I’m at the check out, buying Kerrygold butter. (Our cow is drying up, so I’m back to buying butter.)
Lady at the checkout: “What’s so special about this butter?”
Me: “It comes from grass-fed cows, so it’s rich in beta-carotene and Vitamin D.” (Also E and K2, but I didn’t say that.)
Lady: “Oh, would that be the same as the Amish butter we carry?”
Me: “YOU CARRY AMISH BUTTER????” (I was a wee-bit excited.)
Lady: “Yeah, it’s over there [she described where] and people just love it. It’s SO GOOD! And it’s such a good price, too! You get this big log for about six dollars or something like that.”
Me: “I’ve got to check that out!”
Finding the Amish Butter
I found the refrigerator case with all the hand-rolled logs of Amish butter.
Wait a second. Hold on. What’s “country” supposed to mean? It’s from the same area as Amish farms? It’s rolled into a log like Amish butter?
Is this Amish butter or not?
I open the case and pull out a log, going right for the label.
You see what it says. Don’t read further down this post. Check your gut feeling. Is this Amish butter or not?
(blank space to give you room to think)
What I Was Thinking
“WI Grade A” — Grade A milk from a regular dairy in Wisconsin? “Alcam Creamery” — could be Amish? Nah, doesn’t sound Amish.
If this is Amish butter, wouldn’t it be labeled as “grass-fed” or “fresh from a Wisconsin Amish dairy farm”?
(For comparison, the Kerrygold butter label says, “In Ireland, cows graze on the green pastures of small family farms. This milk is churned to make Kerrygold butter.”)
What’s with the pale yellow color?
And why are there gobs and gobs of rolls of it? Certainly small Amish family farms don’t produce enough butter for discount markets across the country?
My stomach is now sunk all the way to the floor.
This is no Amish butter, I’m certain of it.
As I put the butter back into the case and turn around to leave, a lady tells me, “That butter is THE BEST. … It’s Amish.” Really? I wasn’t so sure.
Getting the Facts
Back home, I visit the Alcam Creamery website, specifically the Hand-Rolled Butter page.
I notice that nowhere in the text of the page is there any mention of Amish. The only place you see Amish is on the picture of the package.
Check out these words: “A great item for specialty stores, for a chef in an upscale restaurant and farmers’ markets.” So, are they hand-rolling regular (non-Amish) butter to sell as a specialty item and therefore charge a higher price? Hmm… could be.
Then I call Alcam Creamery, using the customer service number listed on the website. A man answers.
Man: “Alcam Creamery. How can I help you?”
Me: “Hi, I live in Oregon and I just picked up a roll of your Amish Country Roll Butter at my grocery store. Is this Amish butter?”
Man: “Yes, that’s the brand name.”
Me: “But is it actually Amish butter?”
Man: “No.”
Me: “So, why is it called Amish?”
Man: pause
Me: “Is it because you hand roll it?”
Man: “Yes, that’s why.”
Me: “Thank you so much.” Then I hang up.
At-Home Comparison
I open a package of Amish Country Roll Butter and Kerrygold and put them side by side to compare color and taste.
The Kerrygold butter is more yellow, no doubt. More yellow means more beta-carotene. It means the cows were probably eating lots of rapidly growing green grass, because that is where they get the beta-carotene that gets into the cream which makes the butter (or cheese). Yellow cheese and yellow butter are awesome all around — taste and health.
Ingredients in each type of butter? The same: pasteurized cream and salt. The kids and I do a taste-test. The Amish Country Roll Butter is overly salty — unmistakeable to all of us. And we like salt, so that says a lot.
The taste and color comparison is neither here nor there in terms of getting the facts. I don’t even know if Amish farms have grass-fed cows any more. Do they? Or have they converted to grain-fed? You tell me.
It was just interesting to compare, for our own curiosity.
By the way, the Amish Country Roll Butter is about half the cost of the Kerrygold.
Deceptive Marketing?
