The diversity of Vermont cheese and the resiliency of its makers were both on display at the first Vermont Cheese Summit, held this August at Shelburne Farms on the shore of Lake Champlain.
Hosted by the Vermont Cheese Council, the event was a trial run for what could potentially become an annual gathering of cheesemakers, buyers, and distributors. Food Connects was on the scene for a day of behind-the-scenes farm, creamery, and cave tours, followed by a mini-conference and trade show.
Food Connects is incredibly lucky to work with some amazing cheese producers in New England. One such dairy is Blue Ledge Farm in Salisbury, VT. Blue Ledge Farm specializes in goat’s milk cheeses that are creamy and a cheese lover’s dream come true. Owner Hannah Sessions took some time out of her busy schedule to share with us a little more about the farm.
Can you share a little about Blue Ledge Farm and how you started?
Greg is from the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania while Hannah grew up in Cornwall, Vermont, just a few miles from their farm. We met while studying at Bates College, but mostly while abroad in Florence, Italy our junior year. It is there that our dream of an artistic and food-based life and business blossomed! The Italian culture had a wonderful influence on us. After graduation we spent a year in Brattleboro where we were working members of the Coop, Greg was a teacher and Hannah worked at Lilac Ridge Farm in West Brattleboro, where her love of dairy farming really took root. We began looking for our farm and happened upon this piece of land, a retired cow dairy farm, in 2000. When we saw the ribbon of rock ledge (hence the name “Blue Ledge”) we knew this little parcel was perfect for goats. We preserved our farm with the Vermont Land Trust and used these proceeds to build our first cheese plant-the smallest in the state at that time—in 2002, also the year our first child was born! Those were some busy times! We now employ ten people, milk a herd of 150 goats, and purchase milk from a local family cow dairy. Blue Ledge Farm now produces about 60,000 lbs of cheese annually. We have sized up but some things remain the same: our animals all have names, our curds are poured by hand, and we love what we do.
What is your favorite thing about farming?
We love knowing that what we do is important. As farmers, we feed people and support life. In addition, we are learning more and more that various farming practices can have a major impact on mitigating climate change, so it’s nice knowing that we are on the front lines of some exciting developments there. We also love watching things grow. To raise an animal from birth and see her develop into a part of the herd is pretty amazing. We have some “lines” of goats that extend back generations, and we can point to certain traits and remember that doe’s great-great-great grandmother, Marcy, for example.
What makes your products unique?
The gentle handling of curds make for a lighter texture, and the quality and freshness of our milk (we process every one to three days) make for our signature clean flavor. Blue Ledge is also an Animal Welfare Approved farm and I feel contentment in the animals come through in great milk and therefore delicious cheese. Our cow’s milk comes from the grass-fed Ayrshire cows at MoSe Farm, a breed known for their exceptional creamy milk due to smaller particles of components (protein and butterfat). We are lucky to be able to source milk from this relatively rare and beautiful breed of cow.
What is one of your favorite cheeses (we know it's hard to choose)? Or a recipe you like to make with them?
It's hard to choose a favorite cheese when you make 14 types! We love all of our cheeses, and there is a season for each. If we had to cheese a “desert island cheese”- as in one that we would choose were we stuck on a desert island—it has always been the Crottina. It’s a classic, simple and lovely cheese.
Why is selling locally and the local food movement important to you?
It is in our mission statement to always sell half or more of our cheese in Vermont, the state that we love and that was there for us at the onset. Loyalty is bred locally. Also, we enjoy direct feedback from customers. As a food producer, we also feel a connection to creating a sense of place, and that comes from emphasizing local. We have a farmstand on our farm that serves both locals as well as tourists and seasonal folks. As food producers, we feed our communities but also create an experience and sense of place that can make an impression on visitors as to what Vermont embodies. In this way, food producers are able to provide a double boost to our economy: via food and tourism.
How does working with Food Connects help your business?
Food Connects provides an important service as perhaps the greatest challenge for business in a rural state like Vermont is getting your product from “point A to point B”, especially when the product is perishable! We collaborate with a local farm to get our product to Food Connects and they consolidate orders and deliver from their warehouse. Recently we have gone from being a special order item on the Food Connects docket to a regularly stocked item, so that has been exciting!
Anything else you would like me to feature? Anything that you are doing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis?
