Champlain Orchards: A Socially and Environmentally Responsible Business

At Champlain Orchards, we're devoted to providing a safe, supportive and friendly atmosphere for our employees. Our farm welcomes new employees as members of a family. We hire and house seasonal help from Jamaica through a federal guest worker program and we are committed to employing and housing local year-round help as well. During the last five years we have renovated our old machine shop, using the space to create a bakery, administrative offices, and a gathering place where employees can cook and eat lunch and converse. Our recently constructed labor house affords employees a full kitchen, full bathroom and showers, high-speed internet and energy-efficient washer/dryers.

We are also committed to investing in new forms of energy. We have recently installed an anemometer to analyze the winds coming off Lake Champlain. We hope to convert these winds into energy for our farm, becoming less and less dependent on the grid for energy. We are looking at options for solar energy as well, and plan on shifting our fleet of trucks to biodiesel fuel in the near future. We have recently begun working with Spring Hill Consulting, a company that is helping us to develop a broad strategy regarding our carbon management, clean energy, and sustainability efforts and goals.