High Price Puts Milk Out of Reach for Low Income New Yorkers 

Monday, October 03, 2011 - 12:00 PM 

By Cindy Rodriguez 

WNYC.org Blog

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/oct/03/high-price-milk-out-reach-low-income-new-yorkers/

Milk prices throughout the Northeast are 19 percent higher
than two years ago, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics. In New York City, the dairy industry says
the average price of a gallon of milk is $4.

The price is out of reach for many low income New Yorkers. 

On a recent rainy Thursday, a few dozen people stood in line
holding umbrellas waiting for two quarts of free low fat milk
given out weekly at the corner of 127th Street and Frederick
Douglas Boulevard. According to Harlem resident Robert
Matthews, a regular at the milk line, the line is typically
three times as long. "Believe me, there’s like over a hundred
people here every time they come."

Matthews, an out of work elevator mechanic, said the milk was
not for him, but for his grandkids in the Bronx. "My son is
out of work. My son-in-law is out work," Matthews said. "It’s
only their wives that are really doing it- things are hard.
So I get milk for them every week to take to the Bronx to
help them out."

The program, Milk from the Heart, makes weekly deliveries in
Harlem and 12 other locations in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Project Coordinator Jonah Nelson said the purpose of the
program was to bring low fat milk to low income children.

Since its launch in February, Nelson says demand has grown so
much the organization can’t keep up with demand.  "We wanted
to pilot the program, just to see if it would work - if we
could go to 3 or 4 locations and hand out a few hundred
quarts of milk." Nelson said demand for the milk exploded.
"We hand out about 14,000 quarts a month."

Josephina Lopez comes to the Harlem site each week to pick up
milk. The mother of two says she’s employed as a home
attendant and her husband cleans houses, but they still
struggle to make ends meet. The milk they get supplements
what Lopez already buys at the supermarket where she pays
$4.29 a gallon. "That’s expensive," she said in Spanish.

A block and a half away at Steve’s Deli and Fruit, Manager
Malik Alrubay says he buys milk from a supplier in Queens for
$3.12 a gallon and sells it for $3.69. "So I’m not making a
lot of profit," Alrubay said. "I sell it all because it’s a
good price - it moves fast."

Prices vary from deli to deli and some charge as much as
$4.29.  The state has rules against price gouging and
considers $0.58 a reasonable profit margin for retailers. But
the Department of Agriculture and Markets has a lot of
discretion when enforcing these rules and considers a variety
of factors including a store’s overhead costs when
determining whether a price is excessive.

Another factor in the rising price of milk is how much
farmers get paid for it. The federal government sets the
price, and exports factor in. Since the dollar is weak right
now, demand from overseas is high, and the price being paid
to dairy farmers - $2 a gallon -  is at a record high.

But milk prices fluctuate dramatically. One New York dairy
farmer, Tunis Sweetman, says he’s still trying to recover
from 2009, when exports dropped dramatically along with the
price of milk. "By mid 2010 the milk prices did start to
recover. However, as the milk price started to recover, the
grain prices began an upward spike and the grain prices that
we’re paying to feed our cows to produce the milk have gone
to record levels," said Sweetman whose dairy farm is in
Orange County just over an hour from New York City.

At the milk line on 127th Street, no one was discussing who
is to blame for the price of milk.  Instead, people waited
patiently in the rain to collect their two quarts.  Some with
large families said the milk would be gone in a day. Others
were hoping to make it last until next week when the van
would return.

It took about 45 minutes to empty the milk van. And workers
said, as usual, the milk ran out before the line did.

___________________________________________

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