Manitoba cheese manufacturer receives non-GMO project status

Dec 05, 2016

Bothwell Cheese will launch the line in 2017

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

In 2017, a cheese manufacturer from New Bothwell, Manitoba will begin producing a line of cheese verified by the Non-GMO Project.

Bothwell Cheese will use milk from dairy cows fed non-GMO crops to create their line of non-GMO cheese – the first of its kind in Canada.

According to Non-GMO Project, the company will produce a medium cheddar and medium white cheddar cheese.

It already distributes more than 25 varieties of cheese through different retailers.

“Bothwell Cheese has a long history of introducing innovations in cheese to provide customers with greater choice,” Kevin Thomson, president, Bothwell Cheese, said in a release. “Individuals and families are telling us they would like to be given more choice and we are proud to be able to offer this as an option.”

Bothwell cited an Ipsos Reid Poll from 2015, which states “88 per cent of Canadians believe labels (for GMO) should be made mandatory by the Canadian government, 87 per cent said because “I just want to know what’s in the food I’m eating.’”

The cheese’s packaging will feature the Non-GMO Project’s verification label.

In addition to the non-GMO verification, Bothwell Cheese purchased Notre Dame Creamery, located in Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.