 3.00pm. In the early years of the dairy industry, cows were often milked by hand, but today, large milking machines such as the rotary dairy, which allows up to 20 cows to be milked at the same time, have made the milking process much more effi cient. Each day tankers transport the milk from the dairy farms to the nearest processing plant or factory. The milk is then pumped into large insulated vats before undergoing two important processes. First, the milk is pasteurised to kill any harmful bacteria, then it undergoes a process called homogenisation, which makes the milk smooth and creamy. The fi nal stage at the processing factory is to turn the milk into a variety of dairy products including: yogurt, cheese, cream, ice cream, butter and other types of milk such as: skim, reduced or low fat, long life, fl avoured, powdered or condensed milk. From the time that the milk is received at the factory, it can be processed and packaged within 12 to 16 hours before being transported in trucks to retail outlets.