A Closer Look: The Springfield Creamery

Springfield Creamery is a cataylst for the "natural foods" boom in the United States. The Creamery was passed down through Ken Kesey's family and Kesey grew up as a "creamery rat" as a kid, working to sell milk. The Creamery's famous "Nancy’s Yogurt" was a Oregon hit. As a space since its origins in the early 1900s, the farm's Creamery saw a diverse amount of things: dishes washed by hippies, gardens planted by commune members, foundations built by volunteers, cows milked by Kesey family members. The space produced cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and a number of "green" foods. In recent times, the Creamery has made $20 million in 2010.

Ken Kesey's brother in law, Chuck Kesey, studied probiotics at Oregon State University. After Chuck's studies, he was eager to put his skills into practice. Luckily enough, Kesey's friend Nancy Van Brahn also knew how to make yogurt. Nancy and Chuck teamed up. After successfully navigating the newly emerging Oregon yogurt culture, Nancy and Chuck eventually were the first US dairy company to use live Lactobacillus acidophilus cultures. [5]

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