The Webster Family owned a dairy farm south of Litchfield. They named the farm Arethusa for the small pink orchid that grew in a swamp on the land. Arethusa Farm originally started as a dairy farm which delivered dairy products locally.

Arethusa Farm began bottling milk under their new label at a rented creamery in Bolton in June and selling it in local stores. The herd grew to over 350 total head. Arethusa Farm won the prestigious honor of Premiere Holstein Breeder at World Dairy Expo. Two buildings were purchased in Bantam and the construction of Arethusa Farm Dairy began. Arethusa milk and yogurt became available in several stores in Litchfield County. The new dairy began production in January and a retail store was opened in July. Ice cream and cheese joined the production line. All products are made using only the milk from Arethusa’s cows; Arethusa is Premiere Jersey Breeder at World Dairy Expo for the second year in a row.

Most (okay, all) of Caroline’s friends and family would call her nutty…in a fun way! Caroline has a major sweet tooth...and she used to not eat as healthy as she does today. In college, she would eat frozen yogurt ("fro yo") by the pint. During her junior year at Boston college, she started getting severe stomach aches from eating her beloved fro yo. She assumed it was lactose intolerance and began the non-dairy journey. When the stomach aches came back after drinking store-bought almond milk, she got really curious about the connection between what she was putting in her body and how her body felt.

Turns out, both fro yo and typical nut milks have some common ingredients: gums and carrageenan; both of these additives are used in foods to thicken and prevent separation. When used in nut milk, companies try to trick your mouth into thinking their milk has more nuts than it actually does! (Spoiler alert: most brands only use around 2% nuts).

Gums are known to cause bowel issues (i.e. stomach aches) in lab rats. Carrageenan, the same chemical used to de-ice airplanes, is a known carcinogen, causing colon cancer and bowel inflammation in lab rats.

A common misconception: carrageenan is derived from seaweed, so it must be okay for us to consume. Because of the highly chemical-induced process of converting the seaweed into carrageenan, the seaweed is no longer seaweed at all. After learning about what is legally allowed in our food, Caroline started reading every ingredient label religiously. Her philosophy: ingredients matter most. She started making nut milk in 2012 for herself & launched nutty life plant milks in stores in late 2016.