Okay, okay. So the words "meat stick" can sound kind of gross, conjuring up images of strange animal parts in a blender... or maybe that's just me.... But here's the thing. My family does the dairy-free gluten-free thing on a tight budget and since returning back to the US this year I probably don't have to explain that I am a bit shell shocked at how much some food prices have risen recently in our country. It can be a challenge to walk into a food store with the biggest desires and best intentions to purchase organic, socially responsible goods and then realize some pricey products have to be left out of the cart to make it through the check-out line. Often for my family, we stretch our meat purchases or simply don't buy meat as often as we'd like. But I find myself wanting our little guy to have it even when I can't. When I walked into Whole Foods recently and spotted these awesome meat-stick beauties being marketed all over the store, I paused to take a look at this local product that is just the right size for a six-year old lunchbox or an afternoon snack. Getting over the word "meat stick" was all it took to enjoy the price and taste of these puppies. With very simple ingredients, these Vermont Smoke and Cure small-batch products are an affordable, tasty treat I highly recommend. Not only are they made in a number of different flavors, but they also happen to be six-year-old approved.
To check out more of Vermont Smoke and Cure's awesome products on a gorgeous website that brings you smack into the heart of the Green Mountains, click here: http://www.vtsmokeandcure.com/
I grew up just down the street from an Iowan general store used by Laura Ingall's Wilder's family. It was located in the basement of a gorgeous Victorian house that I thought looked quite a bit like a yellow gingerbread house. I can still remember the magic of walking into it with my elementary school class, seeing jars of candies and a soda-fountain come to life amidst a few small coins and the hum of excited children. So maybe I'm partial. I just know that as I watched them board up my Connecticut town's general store this past spring, I couldn't help but wonder just how many general store gems were still left in little nooks and crannies of the country. I am happy to report that one of my favorite general stores is alive and well and begging to be noticed by any purveyors of New England goods....
I'd like to introduce you to a local establishment that is not only a seller of a number of local products, but in its existence represents a local way of life. Founded, and still run and owned by the Orton Family five generations later, The Vermont Country Store has become a tourist attraction unto itself, representing the best of ages past and present.
Started in 1946, this Green Mountain State company is referred to as "The Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-To-Find." The company, which looks like a general store inside from its candy store counter to its local apothecary section, is known for providing customers with hard-to-find products. Only in a small local business, such as this one, can a customer put in special requests to have an old product specially made. The business prides itself on bending over backward to do just that. Located in Weston, Vermont, and now also in Rockingham, Vermont, the locations feature locally-made Vermont products like maple syrups, cheeses, personal-care remedies, penny candies, household products, and, and, and... I could go on and on!
It's a trip down memory lane so masterfully paved I don’t
even care whose memories I’m remembering." Kate Bolic,
Where the Past Is Ever in Stock 12.15.2013 The NY Times
Each year, The Vermont Country Store supports over 800 local organizations and events in Vermont, working toward "ensuring our neighbors and communities prosper alike. It's not about corporate responsibility; rather, it's our human responsibility to one another and the place that we call home."
Consider going out of your way to visit this treasure of a New England small business that supports Vermont's Farm to Table initiative. I know I look forward to visiting the Vermont Country Store again soon. Wish you lived closer to Vermont?! Me, too! Well, in the summer, anyway... In the meantime, the Vermont Country Store's products can all be found online on their fantastic website located here. And their awesome non-profit foundation, dedicated to bettering small towns all across America? Check it out here!
"People from all over the United States who would not go out of their way to visit a grocery store are eager to travel enormous distances to see an old-fashioned country store in Weston, Vermont, a charming hill village of 500 persons. The Vermont Country Store, with its dimly lit interior and pervading odors of kerosene, Vermont cheese, and leather goods is not only a mecca for tourists but a forum for discussion.... Above all The Vermont Country Store is keeping a bright picture of an American way of years past." The New York Times
Okay, so I'll admit it. Whenever I hear about "local" coffee I always raise my eyebrows. "But coffee doesn't grow in New England. Just because you roast it here, doesn't make it local... or does it?" The answer depends a lot on who you ask. And their definitions of local. Oh, why has no one yet formally defined local?!
So today I have my own example of an eyebrow-raising product that sounds nothing like a local product, and yet is processed entirely right here in New England. And the best parts? It's a product I LOVE and the company is an excellent example of social and environmental responsibility. It's the kind of company you want in your neighborhood.
One of my favorite things when I was a kid was a small candy-like gum. It had a rubbery feel a lot of other gums didn't seem to have. Do a little research and you will find that this is because most gum is now manufactured with synthetic resin (sounds healthy, doesn't it?) But back in the early days of gum, chicle was the main product used for extra bouncy chewing. Because chicle's harvesting is sustainable (harvesting does not kill the tree, as chicle is replenished seasonally, like maple syrup), and benefits rainforest conservation, the product is a good one that is making a comeback once again.
Glee Gum, an awesome, local gum based in Providence, Rhode Island, features nothing but chicle as its main ingredient. Making the world's first fairtrade chewing gum, Glee's producers, a company called Verve, ensure an alternative system of global trade in which farmers and workers are paid stable and fair prices for their produce. Once the chicle makes its way to this woman-owned business found in a retro-fitted, solar-powered Rhode Island building, it is processed into the tastiest, chewiest of gum products. From its packaging to its relationship with non-profits, Verve creates products with the intention of helping students and consumers think about where goods come from, how natural resources and raw materials can be used responsibly, and how communities must cultivate in innovative ways that consider local environments and laborers.
If I haven't convinced you that this is a worthy local gum to support, pick up a pack. The taste will win you over for sure.
Check out their website for a fun way to learn about the process Verve likes to call:
