Almost exactly a month after my trip to Burlington, Vermont, I finally combed through all of my pictures and narrowed them down to a select few. And now it’s recap tiiiime!
I left for Burlington, Vermont early Sunday morning on October 8 and by 10:30 a.m. the following Tuesday, I was back in Charlotte. It was a quick trip, but a gorgeous one!
Fall in Vermont and Learning About Organic Farming
Visiting Vermont in the fall and learning about organic farming was a dream. The foliage is stunning and pops of the most vibrant reds, oranges and yellows made me wish Charlotte would hurry up and realize it was fall already when I returned home. (Thankfully Charlotte got the memo last weekend.)
I was invited to Vermont by Stonyfield Organic to learn more about the importance of organics and organic farming and after a quick flight to Washington, D.C. and another to Burlington, I found myself in Vermont a little after lunchtime on Sunday. I was greeted by sunny skies and cool breezes, colorful leaves and rolling hills. Unfortunately Sunday’s sun was the only sun I’d see during my visit, but it was a beautiful welcome to the state and sneaking peeks at Lake Champlain as the sun was setting was nothing short of breathtaking.
The trip officially began about 20 minutes after I checked into my hotel room at Hotel Vermont, so I had just enough time to throw on a sweater and check in with Ryan before heading down to the lobby. We were greeted by the two-person PR team for Stonyfield (yep, only two of them – Stonyfield employs around 350 people and I definitely thought the company was much bigger) and after emailing with Kristina and Mairead for so long (years!), it was so nice to finally meet them in person. They planned a meet-and-greet event at Dedalus, a local wine and cheese shop, and the space was warmly lit and incredibly cozy.
Our group spent a solid two hours introducing ourselves to each other and learning more about our blogging pasts, ambitions, families and more. It was such a relaxed, laidback way to ease into the trip which was wonderful. So often blogging trips are go, go, go from the minute you step off the plane, so this informal kickoff was such a treat! I had plenty of time to meet the six additional bloggers on the trip and loved learning more about all of them. Blogging for a living can feel like a strange job in my day-to-day life and I cannot overstate how nice it is to connect with people who do what I do (or something very similar) in real life.
After our mini cocktail hour, we boarded the bus back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at Juniper, a farm-to-plate inspired restaurant that focuses on local ingredients. Our private room overlooked Lake Champlain and we couldn’t resist sipping our drinks out on the terrace before our meal.
(Our group from left to right: Claire of The Kitchy Kitchen / Bev of Bev Cooks / Sonja of A Couple Cooks / Me / Emily of Small Fry Blog / Erika of Essentially Erika / Gabby of Design Mom)
Over a three-course meal served family style that included the creamiest pumpkin soup, pillowy gnocchi, fork-tender chicken and perfectly sweet apple tarts, we learned more about organic farming practices, the benefits of choosing organic and the initiatives Stonyfield takes to help conventional dairy farmers switch to organic dairy farming. While I knew about the issue of pesticides, synthetic hormones and chemicals in conventional farming, I didn’t realize that organic foods are much higher in antioxidants (20-40 percent higher!) and other nutrients. Additionally, scientists have found that soil from organic farms is better at sequestering carbon (a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change) than conventional farms because organic soil has higher concentrations of humic acids. (These are substances in the soil that give soil its brown color and binds to the soil, making it more fertile and allowing it to retain water while assisting plants in nutrient absorption.)
Since we had a very full day ahead of us on Monday, after dinner and dessert, we all said our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel rooms where I tossed and turned but eventually fell asleep a little after midnight.
Monday
Our group was up and ready for the day a little after 7 a.m., decked out in rain jackets and wellies since the forecast told us to expect nothing but rain and clouds all day long. Unfortunately the forecast proved correct and we spent all day Monday with our hoods up and our cameras protected under ponchos and layers.
A one-hour drive northwest from Burlington brought us to Green Wind Farm, one of the family farms that supplies organic milk to Stonyfield.
We met Julie who owns the organic farm with her husband and right away we could see the passion she has for farming, her cows and cultivating high-quality pasture for her animals to graze. Because her cows are organic, they’re required to graze on pasture at least 120 days per year in addition to having year-round access to the outdoors. As part of this, her cows rotate through different grazing areas (paddocks) every day, each one saturated with lush grasses and plants. This method of farming allows the cows to feed themselves and fertilize their pastures naturally, resulting in less fossil-fuel consumption, less erosion, less air and water pollution and greater soil fertility. I was absolutely fascinated to learn more about the pasture the cows eat and on Green Wind Farm, the pasture is saturated with a myriad of plants. While the cows have preferences (they love dandelion which is a great source of vitamin C and stimulates liver activity), they will often gravitate toward different plants in the pasture depending on how they are feeling.