I talked with three people about this Amish Country Roll Butter and two of them thought it was true Amish butter. The checkout lady told me how everyone in town loves this Amish butter, and I speculate many think it really is Amish butter, too. This reminds me of how the labels “natural” and “farm fresh” are used on foods. Most consumers fall for it.
I’m not even sure that the Amish Country Roll Butter is falsely labeled. It is hand-rolled like real Amish butter, after all.
I do think the name on the package is deceptive, though. I’ll go that far. Alcam Creamery must realize that people think their hand-rolled butter is Amish, yet they don’t do much to dispel that myth. Remember that when I called Alcam Creamery and asked whether the butter was Amish, the man’s first answer to me was: “Yes, that’s it’s brand name.” Does that usually satisfy people? Are they told to say that and hope the inquirer won’t try to go deeper?
If Alcam Creamery was really interested in truth in marketing, the employees (or maybe he was the owner, I don’t know) would answer something more truthful, like “Oh, no, it’s not Amish. But we hand-roll it like the Amish do and that’s where the name comes from.”
Instead, his answer confirmed for me that he knew the label was misleading. He couldn’t answer my real question without revealing his insider knowledge.
I don’t know much else about Alcam Creamery, and I’m not trying to slam them or their people. I only know what I’ve shared here about the hand-rolled butter. For all I know, they’re a great small town place to work. In terms of labeling, though, they’re not unique. Many companies use misleading labels.
All around I think it is unfortunate and depressing. Consumers don’t question what they’re buying and assume that labels are truthful. Companies knowingly mislead consumers through less-than-truthful product labels.
What’s the solution? Not government regulation! Consumers should wise up, push back, and stop supporting companies that market like this. There’s nothing more effective than marketplace competition. Ron Paul said of the healthcare industry, “True competition in the delivery of medical care is what is needed, not more government meddling.” That’s true of the food industry as well.
What do you think about the Amish Country Rolled Butter and how it is marketed? Would you have bought it thinking it was really Amish butter or would you have known better? Do you think it is falsely or deceptively labeled? What is the responsibility of consumers, government and food companies in issues of deceptive marketing? Seen any false labels on other foods lately?
I shared this post in Simple Lives Thursday and Fight Back Friday.
About Wardeh
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Twitter: liverenewed
says:
I live very close to Amish country in Indiana, and when I first moved here I believed that Amish meant more natural or organic, but that is certainly NOT the case. A friend who grew up here recently told me that there are no regulations for the term Amish – so basically anyone can stick it on any package of any kind of food they want. So, it really means nothing at all.
The Amish are the same as any other farmers, you have to check on the individually family farm. I have found a local farm that sells grass-fed, organic (not certified) raw milk and other dairy products, but it was not easy to find and definitely not the norm. There is also an Amish farmer at our Farmer’s Market who sells grass fed beef, but just one. You’d think it’d be easier to find pastured and organic produce, meat and dairy when you live near Amish country, but that certainly has not been my experience!
Emily recently posted… Your Green Resource — Week 21
A whole post about whether your butter is “genuine” enough for your yuppie tastes? Really?
I think it’s sad when eating healthy and being consumer smart is perceived as “yuppie”
It’s unfortunate that you did not understand that many of us choose to feed ourselves and loved ones nourishing food as God intended and has provided for mankind. As a traditional farmer (an organic farmer that honors Mother Nature by use of farming bio-sustainably without the use of “cides”, antibiotics, chemical amendments to the lifeblood of the human race ~ healthy soil) once told me .. “The human body is designed to process nutrients, not chemicals.” In Latin “bio” means life. “Cides” mean to kill/death.
As agribusiness took over food sovereignty in this country and displaced the traditional farming family; the quality of food declined as their profits increased via US tax subsidies and the use of chemicals, food additives, etc. to increase their profits/bottom line. Agribusiness falsely markets their products as being nutritionally equivalent to those produced by the American family farmer using sustainable, earth-friendly methods before the industrial age and WW II. I refer to their products as “chemicals masquerading as food” which lack the necessary trace elements and nutrients for human health because it just isn’t available to the plant(s) from the soil. Chemical fertilizers do not contain these trace elements and nutrients. The mass application of herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and fungicides kill off beneficial organisms in the soil. Mineral and nutrient content just isn’t available to the plants in our produce section and in feed that we give our animals (a whole different topic of discussion). Like The Bible says, “I set before you life (biodiversity) and death (the ‘cides’). Choose life (life-giving foods) so that you and your descendants may live!”. I pray that clears things up for you. Everyone have a blessed day!
