The Jefferson County Agricultural Development Corporation (JCADC), Jefferson County Farm Bureau (JCFB) are working with local supermarkets and cheese stores to help consumers recognize local dairy products on store shelves. The effort includes holding “tasting events” at stores, encouraging stores to use labeling that helps shoppers recognize local dairy products, and disseminating educational information that helps identify store brands as being locally made.

The JCADC and JCFB are currently working on an effort to work with local supermarkets and food retailers to help them better market and inform customers about local food products, especially dairy products, which the supermarket carries. Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer for JCADC said, “many shoppers are not aware that many store brand and name brand dairy products on store shelves are manufactured in Jefferson County with milk from our dairy farms.” “The JCADC and Farm Bureau want to help increase the awareness of shoppers that it’s easier than you think to buy local,” Matteson added. Matteson noted that local supermarkets such as Hannaford and Price Chopper purchase their cheddar cheese from Great Lakes Cheese in Adams to label under their store name. Shoppers buying Hannaford or Price Chopper brand New York State Cheddar Cheese are purchasing cheese made in Adams, New York with milk from local dairy farms. In addition to Hannaford Supermarket and Price Chopper, Jefferson Bulk Milk Cheese Store and Gold Cup Farms both purchase cheese from Great Lakes Cheese in Adams and McCadam Cheese in St. Lawrence County.

In addition to buying store brands of cheese, store brands of yogurt, cottage cheese, and sour cream may come from the Crowley Foods plant in LaFargeville, NY. Shoppers need to look at the date stamp on the rim of the product. If it has an “L” in the date stamp, then it’s made at the Crowley’s Food plant in LaFargeville from milk from local farms. If it does not have an L it may still have Jefferson County milk in it but it was not manufactured locally.
Shoppers purchasing name brand products such as McCadam Cheese, Crowley’s Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream, and yogurt, Gold Cup Farm’s River Rat Cheese, Jefferson Bulk Milk Cheese products, Kraft Cream Cheese, Breyer’s Yogurt, Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese Doubles, Crowley’s milk and Byrne Dairy milk and dairy products, are purchasing products that from time to time will have Jefferson County milk used in their manufacture or processing. Other dairy products made in New York and surrounding states may receive milk from Jefferson County dairy farms as well.

Jefferson County, is reaching out to JCADC, in partnership with JCFB and Cornell Cooperative Extension in Jefferson County, is reaching out to supermarkets and food retailers across Jefferson County, hoping they will be interested in a joint effort to inform the public about local dairy products on store shelves. Mr. Matteson indicated that he wasn’t sure what the final product will be but he envisions a joint flyer in the newspaper that features all of the stores with local dairy products manufactured in Jefferson County, also make the information available on the County’s agricultural website, www.comefarmwithus.com, and other marketing opportunities as well. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County is providing informational cards that inform consumers of how to recognize plant codes on dairy products that designate the product is manufactured in New York State.

OOn many store brands of cottage cheese, sour cream, and yogurt, look for the L in the date stamp on the rim of the product. If you see the L, it comes from the Crowley Foods plant in LaFargeville NY. You’ll usually see on the side of the container a note about plant codes. It’ll indicate that the L represents plant code 2345. The code 2345 represents the Crowley Foods plant in LaFargeville.

Here’s a chart of dairy products that may contain milk from Jefferson County Dairy Farms or are manufactured in Jefferson County:

Breyer’s Yogurt
Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese Doubles
Byrne Dairy Milk and products
Crowley Milk
Crowley Foods Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese, Yogurt, Sour Cream (L)
Gold Cup Farms Cheese Products (River Rat Cheese)
Great Lakes Cheese Inc. of Adams, NY Naturally Aged Cheddar Cheese and Cheese Curd
Hannaford Supermarket Brand Cheddar Cheese, Yogurt, Sour Cream, and Cottage Cheese (L)
Jefferson Bulk Milk Store Cheese products
Price Chopper Brand Cheddar Cheese, Yogurt, Sour Cream, and Cottage Cheese (L)
McCadam Cheese products