Seth Neary and Skye Chalmers (and others) have put together a whole series of interviews with various members of Cabot Creamery's directors, first release below. Cabot (the cheese and yogurt makers) is a 1,200 farm family dairy cooperative with members in New England and upstate New York owned and operated by its members, which for Cabot are the farmers and their families. If you have followed along at Chalmers' tumblr
Dairy Diary these sorts of images will be familiar.
Disclaimer: Chalmers is a old friend of mine, and Cabot is very tangentially a client; that said this is right in my wheelhouse. Some great stuff here; feeding America etc. Getting me all misty eyed god-dammit! Love that the chairman's first shot is driving a old Gator around. I have previewed a bunch of these and also looking forward to possible further projects in this area, sort of "where does the milk go" type of thing.
We only ever had 1 milking cow at a time. Pops named the cows and steers in alphabetical order; Apple Blossom (starred in Dianne Keaton movie Baby Boom), Benjamin Franklin, Clover, Daffodil, Eidelweiss, Dandelion, E & E (twins), Foxglove, Geranium, Hollyhock, Iris, Jasmine, Katuska (named by a neighbor for a Russian flower), Larkspur, Maple, Nasturtium, Okra, and Poppy. Pops tried making cheese (cheddar and blue, really good) and we drank the milk (even warm baby! right from the pail). We made colostrum pie (not a fan) and worked through calfs and eventual slaughtering etc... So yes, I have a soft spot for dairy farming.
The concept of adding value to dairy has been so important in the survival of what little dairy there is in New England, and not just down to Cabot but the whole cheese making culture, esp in VT. Admittedly I don't know the politics of it all and not beyond the realm of possibility that some farms grumble about not being big enough to join Agrimark or milk prices or whatever, but can safely say I
am a massive fan of Cabot's products. #hunterscheddar
