Ideas abound for saving iconic Faith Dairy
KATHLEEN MERRYMAN; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
The collective moan that arose at the news that Faith Dairy was closing was expected.
You don’t lose something as sweet as the drive-through dairy at 3509 72nd St. E. without regret.
The Mensonides family has owned it since 1963. The cows were local. The ice cream was the real deal. The to-your-door service was cheerful. Nowhere else in Pierce County could you find such a combination.
Anyone would wail about losing it.
But where but Pierce County would the next sound be the clamor of people proposing credible plans to save it?
Phones started ringing at Pierce Conservation District when the news broke, said director Monty Mahan.
“We’ve gotten a lot of contact from people distraught about it closing,” he said. “I had no idea how much of an icon it is for Pierce County.”
Leslie Young, a member of Historic Tacoma, an independent historic preservation group, saw a chance to contact and share expertise with county people interested in preservation. After all, the drive-through’s regulars included customers from all over Tacoma.
Peggy Andyn, who e-mails alerts on crime and meetings for Midland Residents Association, jumped in.
“Many hope folks can come together around a proposal that preserves Faith Dairy as a heritage site,” she wrote. “One thing for certain is that any plan will require a commitment from our community, whether that means buying a gallon of milk for a buck more or writing letters to our elected leaders. If preservation can work anywhere, it could work here.”
Phil Brooke, who bought Faith Dairy compost for his farm, brainstormed strategies to preserve the business he considers the best of good neighbors: Perhaps acreage around the dairy and drive-through could be used as a processing site for small farmers, tying in to the growing farmers market movement. Perhaps a larger dairy could purchase it and preserve its name and business identity.
Others suggested using state, county and tribal conservation funds. Depending on the pot of money, that might mean preserving all acreage as farm land, or letting the acreage revert to wild land and preserving the business as a working heritage site.
It would be easiest, Mahan said, if someone committed to preserving it as agricultural land would buy it.
Brothers John and Sid Mensonides and their families poured their working lives into the dairy.
But milk is not how you get rich.
It’s not even how you break even.
As John and his wife, Sylvia, noted, ounce for ounce, people are willing to pay more for bottled water than milk.
The dairy was losing money on its existing business model, John said. He and Sylvia had been playing with a few ideas. Artisan cheeses. Boutique products. Even bottled water.
But running a dairy is draining. The family simply did not have the money and energy to reframe the game.
Pierce Conservation District could help the next owners with that discussion, Mahan said, as could Washington State University Extension Service and the Pierce County Farm Board. They have educational and economic development programs, even some financial assistance, aimed at helping farmers stay in business.
“It’s good policy to try to maintain land in farm use,” Mahan said. “When it’s being actively farmed, it’s being watched over, so you don’t have problems like meth manufacture. It’s good for wildlife. It does not pollute. It helps take up water during flood season.”
Mahan is encouraged that he’s heard from community groups, planners, extension agents and Pierce County Council members wanting to work with the Mensonides family to preserve Faith Dairy’s past and ensure its future. He’s advising callers to urge council representatives to act.
“The next step is getting a group to talk about it, getting the talk going real fast,” he said. “I can’t spearhead anything, but the district is there to help out.”
Call 253-845-9787, Mahan said, if you want to join the effort.
Call if you want to keep the Faith.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com
