Why 'Grass-Fed' is a Flex
Sometimes it’s about more than what you do, but why you do it.
First off, we’re not here to talk down ‘other’ milk—because Canadian dairy is some of the highest quality you will find and you can be proud to support your farmers!
But let’s look at our approach and why we embrace grass-fed milk to make our cheese.
The Bigger Picture
Cows are typically fed what is grown in and around their region and what crops are produced there (eg. corn, barley, oats, wheat, grass, etc).
Cows really are amazing animals and can convert almost anything into milk. They are excellent at recycling food humans can’t eat, transforming what we’re unable to consume into food we can enjoy and even benefit from.
Fortunately for us (you’ll see why later on), grass is what grows best on our farm! It’s resilient, surviving our unpredictable summers and swampy winters. It thrives in Spring and Summer, providing impressive harvests (sometimes up to 5 cuts per year!) It’s a crop we can rely on to provide year-round food for our cows, which in turn provides year-round food for our community.
Everyone Wins
Grasses are excellent at sequestering carbon. Growing grasses in permanent pasture promotes biodiversity, soil health, deep root growth, and minimal ground disturbance, all which contribute to a healthy ecosystem.
As an added bonus, our cow’s manure is a great natural fertilizer for grasses. Yes, it comes with a smell, but it’s kind of a package deal! We love the circularity of the process and how well our patch of land is able to sustain itself.
Good Milk is the Foundation of Great Cheese
We love the flavour grasses lend to our cow’s milk: it’s rich, sweet, buttery, and loaded with good nutrients. You may even notice how it takes on a slightly golden hue from higher levels of beta-carotene.
The composition of milk from grass-fed cows is ideal for cheesemaking, as it provides the right balance of fat, protein, and flavour.
Imagine, all the flavour from a litre of milk condensed into 100g of cheese and aged for up to a year! The flavours you begin with are, in a very noticeable way, the root of the flavours you end up with—and that’s why we say you can’t make good cheese without good milk.
Being able to turn an earth-friendly wildlife-hosting crop into milk is pretty awesome, and we love the flavour and depth it brings to our cheese.
That’s why grass-fed is a flex.
