We were all going off to college. Some farther than others. The farthest was my good friend Sarah who was heading off to Boulder, Colorado where many a snowboard bum has traveled. I felt compelled to make her a going-away package. Anticipating her home-sickness, I filled a festive goody-bag with all things North-Easty including faux-foliage, a moose-shaped pencil sharpener, some candy, and of course: maple syrup, the focal point of all Green Mountain care packages. I’d found the perfect miniature jug for the little bag, at an astonishingly low price, might I add. I was proud when she thankfully accepted my gifts and left the next morning. It wasn’t until I got a call a few weeks into the school year that she told me. “Corie… the maple syrup you bought me is from New Hampshire”. Rookie move. I might as well have bought her some Aunt Jemima, I cringed at the realization, no wonder it was cheaper.
Sarah is now my current roommate at College of the Atlantic in Maine. We have big plans to come home for the Peru Fair and get our fill of maple-cotton candy and breathe in the beautiful scent of roasting pig. Vermont is one of those places that completely deserves all the hype it gets. Even after fifteen years of calling Vermont my home, I’m still dumbfounded by it’s beauty. I got strange looks freshman year when I said I knew the state song as well as the state bird and flower. Although I would not be able to pass a taste test of geographically different syrups, there is a pride that comes with Vermont maple. To answer Trubec’s question: “are producers of Vermont maple syrup missing an opportunity to valorize the taste of place more thoroughly…?”, I personally do not believe that the specific taste of Vermont maple syrup is very significant. Although it would be nice to justify my need for place-specific tree sap to sweeten my coffee (and though I am curious), it is enough for me to know that it came from home and I think it’s enough for others to picture those green hills and silver waters from which it came.
As a fellow Vermonter, this post completely resonated with me. I loved the anecdote about giving your friend New Hampshire maple syrup. The other day I felt the Vermont pride you spoke of in Trader Joes of all places. There were jugs of Vermont maple syrup on the shelf. I stood there for a while looking at the Trader Joes brand and wondered for a second, where in Vermont? I have found that when talking to other people outside of Vermont they think it’s basically just one small town and some rolling hills and that everyone must know each other. Frustrated, I always have to explain that Vermont is a big place and has a lot of diversity in landscape and town even in our little state. Seeing this Vermont label made me a little angry because this label is playing at the idea that Vermont is small and is the same wherever you go. I too am happy to call Vermont’s rolling hills and silver waters my home, though I wish people realized that Vermont has diversity too.