This just reiterated in my mind the power of the foods we eat and the way they can help and heal our bodies. During our visit to Green Wind Farm, we talked a lot about the health of organic dairy cows versus conventional dairy cows and I was shocked to learn that organic cows live twice as long and rarely seem to get sick. Organic cows cannot be treated with synthetic hormones and antibiotics which are both frequently given to non-organic farm animals to change their reproductive cycles and speed up their growth. It was really interesting for me to hear from multiple dairy farmers about the dramatic shift in their cow’s health when they switched to organic farming and pasture grazing.
Once we were officially too wet to keep trudging through the mud, Julie invited us inside her home for the most incredible homemade brunch.
Julie and her husband live in a farmhouse that was built in the 1800s and served a comforting spread of hot coffee with the best creamer I’ve ever had, fresh-from-the-oven bread with a thick slab of butter, cheesy egg casserole and a pickled beet salad. I don’t think I was the only one who couldn’t resist filling my plate more than once and loved everything. With our stomachs full and caffeine kicking in, we were ready for our next adventure and headed off to Windy Hill Farm, another family-owned organic farm that supplies milk to Stonyfield. Windy Hill is a larger farm with a herd of approximately 100 beautiful Holstein cows and even though it was pouring during our visit to Windy Hill, somehow we still had a good time!
We made it back to our hotel with just enough time to shower and change before we were off to a farm-to-table dinner featuring a spread of delicious organic produce from Philo Ridge Farm. The farm is owned by husband-wife duo Peter and Diana who purchased a run-down conventional dairy farm to save it from ruin. They transformed the farm into a fully-functioning organic farm complete with a stunning farmhouse they are currently using for organic farming education and community events. Diana was once a student of Gary Hirshberg, the founder of Stonyfield and shares his passion for organic farming. Gary actually joined us for dinner which was really amazing. (For my fellow NPR podcast lovers, you may recognize his name from his recent feature on How I Built This.) Gary was really interested in our thoughts on organic farming and choosing organic products; what information surprised us about organic farming after our farm tours, what roadblocks stand in our way from purchasing organics (the resounding answer here was price) and more. I felt honored to be included in such a lively, honest and informative discussion.
We arrived back at our hotel just before midnight and I’m pretty sure all of us crashed hard, especially since a number of us at pre-5 a.m. wakeup calls the next day. It was a whirlwind trip, but a wonderful one! Thank you so much to Stonyfield for including me! I loved fall in Vermont and learning about organic farming.
Stonyfield Organic Yogurt Giveaway
And now for a giveaway!! I’m partnering with Stonyfield to give away three months of FREE yogurt! One PBF reader will receive coupons to stock up on a wide variety of Stonyfield yogurt, whether you prefer their organic whole milk Greek yogurt, 100% Grassfed yogurt, soy yogurt, YoBaby or YoKids yogurts (Chase is still 100 percent obsessed with the mango YoBaby yogurt) or want to try their double cream yogurt (it truly tastes like dessert)! To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of Stonyfield yogurt or one reason why you believe it is important to choose organic food when possible.
I will randomly select a winner next Friday, November 17 at 7 a.m. (EST), when the giveaway closes. (U.S. entries only, please.) Good luck!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Yeah Vermont! Whole milk yogurt- it’s almost like ice cream- especially with Vermont Maple Syrup!
I have just started (in the last year) to purchase primarily organic products for both sustainability and nutrition reasons. I even discovered that I have an intolerance for dairy that doesn’t apply when it is organic!!!
I haven’t tried Stonyfield and am just venturing into adding more organics into my life- but I think the more natural things are, the better! All I can think of is the huge difference between garden strawberries and store bought strawberries so if the same thing applies- organics are winning me over!
I haven’t tried Stonyfield dairy products yet but they look great. I definitely try to buy organic just to cut out the unknowns that go into our food.
We love Yo Baby and Yo Kids at our house. We have a 2 & 4 year old. They both still love the pouches!
The organic Greek 0% fat plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey is my fave! My daughter loves it with just fruit super fruit jelly and peanut butter powder mixed in. Thanks for the chance to win!!
I’ve never tried Stoneybrook yogurt but I use Greek yogurt a lot so I would love to try Stoneybrook. I try and buy organic if/when I can because I believe it’s so much better for you and the environment! I hate all the chemicals and junk!
I haven’t tried Stonyfield yet! But I love berry flavors, and the double cream sounds delicious!
My favorite Stonyfield yogurt is Chocolate Underground. I miss when they did a chia yogurt too–I loved it!
Gotta pick the Greek yogurt!
The greek yogurt for sure. Yum! I need to learn more about buying organic. Previously I thought it was important for vegetables but now hearing about organic yogurt I realize I was missing out on other areas I should be focusing on.