If we’re quoting Scripture… Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
Kimberly, I apologize for any spirit of offense my comment brought to you or anyone else. It was not my heart’s intent to add to His words. My point was that in studying this Scripture and others that refer to how abundantly God provides for all of our needs (including Mother Nature and agriculture), we should also keep in mind that this verse in so vast in it’s meaning as stewards of the earth. Have a blessed day!
Just the fact that you say “Mother Nature” leads me to believe that you don’t have a problem with taking Scripture out of context. Nature is not our mother.
Martisco – I am not a yuppie but an almost 60 year old woman that tries to eat food as pure as possible to what God intended for food to be. I am sorry that you don’t understand the value of wholesome food, unadulterated with “improvements”, to what God already deemed as GOOD in the form that He made it.
Blessings,
Laurie
Laurie recently posted… Breathe Deeply
I don’t remember what “yuppie” means (the ’80′s were 30 years ago) but if it means that I value honesty in marketing and real food, then yes, I appreciate a whole post on whether or not my butter is good enough for my yuppie tastes.
Young Urban Professional
I’m mid 20′s and my friends and I still use the term
I think Martisco must work for Alcom Creamery!
I realize the benefits of Kerrygold, grassfed butter… but what really is the benefits of “amish butter”? I see it in a local store, and don’t really know it’s benefits and was just wondering…
I live in Lancaster, PA. I shop at an Amish health food store, and I belong to an Amish farm co-op. The products I buy are not mass-produced.
Is your cow going to calf soon?
Chris — We hope so! She’s due in May, if she’s indeed pregnant.
Twitter: Carissa_Marie
says:
Living in Oregon, I would definitely be suspicious. If I had seen the same thing for sale in Pennsylvania I may have fallen for it.
I agree it’s deceptive. Not only the name but the simple homespun looking packaging that makes it look like it was made in a country kitchen. For shame
Great post! I just read Joel Salatin’s new book “Folks, This Ain’t Normal”. It is very good and speaks to this and many other related issues. I agree with the idea that consumer choice needs to rule industry. Hey, if you want to buy butter with low nutritional value and added color to make it look like butter (as the industry is allowed to do here in Canada) just because everyone else is, or the government approves it or because you could care less, that is your choice and you should have a right to it. Every person should be free to choose what they eat AND should be responsible for the consequences – good or bad. Consumers should therefore also be able to access information about food content and processing in order to make informed choices.
OMGosh! Are you serious?! That is the brand of butter we ORDER ONLINE because it was recommended by a real food blog awhile back! Please tell me this has to at least be better then the regular stuff on the grocery shelves?!
What about all this supposed Amish cheese? We get cheese sometimes and all our butter from here.. http://www.simplycheese.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=38
Seriously I am devastated. There are no other good butters around here and we don’t have enough money to buy another share to get raw butter and can only afford to get our milk.
Maybe you can barter somehow. My friend does milk shares, but I can’t afford it. I trade her straight across for kombucha, and I can honestly say I’m not sure who gets the better deal. Do you sew, bake, babysit, clean house, etc? Hopefully you can find a way.
Andrea M. recently posted… Lacto-Fermented Curtido
I think it is the consumers responsibility to read labels. Part of advertising is deception and exaggeration. Companies want you and are competing for your business. I don’t feel that mislabeling will ever change. As customers we must seek out what we are purchasing, do a little investigating.
Along the same lines of color of cheese does anyone know if goats milk/cheese turn the yellow color because of their diet? What does it mean if the milk/ cream of goats milk is pure white?
