This resource was created with the intention of connecting more Lamoille County residents with their neighboring farms and farmers and keeping more of our dollars within the county. We hope that this enables more sales to be made from the farm, allows residents to have new and exciting experiences that connect them with their food, and encourages more farms to diversify and increase their offerings to local customers. Lamoille County is lucky enough to still have some amazing small farms, let’s do our part to support them and support our beautiful working landscape! Search by product or town to find exactly what you are looking for and where. Be sure to respect the farm’s preferred method of contact, and don’t be afraid to call and ask questions! If you have questions about the site, or are a farmer and wish to be added to the site, please email Silene at lccd.agoutreach@gmail.com
Picking up raw milk from a local dairy farm is an experience everyone living in Vermont should have. Buying raw milk gives you access to a more nutritious product than you can get at the store, supports dairy farmers directly, supplies you with a lovely experience and new connection with your food, and lets you interact with the farm and farmers that are producing your beloved dairy products.
It is 100% legal to sell and purchase raw milk off the farm in Vermont. Farms that choose to sell raw milk ensure that their milk is of the highest quality possible, so you have nothing to worry about.
Feel free to ask the farmer questions when you first go so that you feel good about the experience and get all the information you need.
Bring your own CLEAN container (glass or stainless steel are best)
Check with your friends and neighbors- maybe there are others around you interested in raw milk too and you could arrange a pick-up rotation.
Now that you have a fantastic raw milk source, making things like yogurt and cheese are a breeze! If you would like more information or recommendations for recipes or reference books on this topic email Silene at lccd.agoutreach@gmail.com
Buying local meat can be as simple or as involved as you would like it to be. Many farms on this map offer frozen cuts just like you can get at the supermarket to make it as easy and user friendly as possible for consumers. We recommend this type of purchasing to those new to buying local meat. Call the farms you are interested in and ask them about their cuts and how to purchase. You can also purchase cut and wrapped local meat at the following stores in Lamoille County: Riverbend Market, MOCO, Sterling Market, The Farm Store and others.
When a farmer has cuts for sale, it means that they have gone through a USDA inspected facility to slaughter, butcher, cut, and wrap the meat. This process costs about $1 per pound, meaning that this meat is more expensive for the farmer to produce, and more expensive to the consumer. USDA facilities are few and far between in our area, so it is difficult for farms to get a slot and some small farms are not able to produce enough to utilize these facilities.
For this reason, among others, some farmers choose to sell their meat “off the hoof” meaning that one person or several persons can buy a whole live animal, the animal will be slaughtered and butchered, and the meat from that animal goes to the person or persons who bought it and no one else. Within this system there are many options- customers can butcher the animal themselves, can hire a butcher to do it for them, or the farmer can bring the carcass to a custom cut facility where it will get butchered and wrapped to the customers specifications.
The on farm slaughter option of buying whole or half animals enables more small farmers to produce meat and sell it, cuts down on processing costs, cuts down on middle men, and allows the animals to be slaughtered humanely on the farm without a traumatic trip in a trailer to a USDA facility. This type of meat purchasing may seem overwhelming, but is actually very simple and as easy as you would like it to be. This type of alternative purchasing allows for more small farms to be able to make more money while making the local meat more affordable to the consumer. If you have any questions about this process or would like to be connected with custom slaughterers, butchers, or cut facilities, please email Silene at lccd.agoutreach@gmail.com
Check out Rural Vermont’s description of Vermont’s on farm slaughter rules and regulations for more in depth info on this topic