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Vermont Creamery releases non-GMO Certified Cheese

October 19, 2016

It’s not just the crock the cheese comes in that makes, St. Albans, the latest cheese release from Vermont Creamery special (even though, yes, you can put it right in the oven!). It’s the milk. 30 Jersey cows from Paul-Lin Dairy Farm in Bakersfield, VT (up near the Canadian border) produce the milk for the first 100% cow's milk cheese from Vermont Creamery. Vermont Creamery partners with St. Albans Cooperative Creamery and the Stanley family at Paul-Lin Dairy to source non-GMO cow's milk for the new cheese as a first step towards helping Vermont dairy farms move towards non-GMO verification.

With many national retailers - like Whole Foods Market - moving towards GMO-free shelves in the next few years, food producers are working overtime to keep pace with customer expectations. It's not as simple as finding a new source - often, they are not available. For milk to be non-GMO, the feed provided to the animals must be GMO-free itself. Most feeds, made from corn and soybeans, are not. Transitioning to non-GMO feed is harder than it may sound for most dairy farms – non-GMO feed is both costly and hard to find

“St. Albans represents Vermont Creamery’s progress over the last thirty-two years; what began with a desire to bring a cheese to the shelves of American grocery stores grew into our company’s efforts to gain our first non-GMO verification,” said Co-Founder Allison Hooper. "With the release of this cheese, Vermont Creamery is modeling the transition of Vermont dairy farms to non-GMO feed.”

Vermont Creamery named this cheese for the St. Albans Cooperative that has served both Vermont dairy farmers and delivered high-quality milk and dairy mixes to their customers, like Vermont Creamery, for over 97 years. They helped select the Paul-Lin Dairy as the proving ground for non-GMO milk, and will likely support more dairy farms following in the Stanley family's footsteps.

St. Albans is a soft, spreadable, St. Marcellin-style cheese sold in its own ceramic crock – perfect for warming in the oven! Check out Vermont Creamery’s recommendations for serving and pairing here --->  St.Albans-Info-Sheet.pdf  

 

 

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