The yellow in butter is simply beta carotene, a polyunsaturated fat. Goats convert ALL the beta carotene in their diet to vitamin A, hence the white milk and cream. Some cows convert most of it, some cows are poor converters and tend to have very yellow butter….especially in summer.
Sorry, but the color of butter could be the breed, not the access to pasture.
Wow, that is just stunningly misleading! And an excellent investigation on your part. I do think it is false labeling.
Is it even legal to call it “Amish butter” if it’s not made by the Amish?!
Twitter: edenwild
says:
Yeah, I’ve learned to read labels much more closely, though I bet I still have a few things to learn. For example, I can’t figure out why Organic Valley pastured butter is not nearly as yellow as Kerrygold, nor as yummy. They must be supplementing with feed, but it says “pastured” so it makes you think the cows are only eating grass all day.
Lisa C recently posted… Spiritual Sunday: Made to be Perfect
Organic valley farmers can feed their cows grains. It isn’t some little farm, it is a bunch of farms, each farmer raises their cows differently. my father is an ov farmer and while his cows are in the pasture most of the time, he does give them some organic corn and other grains. But I have never tried or seen the pastured butter, not sure if that milk has to come from certain farms??
Just wanted to throw this out there for educational purposes as I understand it (and please feel free to correct my perception … anyone). Currently, I have access to an abundance of OG pastured cream. The heritage breed cows are NOT fed any grain, but feeding on OG grown hay that was grown in the spring/summer months and now fed to the cows during the winter months. They are not fed grains. I understand that “butter making season” is in the late spring as the grass becomes green. Wardeh has mentioned in her posts about the chlorophyll content in the green grass resulting in a more “yellow” and nutritionally-dense, hence,flavorful butter. I just mastered making butter and cultured butter thanks to Wardeh’s on-line e-course. The first batches that I made while they were able to still feed on some grass was more yellow. Now that they are being fed hay it is a lighter yellow, but still very yummy. Suffice to say it’s wonderful and the resulting buttermilk is a bonus. I cannot wait until my “happy cows” are grazing on green grass again and can make more butter then. Thank You Wardeh and sending every blessing your way for all that you do!
PS … Also, there are other OG farmers like Jo’s Dad that do feed corn and other grains. This is a common and necessary practice based on the availability of what the OG farmer has access to and according to the acreage they own or can afford to lease land to grow their own hay for the off-season. There is so much that the organic family farmer has to endure to just survive. It is a humbling experience to witness. An staggering preponderance of US taxpayer dollars goes to supporting Agribusiness instead of organic family farmers while the organic farming family must to maintain sustainable farm practices that benefit their communities, the environment and honor Mother Nature. They face so many obstacles (financial and regulatory) from their state and the federal government. It’s really shameful that it can that this is happening in this country. We vote with our dollars and our choices. I’ll leave my rant at that.
I too wondered if it was really made by the Amish (thinking it would be more natural.) My gut feeling told me not to believe it, just because it said Amish Country. But the packaging pulled me in and I asked the cashier at the “cash and carry: where I bought it and she said people come in and buy several rolls at a time. I bought a roll. I told myself I would research it later. Looked at the website and found the same information as you. Thanks for putting it out there. It’s not about expensive taste, but more about healthy results from what we eat. Look at the way things are going. If we just eat anything in the store because “big business” says it’s good for us, I would still be eating shortening (which I quit 35 years ago) and would no doubt be going in for by-pass surgery, or worse. People may dis us for wanting to check out what we are eating, but in the end, what we decide to do has effects, and we ourselves have to deal with the repercussions! If you do a little surfing, there is tons of information out there on how much better natural saturated fats are for you that the ones big biz has messed with. Whether you are a hippie, retiree, yuppie, …how ever anyone describes you, be sure not to eat just anything in the “super’ market…you may pay less financially, but a lot more in other ways!
The label actually reads “Amish Country” instead of just “Amish.” That implies that it’s only made in an area where there are also Amish people. I live near Shipshewana, IN, so my entire surrounding community is “Amish Country.” My next-door neighbors drive a horse and buggy. I totally understand the concept of deceptive marketing, but, it’s important to look at the whole picture/label. There are LOTS of people who live and work and produce in “Amish Country” without actually BEING Amish.
