Whey-Cation 2010

We made the trip to Shelburne Farms, on the banks of Lake Champlain, for the 2010 Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. It was actually my second trip as I attended the inagural event in August of 2009, but I wanted to ensure my family had the chance to experience, what I believe to be, qiuntessential Vermont in one setting. Coveringover 400 acres of land, this farm consists of a whole lot of green – lawns, woods, gardens, hills, grazing pastures – and not a lot of man-made structures outside of the inn, a working dairy and some barns. After an hour drive from Warren, the last couple of miles on dirt road, this felt like the back of beyond; once on the property, you quickly forget that Burlington, the state’s capital city, is a stones throw away on the the northern shore of Lake Champlain.

Shelburne Farms, created in 1886 as an agricultural estate and summer home, became a working conservatio

n and environmental education estate, a not-for-profit enterprise. The Farm’s mission directs that they “cultivate a conservation ethic…practice rural land uses that are environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable…sustain healthy agricultural practices that maintain fertile soil into the future.” So cliche nowadays, but so Vermont since as far back as I can remember.
Mission statement words become daily practice here: the wooded areas are Green Certified, the dairy cows are grass fed, and a large market garden yields produce for both an Inn kitchen focused on seasonal cuisine and the Farm’s educational programs. The programs themselves are also mission-specific: school field trips, a 4-H program, the Sustainable Schools Project, and Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day).

The backdrop for all these efforts is not a classroom but one sprawling, gorgeous farm among the many that, strung together, make up the picture book beautiful state of Vermont. Vermont’s hills and mountains are rounded, rolling, grassy, perfect for the cows that dot the sides of the gentle slopes, in fact, perfect for sheep and goats too. The valleys suit the horses, the red barns, their silos, and field after field of fresh produce. The state is beautiful, beyond beautiful – scenic and pastoral.
But behind the beauty lies a great deal of hard work.
Shelburne Farms is every bit the working farm. Between the herd of Brown Swiss cows, the dairy, and the cheese center, the Farm turns out quite a bit of award winning cheddar following the tenets of its own mission statement, in “environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable” ways.

The mission seems to extend beyond the boundaries of Shelburne Farms as well. Responsible dairy farming and artisanal cheesemaking have always been hallmark of Vermont, but now appear to be thriving under a resurgence of the "new normal". The prac

tices seem organic to Vermont’s land in the broadest sense of the word, respect paid back

for the gift of rich soil.

“Vermont has now evolved into the premium artisanal cheese state with the highest number of cheesemakers per capita,” Vermont Cheesemaker Festival organizers (Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery and the Vermont Cheese Council) are proud to point out. People who want to make cheese by

hand in traditional ways have come to Vermont from many other places and many other life paths, looking for community, shared passion and commitment, looking for this good land and its milking animals.
A rich land makes for content cows, goats, sheep, and content animals produce great milk, just ask the California Dairy Industry's Marketing team. Vermont's definition of a happy animal? Animals given respectful treatment, the freedom to roam pastures and rock ledges, good grass to eat, and lots and lots of fresh air.
Much of the cheese we tasted was indeed made from great milk, and delicious as a result. Many o

f the cheesemakers took care to point out the characteristics of their product, and their words and brochures always reference the land. Dancing Cow’s Bourree boasted “the flavor of the pasture just eaten” and Cricket Creek Farm’s taleggio-style Tobasi was “very buttery and smooth with earthy, grassy notes.” Thistle Hill Farm’s Tarentaise was touted as capturing the “soil, geography, climate, and flora” of Pomfret, Vermont in its flavor profile.

With 45 cheesemakers and just as many brewers, vintners, and artisan food producers, and Lake Cahmplain as a backdrop, you can easliy spend the entire day at the event taking it all in with several round trips with realxation in the dell in between. With the synergy of land, animals, humans, and sustenance at work, thi

s was local eating at its best. We can't wait until next year!