GREENSBORO, N.C. — Homeland Creamery in southeast Guilford County was overwhelmed over the weekend as the community responded after seeing a Facebook post and wanted to buy local.
“We're extremely appreciative of everyone who came out,” says Paige Garland. “We woke up Saturday morning thinking we were going to have a regular day and immediately there was a line. Unfortunately, our little store wasn't stocked for the volume that we had.”
Here's the thing, the creamery didn't expect this. But Facebook posts encouraging folks to support local farmers so they don't have to throw away their milk and products were going around. Everyone shared it and everyone came. It was a long wait and lots of items were sold out.
So, Homeland Creamery is hoping to make customers happy, keep their business going, and help other businesses. The Homeland Creamery web page now lists all the stores that carry their products.
And it also gives you the other farmers they sell items for Ward Farm eggs, Phillips Brothers sausage and ham as well as
Conrad and Hinkle pimento cheese
What about the dairy having to dump milk? A lot of folks asked why couldn't they just donate it and why did it have to go to waste?
“We are not getting the income coming in so we're not able to have money to cover the cost of the labor, jugs, that it would cost to give it away. You see, in NC it's illegal to sell milk that is raw and it's unsafe, so we can't give it away without bottling it and pasteurizing it. So, that's why we had to do what we had to,” they said.
To be clear, Homeland Creamery has donated hundreds of gallons of milk to shelters and local groups. They're hoping they don't have to dump milk again and they're hoping their solutions to last weekend will be a win for everyone.
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