Vermont Village Organic Applesauce Mixed Berry - 4 x 4oz. Cups
Vermont Village Organic Mixed Berry Applesauce is made from the freshest, highest quality fruits grown using no chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides or herbicides. Vermont Village Organic Mixed Berry Applesauce is made by carefully cooking whole apples in small batch kettles. No water or sugar is ever added. Two apples go into each 4-ounce cup of Vermont Village Organic Mixed Berry Applesauce, maybe that's why people always say, "It tastes just like my grandmother used to make!"
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the shelf life once opened?
They are proud to make applesauce that is free of preservatives. The usual “after opening” shelf life is 1 to 2 weeks. . Good housekeeping and safe food handling can extend that time quite a bit. An easy rule of thumb is if you are unsure, error on the side of caution and discard.
Obvious signs of spoilage are:
- White, green, blue or brown mold growing on the surface of the applesauce
- Bubbling, noticeable air pockets, or a fermented smell means yeast have begun to convert the sugars in the applesauce to alcohol
- Rancid smells
If any of these conditions exist, discard the product.
What is the role of Vitamin C?
They have found over years of nutritional testing that most of their applesauce does not contain a significant daily value for Vitamin C. The Vitamin C that they add is a processing aid to reduce oxidation during cooking. It is not meant a a nutritional supplement , nor do they make any claims as such. Vitamin C is very sensitive to heat and most natural occurring and added forms are destroyed during their pasteurization process.
Is there BPA in the plastic cups?
BPA continues to be a concern for informed consumers. There has been a great deal of confusion created by media stories about Bisphenol A and #7 plastics. The truth is that not all plastics labeled with a #7 recycling logo contain bisphenol A. The plastic cups in which they package their applesauce have been certified by their supplier, Spartec Plastic Packaging, to be free of even trace amounts of Bisphenol A.
Is the applesauce free of tree nuts?
YES! Their products and facility are FREE of treenuts.
Is the applesauce Gluten Free?
YES! Their product is Gluten Free. They do not use any ingredients that contain gluten and their facility does not process any items that contain gluten.
Is the applesauce 100% organic?
Almost. The USDA and Vermont Organic Farmers (their certifiers) specify that that if their product is between 100% and 95% organic they can only claim that they are 95% organic. In actuality they are 99.7% organic; they add Vitamin C (.01%) and some natural flavors(.02%) to their batches and thus fall under the 95% organic label.
What are the details on Vermont Village's Organic Certification?
They are certified organic by the Vermont Organic Farmers LLC. The standards and practices that they use are found on their website.
Is Vermont Village Kosher Certified?
YES! They are Star Kosher certified. The details of their standards can be found on their website.
What other products does Vermont Village have?
They offer a variety of VERMONT GROWN and ORGANIC products.
Who owns Vermont Village Applesauce?
The owners and shareholders of Vermont Village Applesauce are the gourmet cooks that use it for recipes, the moms and dads who are relentless in providing the best for their families, the Vermonters that support small local businesses, the owners of the orchards where they source their apples and the hard working employees who are dedicated to the quality and integrity of their products.
Do you really know what goes into your food? In the rush to produce more and more crops to satisfy growing demand, producers have had to resort to using more and more pesticides to control disease and insect attack. When you eat an average apple, you are consuming as many as 20-30 different pesticides, even after you wash it. Yummy!
This is why organic matters more than ever. Today there are over 50 million consumers of organic food products in the U.S. They spent close to $28 billion on organic foods in 2008 and those numbers continue to grow even in tough economic times. The reasons people opt for organic foods vary, but there are plenty of them. Consider these facts from the folks at Organic Food Info.
- Organic produce contains 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed.
- When you get higher levels of essential nutrients, your body is more resistant to infection and disease.
- Organic foods provide you with more energy because they contain lower levels of the toxins and chemicals that slow your body down.
- If you are eating dairy or farm produce, you are also eating the chemicals, drugs and growth hormones given to the animals
- Organic is better for the environment. Organic farms respect water resources and do not leach nitrogen and other pollutants from their soil.
