> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # When ocean pollution gets your goat, make some ice cream - URL: https://www.smdp.com/when-ocean-pollution-gets-your-goat-make-some-ice-cream/ - Published: 2008-07-18T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T20:11:58.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Alternative ice cream brand helps tend SM Bay* *By ALICE OLLSTEIN Special to the Daily Press* SM BAY Some help the local ocean waters by participating in organized beach clean ups, some by lobbying against offshore drilling, and some by digging into a pint of ice cream. Laloo’s Goat’s Milk Ice Cream, founded by former Santa Monican Laura Howard, has grown from a kitchen experiment to a trendy brand favored by People Magazine and the Food Network alike. On top of employing sustainable practices on its many goat farms, Laloo’s kicked off the cleanFARMclceanWATER program this summer,which donates part of its proceeds to Santa Monica Baykeeper — an environmental nonprofit that works to restore the Santa Monica and San Pedro bays. Howard, now dubbed the Chief Flavor Officer of Laloo’s, said she became interested in the connection between farming and ocean health while tasting yogurt in Maine. “I noticed a strange flavor in the yogurt that I couldn’t recognize, and when I asked where it came from, the farmer told me she fed her goats seaweed,”Howard said.“I wanted to look into it for my California goat farm, but in educating myself I learned that the kelp here is actually under threat from the runoff of big dairy farms. Because of all the pollution, we couldn’t get seaweed to feed our goats.” This inspired Howard to partner with Santa Monica Baykeeper, which she says was “a natural fit.” “It was attractive because it works on a local level,” Howard said. “We want make sure that we give back to the communities we work in.” Santa Monica Baykeeper officials value their connection with Laloo’s because of the good example the company sets for California dairy farms — which often contribute to costal pollution. “Most large industrial farms use Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, which impair our waters by dumping excess nutrients,” Tom Ford, the Executive Director of Santa Monica Baykeeper, said. “If we don’t manage our farms well, then the toxic pesticides that run off of them could damage waterways.As Laloo’s demonstrates,this can be avoided by sustainable and organic agricultural practices. \[Working with Laloo’s} has been an organic hookup for all of us.” Santa Monica Baykeeper will use the new revenue from Laloo’s sales to fund their current projects, which include lobbying for the Marine Life Protection Act, which would establish protected underwater national parks,fighting the installation of an offshore liquified gas pipeline and settling with the city of Malibu for storm water pollution. Baykeeper also works to educate homeowners and cities on maintaining their urban landscapes in a sustainable way. “When people over-fertilize their lawns, or apply pesticides and herbicides, all of that eventually makes it onto our streets then into our oceans,”Ford said. In managing her company, Howard keeps many of these lessons in mind. While she is in the midst of constructing a new solar facility,she makes sure Laloo’s only uses recycled and recyclable materials, even giving out cones instead of cups at their many nationwide tasting parties. “We may not be completely carbon neutral, but we’re close,”she said. On the agricultural side, Howard buys goat’s milk from a network of small, family-owned farms in Northern California, and her criteria are strict. “All of our farms are certified humane status, and employ clean farm practices,” she said. “They are also biodiverse, not just one crop or one animal, and they’re doing things with the land that are in keeping with ecological practices, not things that are unnatural to the cycle of life.” She explained that though not every member farm is certified organic, they practice agriculture that she calls “beyond organic.” “I don’t buy into the status symbols of the Organic Trade Association, because the whole certification system is a hardship on the small guys,and my industry is all small guys,” she said. “With cow dairy it’s easier because there are huge agrobusinesses, but goat farming is very old school, and they can’t just plunk down 2,500 bucks to get certified. I’m more concerned with the health of the land and of the animal, because good treatment of the animals means good milk.” Even as her company grows, Howard will remain committed to the model of the small, family farm. “The food chain gets into trouble when the producers are unnatural in size,” she said. “Before \[the goat milk\] industry takes off, let’s make sure we’re doing it the right way.” Howard, who lived and worked in Santa Monica for 10 years before moving to Sonoma County to found Laloo’s, believes that Santa Monicans are especially open to her product and her company. “I was very into yoga, and most of my friends from that world were conscious of what they’re putting into their bodies, both in a nutritional and a spiritual way,” she said. “There are more green, socially and ecologically responsible people in the L.A. area, and our L.A. sales are some of our highest in the country.” This coming Sunday, which happens to be National Ice Cream Day, Santa Monicans can seek out Laloo’s at Whole Foods, Wild Oats or Co-Opportunity so that each bite of Molasses Tipsycake or Lemon Chiffon will support the Santa Monica Baykeeper’s efforts to protect our coast. “If you’re buying Laloo’s ice cream in L.A., you’re helping Santa Monica Baykeeper,”Ford said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 18, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071808.pdf?ref=smdp.com)