Stonyfield Yogurt - A Small Company with Big Dreams

Today, I was granted an opportunity to go to an informational session on Stonyfield Farm products and organics in general. It was a very informative and educational experience (even though my kids acted nutty the entire time - I'll blame that on feeding them too much processed food! ;) ) For starters, they were promoting a new 3-in-1 YoBaby Meal. It was a 6 oz. yogurt that had pureed vegetables and fruit in the yogurt. I tried the apple and sweet potato one. Although the texture was a little off than "traditional" yogurts, I thought it tasted pretty good. It seemed a little big for babies and even my toddlers. I would like to see it in a smaller size - like the ones that the 6-pack yogurts come in.

Gary Hirshberg, President and CE-Yo (ha ha...get it...CEO (YO like yogurt?...hee hee! ha ha!) talked about how the company started up as an organic farming school. I thought Gary and the Stonyfield team was very, very down-to-earth. I was very surprised honestly (where were their Birkenstocks and hemp necklaces?!?). They left me feeling with a more positive feeling of the word "organic." They made me feel a lot more sympathetic for local farmers - and yes, I do promote Massachusetts Farmers Markets on my blog because I do want people to support local and small farmers, but honestly, I haven't been to one yet all summer! I'm just a lazy hypocrite with two toddlers. That's my excuse. But I'm going to go to one either tomorrow or Saturday. Mr. Hirshberg inspired me.

As most of my faithful readers know, I'm not all super gung-ho organic or anything. At least as far as the "organic" label goes. But in my defense, I have bought a bunch of organic products in the past year at the grocery store. For instance, I have noticed a few times, organic carrots and grapes have been on sale for the same price as their "non-organic" equivalents. So of course I bought the organic brands. Why wouldn't I? PLUS!! I have my garden in my backyard! I've successfully grown tomatoes, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and lots of zucchini. When I had slugs, I made pesticide with Tabasco sauce and garlic! I could be Queen Organic if I wanted to be...but I'm not. One time someone said I was turning all organic with my gardening. Ugh. It made we want to puke (and eat a Pop Tart). I prefer the term "Earthy" or "Home Grown". "Organic" just sounds too Whole Foodsy for me.

I have to say, I think 92% of the reason why I don't buy all organic stuff is price. For the most part, organic stuff is more expensive than non-organic stuff. Or at least I assume it to be. Some google search spouted off that on average, organics cost 10-40% more than their non-organic counterparts. Although, organic prices have been coming down in recent years (at least on the produce level - I don't even look at the packaged organic stuff). I think I will look more closely at the price differences at the grocery store.

I think 7% of my reason is that I have this bad taste in my mouth for "organic" labeled products. Despite my frugal ways, I can admit, I've been in Whole Foods more than a dozen times in my lifetime. I've never had a "great" experience at one (just the parking lot at the Walnut St. Newton, MA location will send the most sane person to the loony bin). This one time, I was pregnant with my first son, I walked up to one (Brighton, MA!) and bought some dried mangos. I was behind the rudest lady in the world. She treated both the cashier and bagger worse than I would treat a dog (oh, and I'm not really a "dog person"). I guess, I associate "organic" with Whole Foods. I associate Whole Foods with this lady. Bad, I know.

And my last 1%. I'm sorry. But some organic stuff (mostly packaged stuff) is just down right nasty! I'll blame this on my upbringing on Hamburger Helper!

As I wrap this post up, I just wanted to tell anyone who might read this to check out Stonyfield Yogurt's website and products if you haven't done so already. I have bought some Stonyfield Yogurt in the past (thanks to coupons and sales). I'm personally not really a yogurt person, but I ate it. It was good. My husband is the "big" yogurt eater in the household. At least one container a day. Since this is a "bargain" blog, I need to provide coupons! - CLICK HERE to print coupons for Stonyfield Yogurt products. Also, since this is a New England blog, I'll have to promote their visitor center! Located in Londonderry, NH, you can enjoy some yogurt samples and learn about organic farming and nutrition. CLICK HERE for more information on tours and whatnot. Here are more Stonyfield Links:

Stonyfield Farm Homepage

Stonyfield Farm Facebook Fan Page

Many thanks again to Mr. Hirshberg, the Stonyfield Team, Christine Koh of Boston Mamas, 360 Public Relations, The Boston Children's Museum, and the many others who helped put on a fantastic event.