At Desert Farms, the mission is to promote camel milk as nature’s most wholesome dairy beverage, so you can get over the hump when you need, naturally.
Walid Wahab, Founder of Desert Farms
The passion for camel milk began in Saudi Arabia, where our founder, Walid, was visiting his family in his hometown of Jeddah looking for raw milk. He was approached by a friend with a plastic bag of camel milk that looked “really fresh—and tasted sooo good,” Walid recalls. But then he couldn’t find it anywhere in stores—only the Bedouins sold it. Since you can stop a camel herder by the road in Jeddah, it was no big deal to the locals, right? But he fell in love with it and he knew other people would, too. He quickly realized that camel milk was being used medicinally in the Middle East and the US as an alternative treatment for children with Autism and people with Diabetes.
So when Walid moved to California, he appreciated how people valued a healthy lifestyle. He realized this was the perfect place to start a camel milk company. After selling camel milk at mosques and ethnic food festivals, Walid’s business plan won the Marcia Israel Award from USC, so he decided to leave his corporate real estate position and began his camel adventure.
Having made the big commitment, he went courting the world, trying to spark a Camel Milk Revolution. While looking for US camel herders, in the Midwest he came across a group known for being polite and down-to-earth, a group who didn’t exist in the Middle East: the wonderful Amish community, who exemplify hard work and cooperation. Watching them work together was and remains awesome to Walid. “Networking through social media just isn’t the same as teaming up with neighbors to build a barn,” he says. “If you ask an Amish farmer why they’re successful, don’t expect a lot of soul-searching or reflection on what they do right—the Amish will likely pin the praise on anyone else but themselves.” Walid felt that they deserved an easier way to bring their products to market, and he loves the quality of their camel milk!
Desert Farms is now bringing these rural farm families’ products to eager consumers in California and other states. “It’s exciting to bridge gaps between communities that are far apart,” he says. “Small start-up companies like Desert Farms can offer real value to customers who care about what’s in and behind their products.”
Desert Farms Camel Milk, A First for the Paleo Foundation:
The Paleo Foundation has 4 different product certifications, however, no single product certification had the means to certify Desert Farms Camel Milk. This is simply because the products to be certified are dairy, which is considered Primal, not Paleo. However, we knew that we needed to do something different— we had to work within our own confines to help aid Walid in his quest to offer camel milk as an alternative to cow’s milk for parents who use it as a therapeutic food for autistic children, and we had to honor his commitment to sourcing from sustainable, small family farms, while reintroducing camels back into North America as part of the Rewilding Project.
This is where the Desert Farms mission and our mission at the Paleo Foundation intersected.
So we came up with an alternative: certify the camels that Walid sources his Camel’s Milk from under the guidelines of the Paleo Approved Farm and Ranch Animal certification program. And thus, Desert Farms will be the first company in the world who produces non-paleo products, but will be given permission to bear the Paleo Approved certification label on each of his products, signifying that they were sourced from Paleo Approved animals.
Camel Milk Facts
For centuries, Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African cultures have used camel milk as a natural remedy. Nomads and Bedouins still rely on its nutritional and medicinal properties to this day. Entire tribes have lived on the benefits of camel milk entirely or with few other foods (like dates) for months in the harsh desert climate — without any apparent loss of health.
The United Nations hailed the nutritional value of camel milk in 2006 and predicted higher consumption once it became easier for consumers to buy. Now you can buy camel milk from Desert Farms, produced right here in the US.
Joni & Ida’s Family Farm:
Summer 2010 was the start of camel farming for this Amish-Mennonite family with 8 children. Their 30 acre farm holds 3 camels, some horses, and a chicken-raising business. The two oldest sons have helped milk camels for two years. Joni started camel milking to make a living on and the family loves living this way. Although milking camels is “a lot harder than cows,” they prefer camel milk to cow milk and drink it daily. The best part for Joni and Ida is making a sustainable income on the farm, and seeing good results for children who drink camel milk. He's currently milking one of the two females and anticipates another calf’s birth in December. All camels are pasture raised and they get grass, alfalfa pellets, and Non-GMO flaxseed.
Certified Paleo:
Grain-Free Gluten-Free: 
Keto Certified: 