The pandemic has highlighted more than ever the value of local food feeding your community. When store shelves are bare whether due to a nationwide pandemic or labor shortage, it’s the local farms and processors that you can rely on that keep you fed! If you support them, they will in turn support you!
At Food Connects, we are so fortunate to work with so many cheese producers throughout the region. We’re excited to feature Smith’s Country Cheese based out of Winchendon, MA. Passed from one family to the next, Smith’s Country Cheese is a shining example of how new and young farmers can learn from previous generations and how they can work together to conserve farmland for future generations. Plus, they make some darn good cheese! We interviewed Leah Catlin, one of the four owners, to find out more about the farm and its awesome story!
Can you share a little about the history of the farm? What inspired you and your family to start farming?
Smith’s Country Cheese has been a family-owned-and-operated, working dairy farm and creamery in the heart of North Central Massachusetts for over thirty years. Mr. David Smith and his family built the business and the brand from the barn up, growing the starting Holstein herd from 20 to 220 head, and working to become Massachusetts’ original farmstead producer of award-winning Gouda, Cheddar, and Havarti cheeses—all while becoming an industry leader in renewable energy, generating power through solar technology.
In 2013, as David and his wife began approaching retirement age, they began looking for a new owner who would continue Smith’s Country Cheese as a family-operated farm and creamery. It wasn’t until two years later when in the summer of 2015 Jake and Allie Catlin—a week away from welcoming their first daughter—learned that the Smith family was looking to sell their dairy and creamery. Although happy and successful with their jobs outside of Boston (in law enforcement and fitness respectively), they were looking for a more meaningful way of life for themselves and their new family. They made a series of exciting phone calls that put everything into motion: first, a brave phone call to Dave expressing interest in buying the farm without having any formal farming experience; and second, a phone call to Jake’s brother, Mike, and his wife Leah in Atlanta, Georgia, asking them and their two children to move back to Massachusetts and join them on this farm adventure.
…and the rest is history! The Smiths taught the Catlins how to make cheese and care for the cows on weekends for over a year before the sale was official. Nearly five years later, the Catlins are putting their own mark on the brand, adding new cheeses to their repertoire, and growing the business with innovative ideas.
What makes your farm unique? Could you tell us more about your sustainability efforts?
We are proud to be true farmstead cheese producers. This means that all the milk we use to make our delicious, award-winning cheeses comes from our own herd of Holstein cows. Our cows are milked twice a day, every day and we make cheese about 3-4 days a week at our farm. On cheese-making days, we are using fresh milk from that morning’s milking—it doesn’t get any fresher than that!
We are also proud to continue Dave’s sustainability commitment to reduce our carbon footprint. Our grid-tied photovoltaic solar system offsets over 70% of our hot water and 30% of our electrical usage costs by using the energy of the sun. We make our own compost from cow manure, famously known as “Otter River Black Gold” to manage our farm waste in a green way. In 2020 our compost was certified for Organic producers.
What is one of your favorite cheeses?
I asked everyone to rank their favorite cheeses and got four different answers! But, one of the cheeses we all agree is delicious is the Chive Cheddar—our creamy, mild cheddar serves as the backdrop for a bright and robust chive flavor. We love to snack on it, or add it to eggs, sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and burgers!
Why is selling locally and the local food movement important to you?
We love helping people in our community discover and appreciate locally made goods—it really is like finding treasure in your own backyard. Being part of the local food movement is important to us because it helps start the conversation within families about where their food comes from, the environment, and the economy. Shopping locally makes a big impact. I love the saying that when you support a small business an actual, real-life person does a happy dance because it’s 100% true! If you don’t believe us, follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
How does working with Food Connects help your business?
Working with Food Connects allows us to reach a new customer base and to be part of the important conversations they are having regarding the local food movement, agriculture, sustainability, and nutrition. We are confident that we are becoming a household name with the families and communities Food Connects and their programs serve.
Any events coming up or fun facts about your farm?
We will soon be adding some completely new products to our line: farm fresh milk, butter, and yogurt! Stay tuned, Food Connects!
New England cheese! Cheesemakers in Vermont and around New England are renowned worldwide and for good reason. Tucked away in remote corners and valleys, our little region’s specialty creameries put out some of the most innovative and complex cheeses you’ll find anywhere. No, New Englanders may not generally be the most adventurous in the face of a habanero chili, but when it comes to cheese, “milk’s leap toward immortality,” the inhabitants of this region appear to be positively daring.
