History

In 1980 we (Ineke Booy and Martin de Groot) emigrated from Holland with our two children, Elske and Arwa (who works at Mapleton’s) and began working a 250-acre dairy farm. After farming conventionally
for 10 years, and having two more children, Egbert and Norman, we became concerned about the impact of conventional farming and how it affected our own health, the environment, the community, the welfare of the animals, and the health of consumers. We didn’t want to be commodity producers but rather food producers, in touch with the earth and our consumers.

After much consideration, the decision was made to become organic. The farm today consists of 600 acres of certified organic land, 75 milking cows and their offspring, chickens, turkeys, pigs, donkeys, alpacas, a pony, a number of cats and kittens, as well as an Austrian Shepard named Coco.

Mapleton’s Organic Dairy was born in 1999, when we began processing milk into organic ice cream, frozen yogurt, and fresh yogurt on the farm with a small retail store. In 2004 an ice cream café was added to better serve the steady stream of ice cream lovers. Today, Mapleton’s serves organic lunches and packaged organic products including dairy, meats, dry goods, and seasonal produce.