Ep: 59 Benefits of Grass Fed Milk with Co-Founder, Julia Joseph, of Maple Hill Creamery

Julia Joseph Co Founder Maple HIll Creamery a Grass Fed, organic farm that is committed to regenerative farming for the health of their cows and the land, while also providing you with 100% traceable products.  She discusses the difference between grass fed and organic milk, the benefits of regenerative farming, and why its important to know where your milk comes from. 

-Introduce yourself and explain how you became to work with Maple Hill Creamery?

-The difference between grass-fed and organic milk

-The importance of regenerative farming and the benefits for our planet and children

-How Maple Hill is 100% traceable (I read up on this and definitely think this is a great talking point as well)

-What products do you currently sell and any new things coming?

-Tell us where we can learn more about the product and purchase Maple Hill Creamery

You can learn more about Maple Hill Creamery at:
Grass-Fed Organic Dairy | Maple Hill Creamery
(1) Maple Hill | Facebook
Maple Hill (@maplehillcreamery) • Instagram photos and videos

or follow Julia at:
Julia Jayne Joseph✨ (@official.juliajayne) • Instagram photos and videos

Transcript

Unknown: 0:10

Welcome to raising healthy humans, where you as a busy mom can come each week to find information on health and wellness for your family. Enjoy experts discussing tips to help raise children through each phase of life. Gather current information on nutrition and wellness. And listen to Courtney, a personal trainer, health coach, movement specialist and founder of forum fit a community where she helps busy moms move more. Here she provides you with movement and posture tips while sharing information you need to help raise healthy humans. Today I'm speaking with Julia Joseph, co founder of Maple Hill Creamery, a grass fed organic farm that is committed to regenerative farming for the health of their cows and the land while also providing you with 100% traceable products. She discusses the difference between grass fed and organic milk, the benefits of regenerative farming, and why it's important to know where your milk comes from. I hope you enjoy it. I'm Julie Joseph, co founder of Maple Hill Creamery head of creative and branding for Maple Hill and our company's 13 years old. I am actually not the farmer in the family. But my brother Tim was the farmer. And that's how we founded Maple Hill was on his single farm. So we started with one single farm in Western New York. And now we are up to 140 plus small family farms in Western New York. So I handle more of the brand side of business with a creative and what you see on shelf is what I've developed. And I work with our brand voice and tone on shelf across social media and the public guy. Okay, you know, it's funny, I had received an email from you all. And I don't know if it was one of those things where you recently got into our local grocery store or if it was one of those where I learned your name and then saw you. But I noticed you are in our Publix grocery stores. Yeah, yeah, we've been in Publix for probably about, think about six years, seven years, maybe even more. You don't really it's interesting. We have you know, some consumers and friends that are like Maple Hill, Maple Hill. And then we say, Oh, it's a white carton with a cow on it. And like grass underneath the cows feet. And they're like, oh, it's in my refrigerator. I've been buying it for years. And they just like, well, thanks. You know, that's great. Appreciate that. Can you tell me what is the difference between your milk and maybe like your store? bought milk, the regular grocery store? No. Yeah. So we like to say we provide milk with integrity. And that's not just on shelf and what the consumers are consuming, but also how the milk is produced. And how we are practice affirming is which is 100% grass fed organic. And that's very different than majority of the milks that are on the shelf. We were the pretty much the black sheep 13 years ago on shelf offering products that were 100% grass fed, but also in the farming craft in the farming industry, our practice of farming was just like unheard of, to go to 100% grass fed organic. We have a lot of conventional and organic farmers who said we could never produce enough milk with our cows and be able to have them thrive eating the food they were supposed to do which is 100% grass 365 days a year. And so we're very different because we our practice of farming is back to the basics the way it used to be way before industrialized farming. And that's where we're at today. Even our organic farms are industrialized farming, that's still feeding the cows corn and grain which is not their natural diet. They still are in confined spaces just like conventional industrialized farms are, they don't have to leave their tie stalls. Except for organic, they have to leave 30% of their lives out on grass. And that's not a lot at all. So there's not much difference between organic and combined on the treatment of the animals and also the land that they are farming on and the practice of it. It's just organic food. They can't do antibiotics. hormones for organic. Conventional can do that 100% grass fed can't do any of that. We set up regulations and guidelines, we actually created a certification with Organic Valley we worked well together the last bit in the last five years, we started a certification for products that are 100% grass fed, which really helps clarify for consumers. What is 100% grass fed and what is trigger