Unfortunately, 2020 squeezed New England cheesemakers. Restaurants and institutional food service—both major income sources for specialty cheesemakers—suffered huge losses in the face of pandemic fears, as did the classic cheese counter model (such as the cheese department at your local Co-op or Hannaford) with its focus on custom cut-and-wrap sales. Consumers shifted their purchasing toward pre-packaged cheeses and away from big-box grocery stores, towards smaller, local outlets and home delivery services. As a result, many cheesemakers lost their main markets. Those who could do so responded by retooling for pre-cut and pre-wrapped sales.
In February 2020, a month before that unpleasant turn of events, Richard Berkfield and Alex McCullough from Food Connects had traveled to Upperville, Virginia. They joined nine other East Coast food hubs in a gathering that was the brainchild of Tom McDougall, owner of 4P Foods, a food hub based in Warrenton, VA, and serving the Washington, D.C. area. Food hub representatives from as far north as Maine and as far south as South Carolina converged to tackle one big question: How can we work together to serve our producers and customers better?
All of us dreamed, independently, of taking part in creating a resilient, decentralized food system, one based in sourcing from family-run farms and food businesses, in promoting food produced with social and ecological integrity, and in celebrating our regions’ foods in a spirit of collaboration and sharing.
Out of this convening, the Eastern Food Hub Collaborative (EFC) was born. Local Food Hub, 11-year-old Charlottesville, Virginia-based nonprofit with a long history running programming for food distribution and food access, is now organizing this collaboration. The EFC connects a still-growing roster of 14 East Coast food hubs, 600+ producers, and tens of millions of dollars of aggregate annual sales in a shared mission to scale a new paradigm of food for the East Coast.
As a group, we intuited that we’d always source first from our own local and regional producers within our respective hubs. And we could do that while also providing customers access to unique products from other places up and down the East Coast. And, conversely, at Food Connects, we could do so while introducing other regions to the special foods that only New England can offer.
What better way to show off New England than with cheese?
Tom from 4P Foods declared on the first day of our convening in Virginia that 4P wanted to sell New England cheese. Richard and Alex drove home with a mission and a lot of work to do. That summer, with the guiding hand of Beth Lewand, former cheesemonger extraordinaire and Food Connects’ then-new Sales Associate, we launched our Specialty Cheese Catalog. At that time, the catalog acted as a testing ground to build supply relationships, learn about products, solve inbound logistics, and start figuring out new ways to supply customers with great cheese.
It turned out that the pre-cut cheeses that cheesemakers had emphasized since the COVID-19 crisis suddenly worked very well for much of Food Connects’ customer base: for farm stands, CSAs, small independent stores—and for home-delivery food hubs like 4P.
In coordination with buyers Justin White and Devon Byrne from 4P, Food Connects shipped its first pallet of cheese to Virginia on May 12, 2021, as a pilot run. Would the cheese make it through the 500+ mile trip? Would customers buy it? Would they come back to buy more?
We’re proud to announce a resounding “Yes” to all of the above! June 24–just last week!–marked our second and even larger cheese pallet shipment to 4P Foods. Stacked high with boxes from Grafton Village Cheese, Jasper Hill Farm, Smith’s Country Cheese, Narragansett Creamery, Parish Hill Creamery, Champlain Valley Creamery, Blue Ledge Farm, and Vermont Shepherd, this pallet represents Food Connects’ commitment to leveraging our unique location in the heart of New England to build a meaningful, brand new market outlet for our region’s cheesemakers.
In all, since the Specialty Cheese Catalog’s launch in August, Food Connects has sold more than $136,000 of specialty cheese. We’ve delivered cheeses to retail outlets, restaurants, and institutional food service programs in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. We’ve sent countless boxes of cheese to other Food Hub partners around New England, including the Three Rivers Farmers Alliance, of Exeter, NH, and Farm Fresh Rhode Island, of Providence. Both of them source cheese through Food Connects to add to their home delivery programs. Even if in a small way, we’re proud to have contributed to supporting our cheesemakers through a uniquely difficult time.