Choosing organic is important to me for my health and my family’s health, but honestly I also care about the cows and other animals that supply our food! The fact that organic cows live 2x longer than those raised with conventional methods means so much!
My favorite (and this is probably oddly specific) is the 100% grassfed, greek superfruit flavor!
There’s nothing I love more than the Stonyfield plain, full fall Greek yogurt!
My favorite is the plain whole milk!
I love plain yogurt!
Great synopsis of why this is an important choice for the health of our ecosystems and our bodies. Thanks, Julie!
Sarah
Strawberry
Yogurt is one of my favorite snacks! I try to buy organic for it’s impact on the environment. I also feel that there is not enough research to show the affects that pesticides could have on our health directly.
I love Stonyfield! My favorite is plain full fat. It’s one of my favorite healthy swaps for cooking!
Wow! What an exciting prize! My kids LIVE on the yogurt tubes and smoothie drinks. They are wonderful.
That tidbit about the cows living longer and healthier lives is reason enough for me to try to choose organic more often.
My family loves their greek yogurt- the other day my 3 year old had three bowlfuls!
I love their Greek yogurt!! I don’t feel like I can ever go back to regular yogurt lol. I just love the thick creaminess!
Vanilla Bean Greek
with banannananas
Very interesting abou the health of the cows! I try to buy organic whenever the price is right for the health of my family.
I like their 100% grass-fed yogurt. My husband and I eat all organic because not only do I want to rid my body of unnecessary ingredients but protecting the farms/soil is so important to me., It is so much better for the earth to shop/buy organic. I want to do my part to ensure my kids have a healthy environment.
i actually just picked up a multipack of stonyfield baby yogurt in pear/peach (for myself, no babies here!). they’re delicious, portion controlled, and low in sugar! all wins!
I’d love to try the double cream yogurt!
My two girls love the yokids yogurt tubes! So convenient!
I’ve been buying the organic vanilla bean whole milk Greek yogurt for years now. It is THE BEST. Organic is important because I want cows to be treated well and to live healthy lives.
Love this blog post…so informative! We love the YoKids organic squeezers in all flavors in our house!
My favorite is the organic vanilla bean whole milk greek yogurt – so delicious! I buy organic as it seems the farmers treat their animals better!
I love the maple! Vanilla is always great too!
I love stonyfield whole milk greek yogurt!
I’d love to try their blueberry fruit on bottom!
I love their Greek yogurt!
I love the stony field yogurt pouches with mango and spinach. My son is 2 and picky! He love these and I feel good giving them to him!
My son eats the YoBaby yogurt every day (my fave is the apple, he loves them all)! I believe in organic both for the environmental impact as well as the health impact, especially for my growing son.
Mmm think I’d have to go with grass fed greek! Plain !
My daughter loves the yokids yogurt tubes.
My favorite Stonyfield yogurt is the plain whole milk Greek yogurt. It’s by far my favorite Greek yogurt!!
Oooh I haven’t seen their double cream yogurt. I would definitely like to try that!
The Stonyfield vanilla greek is our favorite yogurt.
Hi Julie,
I’ve been reading your blog for years, and look forward to every post. We are definitely in the same stage of life. Thank you for resonating positivity throughout your writing!
My daughter (who will be 3 in January) LOVES YoKids – specifically the blueberry flavor, but will eat any! We pop them into the freezer and she loves them as a ‘treat’ in the summer. Here in Kaua‘i, organic dairy is quite costly, but I notice that Stonyfield is resonably priced, so we always buy it. As for me, I would love to try the double cream yogurt. I haven’t seen it here yet, but will definitely keep an eye out!
I love their vanilla bean yogurt! I think it’s important to buy organic when possible as the food we eat has an impact on how we feel.
My favorite is their vanilla Greek yogurt, though, I’ve never had their frozen yogurts, which I’d probably love too!
My favorite is definitely the whole milk yogurt. Stonyfield is the only brand that I’m always in the mood to eat!
Would love to try that double cream yogurt! Never like starting off the day with dessert 🙂
I really like their fat-free Greek yogurts, which are so thick and creamy you have to savor them. Favorite would have to be blueberry, BUT plain is amazing with some cinnamon, sweetener of choice, and vanilla 🙂
We recently went toward a more plant-based diet in my house because of how much more environmentally friendly it is for the planet. Buying organic is very similar! Plus, plants are good for you and so are organic products. I’ve also been on a HUGE yogurt kick lately and love Stonyfield. Fingers crossed!
That looked like such a fun trip with all the colors of the leaves changing.
Hands down favorite Stonyfield is the drinkable strawberry yogurt smoothies 🙂