- Organic food just tastes better!
Taste the difference yourself. Try an organic apple – the way it should be. You will never go back to mass produced fruit again.
What is “organic?”
The term “organic” gets thrown out there a lot these days and there is plenty of confusion about it, but the facts are pretty straightforward. The folks at Organic Food Info define it simply and clearly.
- Organic farming produces crops and rears cattle without the use of chemicals and artificial additives.
- It is farming the natural way and concentrates on producing a fertile soil.
- Animals reared on organic farms are housed properly they have room to move about and behave like animals.
- They are fed healthy food sources and not those laden with drugs and other chemicals.
So in summary, organic food is crops and animals produced and fed with natural food and without the use of chemical additives.
Vermont Village Organic
Vermont Village has been certified as an organic processor since 1996 and happily supports farming practices that respect the land and the food that is grown on it. Their certified organic applesauces are made from the freshest, highest quality fruits grown using no chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides or herbicides.
About the Apples
A Brief History of the Apple
Whether you start with Adam and Eve or the Stone Age man in Europe, the apple has been around from the beginning. When the Romans conquered England around the first century B.C., they brought apple growing with them. William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head at the order of Swiss invaders. The Pilgrims discovered crabapples when they arrived in the New World and as America was settled, nearly every farm grew apples. John Chapman, a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed, became famous for planting trees throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
Today, over 650 varieties grow in the United States. They come in all shapes, sizes, shades and flavors and the best have become “household words” like McIntosh, Delicious, Empire, Rome, Spartan, Cortland and Granny Smith.
What Vermont may lack in quantity as an apple-producing state, it makes up for in quality. Apples and apple products like applesauce, cider and hard cider are among the more important and cherished Vermont exports. In fact, in 1999, the Vermont legislature designated the apple as the state fruit, and the apple pie as the state pie.
The state has almost 4,000 acres of commercial apple production, most of it devoted to sustainable farming practices that respect the fruit and the land it’s grown on. Vermont’s leading varieties are McIntosh, Cortland, Red Delicious and Empire.
Growing Apples in Vermont
Growing an apple in Vermont is a yearlong endeavor. Here’s a quick look at how it happens through the seasons.
In January, while the trees are dormant, pruning begins. Limbs are sawed off and clipped to allow maximum sunlight into the growing structure. Pruning allows the tree to produce larger, better colored, higher quality and more valuable fruit.
April is the time to prepare for spring planting. Sometime around the beginning of May, the buds begin to swell. The brush from pruning is picked up or mulched back into the orchard soil. The average tree will bear fruit in 3 years, with full production coming in 8-10 years.
Summer is the time for pollination. Sunny mild days are needed during bloom to encourage strong bee activity. Apples need more than one variety of pollen for the cross-pollination that ensures good fruit set. Fruit size and firmness are affected by moisture in the month of July and August is the last growing month before the apples begin to ripen. Red apples need cool nights during harvest to trigger an enzyme which increases the amount of color or “blush.”
Apples are hand picked beginning around the end of August up until the last of the fruit comes off near the end of October. Many apples are processed into sauces, pies, and jelly – or pressed into fresh cider and apple juice. Cider is a delightful by-product of apples not “pretty” enough for the fresh whole-apple market.
With the harvest complete, it is time to prepare again for winter.
Apples - Healthy in Many Ways
The old adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" has never been truer. In fact, many believe apples are the most nutritious and healthiest fruit there is. When you consider all the health benefits apples offer, it's hard to argue:
- Weight Loss
Apples have almost no fat, no cholesterol and they are loaded with fiber, which helps digestion and promotes weight loss.
- Heart Health
Apples also contain small amounts of potassium, which may promote a healthy heart as well as healthy blood pressure. Fiber may also promote a healthy heart, not to mention keeping you regular. No cholesterol and no sodium is good news too.
- Cancer Prevention
Quercetin, a flavonoid abundant in apples, helps prevent the growth of prostate cancer cells according to research. Another study indicated that phytochemicals in the skin of an apple inhibited the reproduction of colon cancer cells by 43 percent.