We hope that this is just the beginning. We started with a small selection of producers to avoid overcomplicating logistics and over-diluting sales to our emerging market. As demand for cheese grows within our networks, we will continue expanding our product selection. We aim to build a strong, diverse catalog that brings together the best that our region offers, opening new doors for eaters up and down the coast looking for a gustatory experience they will never forget. And, of course, one that builds real, long-term markets for cheesemakers across New England who work to keep this ancient craft alive, thriving, and profitable now and into the future.
We’re excited to introduce our Food Connects family to one of our newest producers—Barrett’s Garden! Barrett’s Garden, located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was born out of owner and “Commander In Cheese,” Liz Barrett’s passion for vegan cooking. Liz, a sign language interpreter, grew this business from the ground up and we are excited to help her business expand into our region of New England. So get to know Liz and her delicious products today!
How was Barrett’s Garden started? What was your inspiration?
As a long-time vegetarian, when I became vegan, about 10 years ago, I was frustrated because I couldn’t find really good, wholesome vegan cheeses.
What makes your products unique?
I don’t put anything extra in my food, just ingredients that you would use in your own kitchen!
What is one of your favorite products you make? Do you have a recipe you love to use them in?
I have to say that Farmesan is my favorite! It’s so versatile! I put it on just about everything for extra flavor-popcorn, sauteed veggies, soup, salad, pizza. I also use it to make alfredo and pesto. One cup of veggie broth to ¾ cup Farmesan! Blend in a blender until smooth, pour into saucepan, and cook slow and low stirring frequently. For the pesto, I just put a bunch of fresh, rinsed basil in a blender with ¾ to one cup Farmesan and 2 tbs lemon juice. Blend until smooth and voila! Pesto!
Why is buying and selling locally and the local food movement is important to you?
Oh my goodness! All of us local producers are bringing customers the most wholesome, handmade, or hand-grown food that a consumer can purchase. We love doing what we do and it’s that circle that makes it happen. I’m participating in one of the oldest, crucial movements and I’m super proud to be here!
How does working with Food Connects help your business/what are you excited about in this partnership?
I love this question! As a food producer in Rhode Island and only 4 years old, I am not in very many stores in New England stores. My customers have met me at VegFests and events and I ship to them. Community members know of me through the vegan social media sites and I am SO EXCITED that my product can now be in a market near them! This is a game-changer and I can’t thank Food Connects enough for inviting me to be a part of this experience!
Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?
When I was first starting my company I didn’t have names for my products and it was getting time for me to get my business license and start selling. I was almost in a panic about it. I knew my first 2 items by heart, their recipes, and flavor, etc. Finally one night I had a dream and they came to me. Farmesan and Fauxcotta! Just in the nick of time!
Anything else? Anything that you are doing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis?
I don’t really want to talk about COVID-19-I just want it to go away! But I would like customers to know that I am always available to talk, email or text. If it’s about the food, recipes, events, advice on cooking, or starting a food business, I am always available. I also donate to certain causes.
We all know that farming isn’t easy and COVID-19 hasn’t made it any easier—particularly for dairy farmers.
In January of 2020, the VT Agency of Agriculture announced that the state lost 48 dairy farms in 2019. And those that have survived faced the demand for milk plummeting in the early parts of the shutdown, forcing them to dump milk.
“Cows produce milk every single day,” says Leigh Harding, National Account Manager at Jasper Hill Farm, a world leader in artisan cheesemaking based in Greensboro, VT. “And many dairy farms only have one option: to sell their fluid milk directly to the low-paying open market, where the fluid milk price fluctuates drastically daily and is out of their control. It is almost impossible to be a small, independent dairy farmer, selling high-quality fluid milk, and to make a profitable living for yourself and family.”
One way for farmers to avoid dumping milk is to create “value-added products”—cheese, pudding, yogurt, ice cream, etc. Cheese stores longer than liquid milk so can be a good alternative way for farmers to earn back some income. But the cheese industry isn’t safe either—the shutdown of restaurants and schools effectively dried up their markets.
“An integral part of our mission at Jasper Hill Farm is to offer an alternative option,” says Leigh. “We purchase milk from within our local radius at a substantially higher price all year round, taking this milk and turning into superior, award-winning cheese. Every piece of cheese purchased and consumed contributes to that option for family farmers—it is powerful! This commitment to quality incentivizes farmers to participate in sustainable practices that promote herd health and land preservation. The more sustainable livelihood for the farmers means that families can continue to make a living wage, they then spend money locally to boost economic viability, children stay in the area to continue the legacy and raise families who go to school locally and so on and so on. It is a beautiful (and delicious) circle!”
