Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Bagged Milk: Toronto Mike'd #1183

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

In this 1183rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike talks about bagged milk and how it's an Ontario thing. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

I like the way you work it, no diggity. I got the bag it up, bag it up. I like the way you work it, no diggity. I got the bag it up, bag it up. I like the way you work it, no diggity. I got the bag it up, bag it up. I like the way you work it, no diggity. I got the bag it up, bag it up. I don't know how old I was when I learned the entire world didn't drink milk from bags, but I think I was in my late 20s or early 30s. I was raised in a bagged milk home, and I just assume that's how everybody did it. Then I learned that America didn't do the bagged milk thing.

In fact, they think it's rather bizarre that we do. And it's not all of Canada that does this. It seems to be Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. My wife is from Edmonton, and their four liters of milk come in a jug. No bags there. But why are we all about the milk bags here? A CBC article sheds some light on it. Canada's conversion to the metric system in the 1970s meant dairy producers needed to replace and resize existing milk containers, which were measured in imperial quarts. Retrofitting assembly lines or replacing heavy glass bottles

was an expensive prospect for the milk industry, and milk bags, which they were already experimenting with, could be easily and cheaply adjusted. Changing a one-quart bag to 1.3 liters was relatively painless, so three-quart bags of milk quickly became four-liter bags across parts of Canada. Thank you, Mayor Quimby, for honoring us with a school milk concession. Well, the good children of Springfield need their milk, and I need my... Please accept this kickback as a token of our esteem.

Thank you, Fat Tony. However, in the future, I would prefer a nondescript briefcase to the sack with a dollar sign on it. So, how'd you get the nickname Legs? Well, that's an interesting story. It seems President Kennedy's father was... Ooh, mini cannoli. Hey, I called that. I saw it first.

Come back here. Mmm, milking room. I hope you cows are decent. Crap on a crutch! They're milking rats! Milking rats! Rats? I'm outraged. You promised me dog or hire. Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!

Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!

Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!

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Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!

Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh! fries. Get that away from me. Kids, I don't want you drinking any more milk ever. Can I still drink

it? Go nuts. All right. As time went on, Western Canada moved towards jugs. But here in Ontario, we remained committed to bagged milk. There's an old law in the books until 2018 that states to sell milk in 4-liter hard plastic jugs, a retailer or producer had to implement a deposit or recycling system for those products. And some stores, such as Becker's, did exactly that. Consumers could buy milk jugs at Becker's if they paid a deposit for the jug at the store. I had a friend in primary school named Andre. I'd periodically visit his home for lunch. And it always blew my mind that he had his cow milk in these big Becker's jugs. There was no bag to be seen. I guess his parents were a couple of deposit pan Becker patrons.

Andre, by the way, introduced me to this magical combination of two foods I already loved. I loved Kraft Dinner. I loved hot dogs. But one day I visited Andre's house for lunch and he put them together. We had Kraft Dinner and hot dogs. I think we called it Kraft Dinner and wieners, a word that still makes me giggle, by the way. But this craft dinner and wiener combination was completely foreign to me and just magical. What a delicious lunch that was. I think I had a tall glass of milk out of those Becker's jugs. Oh, the good old days. out of those Becker's jugs. Oh, the good old days. So there was this deposit requirement if you wanted to buy a four-liter jug of milk.

There's no such requirement for bags. So if you wanted more than a two-liter carton, you bought it in bags, dropped one in your special milk bag pitcher, and cut a hole in the corner. As a kid, we had these specialized milk bag cutters that stayed attached to the fridge via a magnet. But in my adult life, I've always just used a pair of scissors. While we're talking milk, I was raised with 2%, but quickly changed it to 1% as an adult. And for the past decade, I've been trying to quit cow milk completely, but I'm still a sucker for a bowl of cereal or a tall glass of cold 1% cow milk with my chocolate chip cookies.

I'm a flawed man. And I am cool Cool as the deep blue ocean I am lost So I am cruel But I'd be loving sweetness If I had you I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I am weak, but I am strong

I can use my tears to Bring you home I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I am milk I am milk. I am red top kitchen.

Dying cold. Cause the deep blue ocean. I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you I'm making, I'm making you I'm waiting I'm waiting I'm waiting For you