word grass fed, meaning they eat grass for 10% of their lives. So they a lot of brands will say that because they're jumping on the bandwagon. But we've taken it to the next step of continuing to educate consumers and understand the difference between 100% grass or organic to organic and conventional milk. And looking for a certification is really important, just like when organic came out with their certification 15 years ago, maybe 15 Plus at this point that helped consumers understand what they were buying, when it came to dry goods, fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy. So grass fed is now in that same boat as organic as consumers are becoming more and more familiar with the term 100% grass fed, it used to be within the beef industry. And now consumers are understanding it now. Even in our conventional food stores like Publix. Walmart's Hannaford shop right not just in the mom and pop stores. So Maple Hill was the first 13 years ago to break through those barriers. And now we have horizon Organic Valley also offering it which is great because it gives more exposure to 100% grass fed organic, but we are the largest 100% grass fed organic company in the US. And we were the first so we still are holding that badge and really proud about that. What do you and I know this is maybe more for your brother, right? What made you all decide to do that when everybody was telling you no, you won't be able to Was there something like was it just something you felt you had to do for the animals? Or? Yeah, so there was a time when when Tim purchased the farm, it was conventional. Originally, he had never farmed before him and Laura, his wife, we grew up on 20 acres had like every animal except for a cow, which is hilarious. And we ended up in the dairy industry. But he he purchased the farm because he was born in the wrong. He really was born in the wrong era, like he was a director at a very large corporation. And he always loved to farm and, and do things outside. So we ended up purchasing a dairy farm and working it and you know, the local firms would help try to guide him on how to raise the cows, because that's what you do, you don't know how to do so you're gonna ask your neighbors. And it all seemed to make sense until you saw the bottom line and the overhead of all of it. And also understanding what's best for the nutrition of the animal and also your land and they always wanted to go organic. So they went organic, and then the private higher prices came in and you're still getting the price of a conventional milk. So that's upside down financially, so everything was very heavy. And so he knew about 100% grass fed organic, and he knew the benefits of it for the animals, the lands, the farm in general and the milk itself. And he couldn't afford to continue to pay for the port that corn and grain. And so by defaults, he started grass fed organic earlier than he thought he thought he would, which was fantastic. Because then we he was able to utilize all the acreage she had which was about 400 acres at that point. And he could manage 100% grass fed farm and feed his animals and keep them thriving. And we all witnessed it. The transformation on the farm from the lay on to the cows to the milk. It was incredible. Yeah, that's great. D in regards to the grass fed, you said there is Is there something that we should be looking for with 100% grass fed? Is there like a symbol? Is there a stamp what? There's a certification that we worked with Organic Valley on for 100% grass fed organic and it's a green seal? You can look it up on our website, you'll see it on our packaging, okay, that's really a good place to start is just looking for the certifications. And then if you're not sure if a brand is not able to be certified, you should do because they're maybe not big enough where they just have gotten to that point and they are 100% grass fed surely do your research as a consumer educate yourself. That's extremely important. Okay, well, in you mentioned earlier that you were traceable. Can you go into this a little bit more how you're 100% traceable and what that means for us. Absolutely. Yep. Yes, this is really important for me as a consumer. I love to know where my food comes from. I love to know how and why and what is being produced. It's really important to me. And so Maple Hill, we have a milk shed, and it's called the Maple Hill milk shed. And so every farm that sells to Maple Hill sold only to Maple Hill. And we are a segregated milk pool from other milk pools that a lot of larger companies will purchase milk from, that could come from 1000s of different farms, they'll call up and say, Hey, we need 2 million pounds of milk. But you don't know what farms that comes from where it's from. It's just a milk pool. So all of maple Hills farms are in Western New York, we know our farmers, we have communication with our farmers monthly, quarterly, we have firm meetings, we have farm walks, we do education for our farmers, we have certifications that have to happen when you become a Maple Hill farmer, not just with us, but also USDA to become organic and grass fed organic. And so it's I think of Maple Hill as a large scale farmers market. Because when you go to a farmers market, I love going to farmers market, I get to see who's who is producing the food, speak to the farmer, local, you know, that's great. But you can always get 100% grass fed organic at your local farmers market or a local store. So we're nationally distributed and we do what we provide the comfort for consumers who go