Since 1945, the Whittiers have worked together to make good food for their neighbors.
You won’t just find dairy cows at Whitter Farms, in addition to their 50 milking cows and 150 heifers and young stock, the Whittiers care for more than 20 beef steers, two ponies, a draft horse and their two infamous dogs.
The Whitters have conserved 380 acres of the farm through a Massachusetts state program and in late 2014, they added a solar array that generates electricity to fill about 85 percent of the farm’s needs.
Then there’s the The Milk Store, which has grown from a table under a tree piled with sweet corn to a year-round store bursting with vegetables, beef, dairy (of course), homemade baked goods, soups and homemade mac cheese. The farm also sells farm-made and grown composted manure, screened loam and bark mulch.
Along with the store, the farmers have grown up. “I have customers come in and tell me that it seems like just yesterday I was standing on a milk crate handing them their change because I was too small to see over the counter,” says fifth-generation farmer, Sam Staebner. She and her two siblings, John and Diana, help their parents, Wayne and Mary Whittier, and uncle, Todd Whittier along with additional staff members And in 2019, the family welcomed the sixth generation into the world!
Sam has also been actively involved in our leading in school physical activity and nutrition program – Fuel Up to Play 60. She has been a speaker at several school events in Massachusetts helping connect students to their local dairy farmers. Sam and her family regularly host farm tours for schools and the community.
Sam speaking at a school event in Sutton, MA with Patriots Player Devin McCourty.
Learn more about Whittier Farms at www.whittiers.com and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram!
Some information and images courtesy of Cabot Creamery Co-operative
