VNC Press Room
Big Ideas: Hardwick farmer Andrew Meyer reinvents Vermont agriculture
Candace Page, Burlington Free Press
"In the future of Andrew Meyer's dreams, more farms -- not fewer -- dot the hillsides of the Northeast Kingdom. Farmers still sell milk, but have diversified to earn a more stable income, less whipsawed by the rise and fall of milk prices. "
View the article at the Burlington Free Press [HTML]
Crazy Idea, But it Might Just Work
Bibi van der Zee, The Guardian
"The farmers are happy, the environmental officers are happy, and the floors are gleaming. What more could you ask?" Read more. [PDF]
View the article at The Guardian [HTML]
Where there's a will there's a 'whey'
BRUCE EDWARDS, Rutland Herald
Growing up on the family farm in Hardwick imbued Andrew Meyer with a love of farming and a commitment to Vermont agriculture. Today, the 37-year-old farmer and entrepreneur has taken that passion and created two companies that produce valued-added dairy-based products. Meyer found an innovative use for whey, a byproduct of cheese making. Whey protein is most often used as a food additive. But Meyer's company, Vermont Natural Coatings uses whey to make a water-based wood finish for floors and furniture that is far more environmentally friendly than finishes that rely heavily on solvents. Read more. [PDF]
Made in Vermont: "Green" Wood Finishes
Read the WCAX - Made in Vermont story by Jack Thurston
Vermont Natural Coatings™ Introduces New High-Performance Floor and Furniture Finish Made from Natural Whey Protein
Vermont Natural Coatings™, a Vermont-based manufacturer of low-VOC floor and furniture finishes, announced it has launched its PolyWhey™ Floor and Furniture Finish products. In development since 2001 ... PolyWhey is a high performance natural finish that offers an environmentally smart alternative to traditional polyurethane. [PDF]
"UVM Innovations," Todd Keiller, Office of Technology Transfer, 2007
Dr. Ming Ruo Guo of UVM’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences developed an environmentally friendly wood finish that incorporates whey protein, usually a dairy industry waste product. Read More...
"Fueling Functional Foods," Jon Reidel, The View, University of Vermont,
February 11, 2004 [PDF]
Dr. Mingruo Guo, co-creator of Vermont Natural Coatings PolyWhey, discusses
the creative process behind his research. Read more...
"Clean and Green: Wood Industry, Dairy Farmers, and Consumers to Profit
from Whey-based Varnish," Sharon Harlow, Impact, Spring 2001, University of Vermont Extension [PDF]
The origins of Vermont Natural Coatings follows the environmental and economic needs of the local dairy and wood product industries. Read more...
Partial funding for this project was provided by NCIC through a Rural Business Enterprise Grant from USDA Rural Development.