Amanda recently posted… Lately
I think the key is the phrase “Amish Country.” I live about 30 minutes from Alcam Creamery. I think that their butter is so named due to the fact that it is made and hand rolled in the middle of Amish Country… Amish traffic jams are not a sight unseen in this area.
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Emme — I wondered this! How cool to have it confirmed by someone who lives right there. The blessings of the internet! Thanks.
Twitter: TiffanyNoth
says:
Very important to look beyond the marketing images, etc… It’s very easy to get busy and not notice you’re ‘being taken’.
Great post Wardeh, and please keep up with the wonderful and very inspiring work you do. Don’t let anything or anybody stop you. Best regards from he state of New Jersey.
Oh my goodness! This is so discouraging. I just looked to see where our local cheese co-op butter orders are processed and it’s this very place. I couldn’t find it when I first started ordering but after some digging found it. I guess we’re using not-so-Amish roll butter.
On a happier note, I just contacted our raw milk farm to ask if they offer bartering to see if I can work occasionally for our butter. I can siphon the cream off the top but it’s SO good in the milk and I don’t have a current working appliance that could handle butter making. I tried it by hand a few weeks ago and it was just not happening.
Thanks for your informative posts! You’ve made me a better traditional foodie and inspire me to continue working toward healthier products and farms for my family!
FYI Emily ~~ I tried for almost a year to make butter surfing suggestions on the NetL you tube, other websites and even attending a local workshop about food preservation that covered making butter before finding this website. I mastered Butter Making 101 (cultured and not) via Wardeh’s method using just a food processor. Check it out on her e-course. Most e-z, p-z method I’ve come across. So rewarding!
To make butter from raw milk: We always loved the butter from older milk the best–the gallon that’s been in the fridge about 2 weeks makes glorious butter. Skim the cream. Make ricotta cheese from the rest of the milk. Put the cream in a quart mason jar with a good tight lid (the plastic ones work great for this) Take your jar to your computer and sit down. While you are playing around online–checking email, reading blogs, whatever, shake, shake, shake your jar with the other hand. In about 10 minutes, it will become butter. Follow whatever directions for washing and salting make you happy. It’s really, truly, not that tough–try it!
Twitter: sengland1160
says:
Great post Wardeh!! We have to be ever more diligent in these last days. Maybe a sign of the times. Unfortunately, there are no Amish anywhere near me but I just now thought of the Amish store we have about 25 miles away. I will have to check there for butter next time we go that way.I live in WV and I believe I remember them telling me that most of their food came from PA so Amish butter maybe for me?I hope so!! Thank you and God bless you!!:)
As someone who has milked many a cow and goat over the years (not commercially), I’m wondering about the no-grain whatsoever thing. Since they are crazy for grains (like candy to them),we always offered a treat of a bit of grain as an enticement to get those gals to come willingly into the milking stand/stanchion. Wondering how no-grain dairy farmers are managing this.
You could offer the animal you’re milking some mineral or kelp or other tasty things other than grains. They do look forward to coming into the stanchion for those things as long as they aren’t available free choice otherwise.
Twitter: PreparednessPro
says:
Feeding the cows food-grade diatomaceous earth regularly increases their milk output while also killing parasites and helps to repel the flies. You’ll also have fewer illnesses and discomfort in theirs stomachs and bones.
PreparednessPro recently posted… 20 Signs That Dust Bowl Conditions Will Return
How you feed the DE to the cows? In their water or feed? I am very interested in hearing more. Thanks
Laurie recently posted… Breathe Deeply
A flake of hay works really well for training. Now they come in out of habit….no feed needed.
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Twitter: DinkerGiggles
says:
Thank you for sharing! I clicked on this post from a friends Twitter account (@Mom4LifeCom) and I’m so glad I did. Growing up in “amish country” I always loved going to the local farm to get the jams, pies, and meats. Now that I live outside of Pittsburgh, PA I find it more than difficult to find REAL food. Lately we’ve been using “real butter” but it’s by no means the best nor homemade and we bought some of that I Can’t Believe Spray crap (on sale and thought it would be easier for the kids to put on their potatoes) and we could taste the difference.
