By Nancy Smith
If you’re looking for a really great outing for the whole family, you need look no further. The Windcrest Dairy Farm Store is one of the best places to get to know your farmer, enjoy a real farm experience, find lots of delicious food to take home, and even milk a cow if you arrive around milking time.
You may know Windcrest’s wonderful regular and Greek yogurt, found in stores throughout the Metro area. But perhaps you didn’t know that Windcrest also provides an enjoyable farm experience at their dairy farm owned by the Bizenberger and Eickmeyer families of Southeastern Illinois. A short drive from St. Louis to the farm near Trenton, IL will bring you to Windcrest Farms and their farm store. You and your family can watch how yogurt is made, enjoy the beautiful and healthy animals in the petting zoo, meet the cows that produce the milk for the yogurt and possibly even milk a cow. To date, nearly 5,000 St. Louis area residents have milked a cow at Windcrest Dairy.
Schools and scout troops can call and book a field trip at the farm, and the kids will come home dirty, happy, and a lot more knowledgeable about farming and local foods. You can join the “virtual herd” by putting on a hilarious cow costume and getting your photo taken for facebook-if you dare!
In addition, the farm store carries fresh, healthy, sustainably or organically raised meats, cheese, locally-produced salsa from Salsa Rose, Grandma’s Nuts, and Stringbean fair-trade, locally roasted coffee.
Windcrest’s website www.windcrestdairy.com and facebook (Windcrest Dairy) page are lots of fun, too. In addition to the virtual herd, there are contests and fun facts. You can see lots of photos and videos of the farm and the animals, especially Windcrest’s poster cow, the Yummy Yogurt cow who does what Windcrest has dubbed the yummy yogurt lick.
Windcrest produces Greek and regular yogurt in plain, vanilla, and fruit-on-the-bottom. They are in the process of learning how to transition toward non-GMO and organic production. They hope non-GMO verification and organic certification will be the next steps in their efforts at safe, healthy, quality food production.
It’s best to call or e-mail ahead for product availability, just in case a large group has temporarily wiped the store out of some products.
Windcrest Dairy is located at 14898 Old Trenton Rd. Trenton IL 62293. The farm phone number is 618-224-7802. You can e-mail Windcrest at yummyyogurt@windcrestdairy.com. Windcrest Dairy Farm Store is open from 9 to 6 every day.
Nancy Smith is the owner of Peace and Plenty Herbs and a regular contributor to The Healthy Planet magazine.