Part of the Food Connects mission is to support and fortify Thriving Farms. While we have not yet begun to sell fluid milk, there is one thing we do sell a lot of—cheese. In mid-2020 we released our Food Connects Cheese Catalog as a way to help promote and grow the dairy industry in the state. The catalog features 7 Vermont cheese producers, small and large, and over 50 different types of cheeses.
“Food Connects has been able to bring locally-made cheeses to a variety of customers who weren’t being served by traditional distributors, including small farm stands and our regional food hub partners,” said Food Hub Sales Associate Beth Lewand. “Our customers’ appetite is certainly strong for delicious, hand-crafted cheeses, and we’ve delivered nearly $34k worth of cheese since launching the catalog in August and $72.1k overall in 2020, $30k of which was from Grafton Village Cheese, here in Brattleboro, VT.”
Nestled in the quiet towns of Grafton and Brattleboro, Vermont, Grafton Village Cheese is a longstanding business within our community. Founded in 1892 by a cooperative of dairy farmers as a means to utilize surplus raw milk, Grafton Village Cheese remains a vital part of Vermont’s dairy industry. President and CEO, Ruth Anne Flore, took some time to answer our questions and teach us more about this great local business.
What makes your products unique?
Grafton Village Cheese is considered one of a handful of legacy cheese companies in the country. Grafton never wavered from its handmade, small batch production and its commitment to producing a traditional New England style cheddar; a cheddar with "bite." Our flavor profile remains distinctive. All of our milk comes from Vermont family farms.
What is your favorite product?
Tough question...I love our 1 and 2 year-aged cheddars for their versatility and Grafton's signature "bite." For grilled cheese sandwiches, mac 'n cheese dishes, burgers… the Truffle cheddar or Smoked Chili cheddar absolutely elevate the experience! Our cave-aged cheeses, Clothbound, Shepsog (mixed milk - cow & sheep), and Bear Hill (washed rind 100% sheep's milk), are incredibly special and shine on any cheeseboard.
Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you?
As a Windham Foundation-owned enterprise, Grafton Village Cheese communicates a sense of place. When buying locally produced cheese, you are supporting not only the teams that make it happen, but the dairies from whom we purchase our milk, and the local retailers, country stores, inns, and restaurants who include locally produced cheese on the shelves and menus.
How does working with Food Connects help your business?
The choices we make have a direct impact on our communities. Working with Food Connects enhances our ability to educate not only students but teachers, health care, and food service professionals of the importance of using local, sustainable foods produced in our regional community.
Could you share with us some of the new business changes at Grafton? What are some of your hopes for the future?
In early April, as a result of COVID-19, we experienced a significant drop in volume and made the decision to move our block cheddar production from our Brattleboro location to the original Grafton facility. We continue to operate our cut and wrap operations, as well as our retail store and logistics from Brattleboro. Over the years, our volume and growth ambitions for the plant have unfortunately never been realized. The Retreat Farm's interest in acquiring the property to further its mission around local food production, agricultural products, job creation, and outdoor recreation would allow us to become an anchor tenant—relieving us of long term debt and enabling Grafton Village Cheese to become financially sustainable. In May, at our Grafton facility, we completed a months' long project of building new caves which will give us running room to increase production of our award-winning cave-aged cheeses. Combining our block cheddar and cave-aged production in Grafton, a much smaller facility, will allow us to re-focus our efforts to right-size the company.
Any events coming up or fun fact about your business/products?
Our new branding is working its way into the marketplace. It's bold. It's bright. It's exciting. We are CHEESE ON A MISSION!
Our most important "ingredient" is our cheesemaking team, led by Mariano Gonzalez, our head cheesemaker. Mariano is one of the country's best award-winning cheddar makers. Dedicated to his craft, Mariano's cheesemaking skills are recognized worldwide.
Our cave-aged Shepsog is the Algonquin word for “sheep”, which once covered Vermont’s hillsides during the booming wool industry of the 19th century.
Our sheep's milk cheese, Bear Hill is named for the scenic bluff overlooking the Village of Grafton.
