Cabot® Creamery Cooperative Farmers Open Their Barn Doors To The Public For "Open Farm Sunday," October 13, 2013

NEW ENGLAND, Oct. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- If you've ever wondered why buying local is important, 49 farm families throughout New England and upstate New York who are member-owners of Cabot Creamery Cooperative, invite the public to celebrate local, sustainable dairy farming during "Open Farm Sunday," October 13, 2013, from 11:00am-2:00pm.

Visitors will experience the family traditions and local flavors that are Cabot cheese, as guests are invited to meet the farmers, see their cows, join in barnyard activities and of course, sample delicious award-winning Cabot cheese.

"When you pick up a delicious bar of Cabot cheese at your local grocery store, you probably don't realize you're buying a local product from a company owned by the farmers that make that cheese!" says Cabot Creamery Cooperative Senior Vice President of Marketing, Roberta MacDonald. "Open Farm Sunday allows our customers to better understand that through buying Cabot cheese, they are helping to sustain local farmers, boost the local economy and support environmental sustainability."

Cabot Creamery Cooperative was founded in 1919 and is owned by more than 1200 farm families located throughout New England and upstate New York. The cooperative business model enables many of the farmers to stay in business through tough economic times and avoid selling their critically valuable farmland to developers.  Equally important, the cooperative enables member-owners to share the resources, skills and knowledge that go into making all of its award-winning products.

Best known as "Makers of the World's Best Cheddar," Cabot Creamery Cooperative has won every major award for taste, and the honors keep coming. Cabot recently received eight awards, including four 1st place ribbons, at the 2013 American Cheese Society (ACS) Competition. This year's string of blue-ribbon finishes brings Cabot's total to an impressive 15 first-place awards in just five years.  And Cabot's sister brand, McCadam Cheese in upstate New York, enjoyed another spectacular year as it swept the 2013 New York State Fair Dairy Competition cheddar categories, taking home all three possible gold medals, and four of the six possible cheddar medals.

The public is welcome to celebrate the local flavor - and the very farmers that make Cabot Cheese so delicious. With 49 participating dairy farms, it's easy to go on a multi-destination New England farm tour, from Fletcher Farm in Southampton, MA, up to Rupert Valley Holsteins in West Rupert, VT, and over to Echo Farm Puddings in Hinsdale, NH (see the full list of participating New England-based Open Farm Sunday farms below).

"We're excited to meet our customers on Open Farm Sunday," said Cheryl Fletcher, of Fletcher Farm, Southampton, MA. "Along with everyone who works at Fletcher Farm, I'm so proud to be a part of Cabot Creamery Cooperative, and to consistently produce great-tasting, nutritious dairy products in an environmentally sound manner. On October 13, we'll have all sorts of fun activities for kids – and kids at heart."

Open Farm Sunday Participants in New England Include:

Connecticut

-       Blue Slope Country Museum and Farm, Franklin
-       Fairview Farms LLC, Woodstock
-       Freund's Farm Inc., East Canaan
-       Greenbacker's Brookfield Farm, Durham
-       Hastings Farm, Suffield
-       House of Hayes, North Granby
-       Laurelbrook Farm, East Canaan
-       Thorncrest Dairy, Goshen

Maine

-       Krebs Organic Dairy Farm, Starks
-       Pleasantville Farm, Warren
-       University of Maine – Witter Center, Old Town

Massachusetts

-       Barstows Longview Farm, Hadley
-       Fletcher Farm, Southampton
-       Great Brook Farm, Carlisle
-       Lolans Farm, Middleboro
-       Tully Farms Inc., Dunstable
-       Whittier Farms, Sutton

New Hampshire

-       Echo Farm Puddings, Hinsdale
-       Sanctuary Farm, Sunapee
-       Taylor Farm Inc., Meriden

Rhode Island

-       Emma Acres, Exeter
-       Ocean-Breeze Farm, Westerly

Vermont

-       Andersonville Dairy LLC, West Glover
-       Bouchard Farm, Stowe
-       Doton Farm LLC, Woodstock
-       Emergo Farm, Danville
-       Foster Brothers Farm, Middlebury
-       Kayhart Brothers, LLC, Addison
-       Missisquoi Valley Farm, Westfield
-       Molly Brook Farm, LLC, West Danville
-       Rupert Valley Holsteins, West Rupert
-       Southwind Farm, North Rupert
-       UVM Cream, South Burlington
-       Wallace Farm, Waterbury
-       Wheeler Farm, Wilmington
-       Woodnotch Farms Inc., Shoreham

And if you happen to be passing through the Empire state on October 13, check out some or all of these great upstate New York farms participating in Open Farm Sunday...

New York Open Farm Sunday Participants Include:

-       Coon Brothers Farm, Amenia
-       Country Cousins Farm, Evans Mills
-       Dellavale, Pattersonville
-       Dimock Farms LLC, Peru
-       Douglas Farm, Ilion
-       Five Mile Farm, Lisbon
-       Hidden View Farm, LLC, Champlain
-       Kenyon Hill Farm, Cambridge
-       LiddleHolme, Argyle
-       Tiashoke Farms, Schaghticoke
-       Toll Gate Farm, Ancramdale
-       Willow Brook Farms, Millerton
-       Windstott Farm, Genoa

For those who can't make it to a farm on October 13, don't miss out on all the fun – visit our family farmers online at our 'Virtual Farm Tour' at: www.OpenFarmSunday.coop.

A list of Cabot Creamery Cooperative farms, located across New England and New York, is available at: www.cabotcheese.coop.

ABOUT CABOT CREAMERY COOPERATIVE

Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919, and makes a full line of cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter. Widely known as makers of "The World's Best Cheddar," Cabot is owned by the 1200 dairy farm families of Agri-Mark, the Northeast's premier dairy cooperative, with farms located throughout New England and upstate New York. For more information on Cabot, visit: http://www.cabotcheese.coop.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative is the world's first cheese maker and dairy cooperative to achieve B Corporation Certification, a validation of its attention to environmental and social impacts on stakeholders.

CONTACT: Ariane Doud, [email protected], 978-283-2674

SOURCE Cabot Creamery Cooperative