Producer: Butterworks Farm
Location: Westfield, VT
Found at the Littleton Co-op: yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, heavy cream
Website: butterworksfarm.com
Dairy production has a long and significant history in the United States, which we celebrate in June with National Dairy Month. The recognition, dating back to 1937, was originally called National Milk Month, and was started to promote milk during a national surplus. Before modern refrigeration, milk was not popular with consumers in the warm summer months, but farm milk production continued. Today, we move beyond milk to honor the contributions of dairy and the hardworking people who stand behind it. Not only does milk and dairy offer nutritional value to a daily diet, supporting local dairy means supporting local family farms persevering in an especially difficult and volatile industry. At the Littleton Food Co-op, we are honored to support local and regional dairy producers, and are excited to share a glimpse at some of their stories in June and beyond.
When the Lazor family started Butterworks Farm in Westfield, VT back in 1976, there was no other farm they knew doing what they set out to do. Thus, with no map to follow to create Vermont’s first organic yogurt, they led with what they had: the values of self-sufficiency, value-added dairy products, and land stewardship. That led to a 400-acre spread in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont supporting 76 100% grass-fed Jersey cows and a position as a leader in the field of organic dairy. The cows produce high-butterfat and high-protein milk and yogurt as they are treated to high quality pasture, free choice minerals, and plenty of space to move. After the passing of Lazor family patriarch Jack in 2020, the next generation Lazors and owners came to the difficult decisions to sell the creamery and land. Butterworks was purchased in 2024 by Anthony Calderaro, a NH technology executive with an interest in healthy food. After the sale he told Seven Days “I was very excited about this farm because they do it the right way,” he said. “I have this huge passion to take this great product and take it to the next level.”
The original Lazor owners, Jack and Anne, were honored with the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame lifetime achievement award in 2019. New owner Calderaro also told Seven Days he wants to continue the Lazor legacy and create a culture “where people enjoy working there and we pay them fairly, where people can go on vacation. You know, life can’t be just work.”
Status of product availability at the Littleton Co-op, and labeling of producers (such as local, Black-Owned Business, NH-made, etc) and product status or ingredients (gluten-free, vegan, etc) is based on available information at time of publication. The food world is an ever-changing landscape and information presented here may not reflect the most up-to-date information available.
