The Special
This week we are pleased to feature yogurt and cheese from Butterworks Farm of Westfield, Vermont and chicken and seasonal vegetables from Chandler Pond Farm of South Wheelock, Vermont. All this week, Chef Casey Graham will use certified organic Butterworks Farm and Chandler Pond Farm products in main dishes, appetizers, soups, salads and desserts. Be sure to ask your server about tonight’s Farm to Table Special!
The Farms
Butterworks Farm is a family owned and operated certified organic farm located in the town of Westfield in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. They produce an array of exceptional quality yogurts, heavy cream and cheeses widely available throughout Vermont and many of the Eastern states.
Chandler Pond Farm is a certified organic vegetable farm in South Wheelock, located just outside of Lyndonville in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. They are a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), providing weekly shares of vegetables, meat and eggs to around 30 local members and have a farm stand not far from the Wildflower Inn.
Butterworks Farm
It is no easy task to interview a farmer. They rarely have time to sit still for even fifteen or twenty minutes, so as an interviewer it is essential to cultivate an ability to walk, talk, and sometimes be of a little help. But though you must learn to juggle camera, notebook, pencil, recorder and the occasional fencepost, it is in these unrehearsed moments that you witness a farmer’s genuine commitment to and love for his work.
It is a windy, overcast day as I follow dairy farmer Jack Lazor on his chores. Jack is co-owner of Butterworks Farm in Westfield, Vermont, which he operates with his wife Anne, his daughter Christine and her family and a small army of farm hands. He is moving fence for his herd of Jersey cows, who follow a system of rotational grazing in which they are moved onto new grass or forage every twelve hours. It is so windy that Jack’s soft voice is often whipped away as I jog along behind him. Butterworks Farm’s signature windmill is working overtime where it sits atop this high plateau just east of Vermont’s Green Mountains. The windmill produces roughly one third of the farm’s power, most of it during the winter months, so a gusty summer day like this is an unexpected boon for the Lazors, though it does not help the quality of my sound recording.
Butterworks is a producer of fine quality yogurts, heavy cream and cheeses widely available throughout Vermont and many of the Eastern states. All of the products except for the cheeses are processed and packaged right here on the farm. Jack attributes his products’ excellent quality and flavor to the protein-rich milk of his Jersey cows. The animals, all born and raised on the farm since 1982, are kept healthy without the use of antibiotics or hormones, and the closed nature of the herd prevents the importation of foreign bacteria and germs. The Lazors chose Jerseys for the high butter-fat content of their milk and their ability to produce milk on a diet composed of at least 80% forage. The remainder of their diet is a mixture of corn, oats, barley, peas and soybeans that are grown organically on the farm and stored in a beautiful new grain silo. The cows spend the winter bedded down in deep clean straw in a large solar barn.
This industrious farm is a “Back to the Land fantasy” come true for the Lazors. Jack is originally from Springfield, Massachusetts. He met his wife Anne at Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts when he was visiting on spring break from the University of Wisconsin. The couple moved to Irasburg, Vermont in 1973 as part of the “Back to the Land” movement of young people from urban to rural areas that was a hallmark of the 1970s. In 1976 they bought the farm just over Lowell Mountain in Westfield. The idea was to farm in a way that was good for the health their animals, the environment, themselves and their customers. Jack and Anne chose to relocate to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom because of its natural beauty and its unique cultural character. They enjoy their proximity to Quebec and the mixture of Quebeçois and transplanted (moved to Vermont from out-of-state) farmers.
According to Jack, Butterworks is the oldest organic dairy farm in the United States, certified organic since 1984. The farm has been influential in the food economy of the Northeast Kingdom for decades now - many local farmers, including Laini Fondillier of Lazy Lady Farm who we will feature in future weeks, got their start working for the Lazors. Jack is also very active in several local agricultural organizations, including acting as vice president of the Northern Green Growers Association. “Agriculture is not an easy way to make a living, but there’s something wonderful about it,” says Jack. “I think that right now Vermont is so much better than anywhere else in having support for alternative, diversified small business.” He also sees the state as a place where the “independent mindedness” of local farmers and local consumer demand for high quality, socially responsible food is creating a model for small sustainable food economies all over the country. “I see Vermont leading the nation as producers of high quality, organic, value-added food,” he says.
Butterworks Farm’s products have been featured in a number of regional and national publications, including in Martha Stewart Living in 2006. Martha used their yogurt, cream, butter, and cheese in a variety of gourmet desserts and savory dishes. I can tell you from first hand experience that Butterworks Farm's products are of exceptional quality and flavor. Raw milk directly from the bulk tank is smooth, creamy, and lightly flavored. I also sample a slice of their smoked cheddar, and I think it is on par with the best that Cabot, Vermont and the entire state of Wisconsin have to offer. I ask Jack how he uses Butterworks cheddar in his cooking, and the answer is, of course, “What doesn’t taste better with cheddar?”
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