We love making our own whipped cream and anything else that we can and love the way it tastes and smells. With more and more companies finding the cheapest way out of making real foods it’s a nice change of pace to do it yourself or to get REAL food locally!
I have serious ongoing frustration at the ill-conceived notion that “Amish” equates all things good clean and pure. You must! know your source. End of story.
Anyway, I came by to see if you or any of your readers have checked out Troyer Cheese Butter? It is typically available in small mid-western bulk food stores, cheese shops or similar. It is also available in Albany OR at Grocery Depot. It is rBST free and made from first cream. There is no note on the package about pasteurized but I would guess it is. It is a 2 lb roll for $8.95 in Albany. I’m just wondering how it compares to Tillamook, Kerrygold, etc.
After reading this article and attending comments, I wanted to let you know my local store no longer carries this butter. Interesting.
Kathryn — That is interesting! Are you saying someone from the store read this article and comments, or you did the reading and passed on the information?
Twitter: PreparednessPro
says:
Just so you know, yes, the carotene content does color the butter to an extent, but the butter I make from scratch is actually white. Yellow dye has long been used to color the butter. So nowadays I never judge a dairy product because of it’s color. Since you do your own butter, perhaps you can tell me, does it usually end up being yellow like the Irish butter?
I was happy though to see that someone is willing to do their homework on the products they purchase. Way to go!
PreparednessPro recently posted… 20 Signs That Dust Bowl Conditions Will Return
My butter is very yellow, especially during the grass season. Here are pictures:
http://gnowfglins.com/2010/07/07/cultured-butter/
What breed of animal milk are you using? Goat milk butter would be white, and so would some cows (I can’t remember which at the moment).
My cow is a black jersey with a red tuff of hair on the top of her head. She gives BRIGHT yellow butter in the spring, summer and fall but it is pale yellow in the winter. She gets nice hay in the winter but it is still not as nice as fresh green grass apparently.
Laurie recently posted… Breathe Deeply
First off, thanks for the post about Alcam. I saw their butter at a the state farmers market and had been meaning to call them about their sourcing practices. I think you saved me the legwork. I coordinate the kitchen in an experiential junior high in the North Carolina mountains and the first thing I did when I took over the ordering was check on my dairy products. I’m on a budget so raw, local products are out (and the NC milk regualtions are archaic, you actually have to label raw mili as not for human consumption in order to sell it). I found a different “Amish” roll from Minerva dairy. It is also made from WI milk but ended up being my cheapest, good enough, option (wholesale I get it for 8.62/2 lb roll, I’ve seen it retailing online for 11.00/roll. I talked to reps at Minerva and they assured me that all of their suppliers sign affidavits saying they don’t use hormones/antibiotics on their cows. I expect their fed the typical corn/soy vegetarian diet. I realize this is nutritionally deficient when compared to grass fed, pastured cows but I feel like, for the $ (which is the most that my budget allows).
I would really love to hear some thoughts on my rationale (I really do care about what I’m feeding these kids and I’m more and more concerned about the estrogen found in the non-organic soy feed) and if anyone has any ideas about dairies that could give me a healthier butter for under $4.50/lb wholesale, please let me know.
Hi just so you know there are about 10,000 Amish in Wisconsin.
Twitter: The_Anti_Chef
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Kudos to you for doing the research! I’m forever fascinated by the ways that marketing can mislead. Nutella for breakfast anyone?
TheAntiChef recently posted… Quips from the Kitchen
Thanks for your post. Too bad I didn’t see it BEFORE I bought the butter. Like everyone else, I saw it in the store and stood the a few minutes trying to decide between it and the organic. I didn’t check the babel too carefully, I guess because I ended up getting it. It was about the same price as the other butter, si I thought ” why not?”. I feel duped and won’t buy it again.