to farmers markets, to know their farmer, traceability, transparency. And we do that in a larger scale. Okay, so, you know, we know our farmers, we know where our milk comes from. And that's huge to me. And is that something that we can find if we were to go to the website, we're able to see that for ourselves, or no, it's not no, we don't advertise where the locations of farms are for privacy. But all of our farms are in Western New York. Okay. Yeah. So it's Albany, west down to Finger Lakes, Utica, Syracuse, a little north of that Cooperstown area. Okay. Yeah. Well, in I've noticed on your Instagram, is that yours farm? Or is that others farm? Oh, on Instagram. That's all are some of our farms, your we have some of our farmers who provide some images of their families and their day to day, which is always fun to see. Yeah. So yes. Okay. Those are actual farms. And that cows that are actually on our cartons are actually cows on our farms. Okay, it's really cool. To see them in the fields, you know, and you go and visit them, which is really neat. Yeah, well, and I had actually heard about the hole, not in regards to the milk pool. But this was in regards in for eggs. A friend of mine was telling me like you do realize that some of the eggs that you're buying that are organic, they're all from different distributors, or farms, different farms. So I thought that was interesting. I'm curious, I would assume that mine that I buy, I don't know, they look different. So I think they're I think they're specific to a specific farm like yours might be as well. Can I ask you what brands? Vital farm? Good one? Yeah, you can tell like, I've bought organic eggs before and I cracked it open. I'm like, This doesn't look the same. But vital farms it does. So that's a great option. Yeah, I love them. I will. And I'll be trying. So I have to ask you a question. I have children in the house that are lactose intolerant. Is there any difference with your milk? May we notice a difference drinking your milk with that? Because it's interesting, you ask that because we've had, in the last 13 years, a lot of consumers who have contacted us and said, Hey, I had major lactose issues for years, and I tried your products, and I'm feeling like I can continue to eat them. My stomach's not getting upset, I'm not getting the phlegm as much. There is a different composition to grass fed organic milk, for sure. And it's because it's a balanced milk because the cows are eating what they should be eating. So I think that we haven't been able to do any kind of testing for this. But because we've had so many consumers reach out to us in the past and discuss it, it's interesting to think about how there has to be something with the composition of the milk and what the cows are eating. And the corn and grain could be throwing the milk off that's provided on shelf that's not Maple Hill, and that throws your system off. There's also our yogurts, which are kefir, Greek and cream on top. And we from the beginning incubated them a lot longer than most companies and that broke down the lactose levels, which was really interesting too. So we had some consumers say not just with our milk, but our yogurt as well but they were able to eat it enjoy it and they were so relieved they could get back yogurt. Yeah, give it a try for sure. No, I definitely everybody, but okay. Yeah, I noticed it when I went to the grocery store and I was like, I need to ask her this because I want to try it. So excellent. Um, talk to us about regenerative, regenerative farming. What are the benefits of doing this? For our planet? And our cows? I'm guessing, right? Yeah, absolutely. So we from the beginning, our mission was to leave the land 13 years ago leave the land better than when we found it. And the way we do that is just by the practice of farming that our farmers choose. And what we chose to do from the beginning, which is 100%, grass fed organic. And that practice of farming just organically and naturally regenerates the land from the beginning. We were regenerating the land before regenerate. Regenerative was a buzzword or even a word, right? Being thrown out there, you know, it was just happening already. And so what happens on our farms is we it's really quite simple. We like cows, cows. And what does that mean? That means we let them live in their natural environment and allow them to eat their natural diet, which is 100% grass, grass in the growing season, hay in the winter, so it's all grass across the board. Okay. And when you allow the cows to be out on pasture, during the growing season, they actually help facilitate that regenerate regeneration of the soil and sequester carbon back into the soil just by ripping the tops of the grass off so that the roots can grow that that needs to happen in order to have the roots grow stronger and get deeper into the soil. And then just by walking in the, in the paddocks that we have roped off each day that we move them to their hubs are aerating the soil every single day to then we have a natural vertebrae fertilizer, which is their poop instead of, you know, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, our cows do it just by walking, eating, pooping, the sun and rain. And so that's done every single day on our farm. Also, in the winter, even when they're not out on the pasture. This land needs to have an incubation period. And that's what happens here in New York is we get snow. It's like the perfect environment for 100% grass, but farming because when it snows it then insulates the soil. And it lets