While this WNYC story might entice some Post headline-writer to make a “Got Milk” pun, it isn’t something to laugh about: milk prices throughout the northeast are 19 percent higher than a year ago, putting milk out of reach for low income New Yorkers who now, thanks to a tanking economy, make up a growing percentage of the population.
At some retailers, milk now costs over four dollars a gallon. There are rules in place against price gouging, and the Department of Agriculture and Markets can choose to regulate prices more stringently. A weakening dollar has also increased milk demands overseas; the $2 a gallon price being paid to dairy farmers is a record high. Milk prices can fluctuate as much as gas prices and did take a plunge in 2009.
This gives little comfort to the people who line up for two quarts of free low-fat milk every week at the Milk from the Heart van. The program distributes a limited amount of free milk every week at 12 NYC locations. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough free milk trucks to go around.