- Healthy Lungs
People who ate at least five apples per week experience better lung function according to a UK study. They also had a lower risk for respiratory disease.
- Dental Hygiene
Apples promote dental hygiene promoting the flow of saliva. Biting and chewing an apple is a stimulant to the gums. This reduces tooth decay by decreasing the levels of bacteria in the mouth.
- Overall Health
A number of ingredients in apples have been found to lower blood cholesterol and improve regularity. They may also be associated with a reduced risk of ischemic heart disease, stroke, prostate cancer, type II diabetes and asthma.
About Vermont Village
Vermont Products and People
At Vermont Village, they live and work near the little town of South Barre, where they buy as much of their food as they can from local farmers. They prefer food that’s grown for taste, not for travel, from farmers who respect the land. So they buy apples from local farmers whenever possible and are proud to give them a fair price for their apples and help them continue to be a good steward of their orchards and the environment.
They make their applesauce the old fashioned way, cooked in small kettles, using the whole apple including the peel. There is no water or sugar added. The result is a delicious, healthy treat that you and your family can enjoy any time.
It all began in 1977 when they gathered apples from nearby homestead orchards – finding forgotten “heirlooms” in their neighboring hills and pastures. That led to the opening of three local canneries here in Vermont. These were places for local people to get their products canned, and where farmers could sell their produce to the canners who required certain items for their sauces, salsas or chutneys. This supported the growth of locally-made products and the local Vermont farmers who had a new outlet for their crops.
Today their products are sold in Co-ops, General Stores and supermarkets throughout the region and beyond and they remain dedicated to supporting and sustaining local canners and farmers as well as the land their fruits are grown on.
Wholesome, Natural, Organic
When Vermont Village started, the apples they gathered grew wild, tended by the seasons and the wind and the rain. Their dream was to make these pure fruits of the land available to everyone. The old folks taught us how to cook them, to bring out the goodness and the flavor. “Cook them whole, cook them fast. Don’t add anything that nature didn’t put there. That’s the best way.” It made sense to let its natural character and taste shine through. They aimed to make a wholesome, natural applesauce that would appeal to taste buds, wallets, and the nascent natural market. So they became the first company to sell additive-free, no sugar-added, all-natural applesauce to supermarkets.
In the early 1990’s the natural foods market began to change. People became more healthy and active. Concerns about the health of the environment became an international conversation. Consumers began to realize the power of their dollars could influence both the purity of their foods and the manner the environment was approached. As the natural foods marketplace evolved into the organic foods marketplace with additional focus on farming practices that do not pollute the earth, Vermont Village happily embraced this trend. The Vermont Organic Farmers group led the development of the country’s first national organic certification program and Vermont Village was certified as an organic processor in 1996, when they introduced their line of certified organic applesauces.
Today, Vermont Village is proud to be at the forefront of the organic foods movement providing consumers with the best USDA organic foods and encouraging and supporting organic farmers by providing a market for their produce. Their fruits are grown using no chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides or herbicides. They are inspected each year by a third party USDA certified organic inspector. All aspects of their process are scrutinized to ensure compliance with the USDA organic guidelines and they meet and exceed all food safety standards.
As the needs of their customer base grew, so did their product line. Vermont Village was the first modern company to combine other native New England fruits with apples to make delicious fresh-tasting applesauce varieties. Snack cups were added in 1996 to include more family, kid and snack-friendly offerings. Today, their Organic line includes seven flavors in jars and six flavors in snack cups. Their Vermont-grown Natural line includes five flavors in jars and two in snack cups. They also make a delightful Organic Apple Butter.
Recently, their Vermont Grown snack cups have become available in local schools in Vermont. They are especially proud of this new development since it stays true to their original goal of bringing a healthy Vermont product to the local public. Over the past three decades they have continuously provided quality applesauce to many, and they hope to continue for many years to come.
Independently Owned and Operated
Vermont Village is owned and operated by local people based right here in Vermont. There are no corporate pressures and no outside interests. They exist only to provide healthy, delicious food, to sustain the local growers and the land they grow their fruit on.