The Red, White, and Green

In my never-ending quest to eliminate unnecessary packaging from my grocery shopping, I was intrigued when I recently came across Saint Benoît yogurt in the dairy aisle of my local Whole Foods. Packaged in individual ceramic crocks (and quite beautiful ones at that) that can be reused (makes a handy pencil holder!) or returned for deposit, the artisanal French-style yogurt looked too tempting to pass up. 

Now, these are tough economic times, and $2.99 for a 7.5-ounce yogurt plus $1.50 deposit does seem a bit steep, but you’ve got to hand it to a company that is determined nonetheless to pursue its vision of respecting the land and top-notch craftsmanship. 

Once I sampled the honey flavor I had purchased, I realized what I was paying for. The taste is out of this world — like nothing I’ve had outside of the homemade yogurt I once ate for breakfast at a tiny pensione on the island of Capri.

More like a dessert than the tangy yet somewhat flavorless product I’m used to, it’s hard to believe the Saint Benoît yogurt I tried is made from a mere three ingredients: whole organic Jersey milk, Marshall’s Farm honey, and living cultures. But then again, I’m a firm believer that outstanding food is the result of outstanding ingredients, prepared simply. There’s no need to mask the taste of a product with sugar (or high-fructose corn syrup) and fillers when the milk comes from lovingly raised cows and the fruit spreads (in the other flavors) are made from whole, locally grown organic fruit.

At present, the Sonoma County-based Saint Benoît is only available in California. Lucky for me, but I’m sorry to say that the current economy will make this but an occasional indulgence. It makes me sad — since I so long to live in a world where all food is this sustainable and this delicious — yet hopeful for the future that there are farmers working this hard to move us toward that world.

–Jennifer Grayson

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