it rest and get into that rejuvenation and regeneration state so that when spring comes and spring flush, the grass starts to come up full, lush, more nutrient, more nutrients are in the grass because of that process. And it's all just a closed loop system within the farm, which is pretty amazing. And then the other thing that's interesting about Maple Hill is because we allow cows to be on pasture. It's very different than what I had discussed earlier with the conventional and organic farms that keep them in confined spaces. They use large pieces of equipment and they bring the food to the cows, we take the cows to the food, but right there cuts down on fossil fuels and our carbon footprint as a company. Okay, that's at our farms. Yeah. Do you end up having other animals on the farm as well? To help? The whole regenerative process? Yep, there's some farms that just stick with their cows. And then some farms actually cycle other animals through the pastures after the cows like chickens or sheep. Pigs generally would not be on pasture or cows would be put them more into a wooded area. But there are firms have a mix of animals. It's not all the farms, but it is a process that's done. Grass fed organic farms. Okay, that's what I thought I had heard. So I wanted to check with you to see they all work hand in hand. It's a harmonious web of life within the farms. Okay, so then are you then are people then with like with the chickens or something? Is there something going on where people are doing like selling chicken eggs or anything like that or no? Oh, I'm sure that their local stands but nothing through us or any, you know, any nothing through Maple Hill. It's just milk with Maple Hill, most likely they're selling it locally or they're producing it for themselves. Okay. What other products you mentioned, yogurt that you have and kefir, kefir, so yep, so what we have is fluid milk which is our half gallon whole milk and 2% and then we offer shelf stable eight ounce boxes, which I like to say pantry say that is the first 100% grass fed organic milk box which doesn't have to be refrigerated until you open it. And that's what that's been great for kids you know to send to school to send to camps when kids can go back to camp. I'm hoping that happens for everybody. With COVID, grazie. But with the kids, you know going back to school, traveling, it's great. Not obviously on the plane, you can't bring fluid, eight ounces, but road trips, eat not just kids, but also, you know, taking it to the office, going for a workout, having it in your bag afterwards was a great product. It's one of my favorites. Now it's available on Amazon. And then we also offer kefir, which is a drinkable yogurt. And that has really great amazing probiotics that are belly friendly. We offer that in plain strawberry, and vanilla. And then we also offer a Greek yogurt, which in my opinion, of course, is the best Greek yogurt you're gonna find on the market that is plain and vanilla. And then we also offer our first product which was cream on top, which is the old school way of making yogurt. It's not homogenized. When you open up the 32 ounce plain or vanilla, you'll get a really beautiful layer of cream on top. And then you mix it in with your spoon and I actually don't mix it in, I just eat the top. And then I use the rest of the yogurt and parfaits or, you know cooking. And then we also offer the first 100% grass fed organic certified butter. And that is salted and then we're just releasing unsalted this summer. Okay, I haven't seen that yet. Is that do you shop at Whole Foods? Because right? It's an exclusive until I think end of May. And I know it'll be released to other stores. Okay, okay, I was okay. Yes, that's a little far away from me. But I can go there. So Publix make you reflect a public okay, do happen. And then also, for the yogurt. Explain this cream on top one a little bit more. So that's a different than your regular yogurt. Yeah, so we don't have a regular yogurt? Well, you don't consider regular yogurt. It's interesting because cream on top is actually the original yogurt until we Americans decided to turn it into a candy bar in a cop said. So we've in the US, it's a normal practice to homogenized all of the fat and the cream through the milk. So then it spreads through the yogurt, it's a smoother consistency. Okay, and it's a little adds a little more body and consistent body. Now cream on top is pretty much back to the basics of how you would make it on the farm or in Europe, they this is how they still make it that you do the same process except for the homogenization. And so when it's incubating the cream then rises to the top and solidifies. And again, it's like an inch and a half, sometimes two inches thick, which is pretty amazing, depending on the season. And then underneath is a looser yogurt, which is still delicious. Okay. Yeah. So is this something that you would then just like all the other yogurts? You could? Yep, yeah. Yep. Normal I made I just made parfaits for my nephew and his wife last night with it. And you can cook with it. You can be served in third or two out we we offer in 32 ounce containers. So it's really good to have for cooking, eating in general marinade. Plain is our number one, believe it or not still plain plain cream on top next to our fluid milk. Whole milk. Okay, okay. Yeah, I was wondering, is there flavored with them? Or no? Yeah. So we have we offer in vanilla to so plain and vanilla, and our flavored products, vanilla, strawberry, and vanilla, Greek vanilla kefir, all of