Reprinted with permission from the July issue of the Ester Republic.

Barring the proverbial”act of God,” many people seem to agree that Matanuska Maid’s days are numbered — the valiant, last-minute coup detat by Governor Palin notwithstanding. It is not for a lack of vision; in fact you might say that too much vision is what has steered the dairy down this path. Mat Maid has been operating as if it bore a mandate to offer all manner of dairy products to all Alaskans, all the time, including some unexpected ones like Florida orange juice and a pro-biotic yogurt called “Glacier Yo” intended for export to Pacific Rim countries. There is plenty of blame to go around, and the folks who won’t buy local milk because they think it costs too much deserve their share of it, but nevertheless you simply can’t have an industrial dairy without first having a dairy industry.

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