organic FARMING school to the LEADING organic YOGURT maker
Stonyfield began in 1983 as an organic farming school. Our founders, Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg, wanted to help family farms survive, protect the environment, and keep food and food production healthy through their nonprofit organic farming school.When they needed funding to support their mission they turned to making yogurt to support the school. The yogurt became so popular that yogurt production rapidly replaced the organic farming school. And the rest, as they say, is history.Today, our organic milk comes from farms in Stonyfield’s direct supply program and members of CROPP Cooperative.We are proud to honor our founder’s original mission by not just buying organic milk, but by helping to support and grow the organic dairy industry. Here’s how.1. Our direct milk supply program is growing and sustaining organic dairy farms in our own backyard.
In 2014, we began supplementing the milk we get from CROPP Cooperative with milk from our network of local organic dairy farms. We provide them with the resources and customized technical assistance they need to grow their business and be sustainable. Oh, and we buy their milk.
2. Stonyfield is helping to jump-start the next generation of organic dairy farmers.
We understand the importance of sustainable organic dairy in America, so we started right here in our own backyard. With a $1.69 million grant from Stonyfield and the Danone Ecosysteme Fund, we’ve helped launch a first-of-its-kind training program for new organic dairy farmers at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Maine.
3. We work with CROPP Cooperative to support family farmers.
We are proud to work with CROPP Cooperative (You may know them as Organic Valley)! They are a farmer-owned cooperative with more than 1,800 family farm members with an average dairy herd size of 72 cows. Organic Valley shares our vision of producing the best products possible without the use of antibiotics, synthetic hormones, toxic persistent pesticides or GMOs, while being conscientious stewards of the environment.
We believe in sourcing organic ingredients with care and supporting family farms, not just today, but for future generations.
And we think that you should know where your food comes from and how it was made.