those do have a very small amount of sugar, the smallest amount we possibly can put in that would cut the tartness because not all consumers want that tart and Tang, right. But we are still extremely low when it comes to sugar in our products, but 90% of our products have zero sugar. It's just the milk the cultures. And that's it. I'm all for that. I definitely want to say I don't think I've seen the yogurts at my store. I'm gonna go look because I definitely saw the milk. I'm going to grab that and then also, I'm going to look for the yogurts. Check out on our website. There's a store finder and it does say what stores have what products in your area. Oh that may be helpful for you. Okay, perfect. Let me know where can we find you or your products? How can we learn more about Maple Hill Creamery? Let me know all of that information as well. Sure. So you could visit our website which is maple hill.com. That is that covers the brand across the board plus educational hyperlink respite, organic all about our products. You can purchase Our products like I said, you can go through our store finder, but we're in 7000 stores plus Amazon across the nation. So we're in every state. We're in a lot of major food chains like Publix, natural grocers, sprouts Whole Foods. Shop. Right, Hannaford Stop and Shop a whole bunch of conventional and then you if you go to your local coops, a lot of times you'll find from Maple Hill products, also mom and pop shops. That's where we started. Way back the grassroots. You know, they brought us to where we are today. Okay. Okay. And then I did, like I had mentioned earlier, I saw you on Instagram, and very good with sharing recipes and all of that as well for the product. So yes, thank you. So I do a lot of majority of the recipe, creating the recipes and also shooting it. It's something I really enjoy. So whatever I do, they do share it on our Maple Hill Instagram page. But you could also follow me at official Julia Jane spelled with a way a y, j, y and d. But you can find that through Maple Hill, Instagram, I'm up in that bio section. But definitely follow Maple Hill. We got some fun stuff going. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And is there anything you want to leave with the listeners today? I always like to say at the end of these kind of fun chats and conversations. But you know, when you purchase Maple Hill, you're not just supporting a brand's, you're supporting 140 small family farms. And that, to me is extremely important. And they've always been number one, since the beginning is to save the farms. And that's why we founded Maple Hill. And we've continued to bring on more farms that were as crazy as us do. I've stepped outside the box. And they're doing it right. And it's not the easy way. But they're doing a right. It's management every single day. And not just you know, don't just support maple, hand Maple Hill brands. But you should also search out brands that are like us who really are concerned and about the wellness of our animals, the lands, being very conscious about what we put in our products, and also continue to go to your local farmers markets. There are so many greats, small scale food producers that you will find at farmer's markets that you may not find on shelf. So it's fun to see what's out there. Yeah, I think as well, in with all of this is that farming, regenerative farming, I feel with everything that is going on right now. This is the future like we have got to get control in if we want to make sure that our children have a healthy planet to live on. We've got to go back to this. So the basics. Yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be a long trip coordinate. But I think if we just start small, it's not going to happen overnight, like I've had, but you know, a lot of times ask this question, where do you think we could actually started across the board changing farming practices, and it's like, maybe in 100 plus years, there's just so much that has to happen, you know, the land has been stripped down. From crop farming, improper crop farming and proper industrialized farming. There's just so much that needs to happen to make that happen, right. But we can choose now the brands that are doing it, right, and the farms are doing it right and support them so we can just continue to educate consumers. Yes. And that's the biggest thing. We as consumers need to put our money where we want change to occur. 100% Yeah. Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to speak with me. This was so fun, Courtney. Thank you. I wish I was down there in Florida. It's not warm here yet in New York. It's still like 55 and 20 mile an hour winds. Oh, no. Yeah. So thank you so much. I had a good time. And it really appreciate you asking me to be on your podcast and flatter. Excellent. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to our podcast. I hope that you found this information valuable. And I hope that you were able to immediately use some of the information that was provided. Make sure to go check out our show notes for all of the links that we discussed today. As a mom, I understand that at times you can feel alone and are looking for that sense of community. Here at form fit. I am bringing moms together in a healthy and supportive community. I would love for you to come join us over in our free Facebook community that is form fit community. Join us over there where we can get to know you more, or feel free to try out our membership free for seven days. 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