It’s easy to get overwhelmed when reading food labels. From scanning the ingredient list for unpronounceable elements to decoding nutritional claims on the packaging, it can be a minefield.

In order to make smart food choices, we just want to know what’s in our food and where it comes from, so we love when things are straightforward. Like Canadian products, locally sourced from premium ingredients. What could be simpler than that?

Thornloe Cheese may have been around for over 75 years, but in summer 2017 they became the first in Canada to produce Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) verified Grass Fed cheeses. Their cheese, as well as a brand new line of butter, is made from grass-fed milk in the Temiskaming Valley, located 600 km north of Toronto, beyond Muskoka.

Thornloe Cheese works with local farmers who pasture cows when weather permits and feed them a grass-based diet during the winter months. Why? When cheese is produced from full-fat milk from grass-fed cows, micronutrients that are beneficial to our health – like omega 3, Vitamin A and E, and antioxidants – make it into our diets.

And it’s not just the grass that makes their cheese taste better – the cows are happier because they're well looked after. Any of their products with the grass-fed symbol ensures that the milk they source has been monitored for standards in animal care and pasturing by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. This reputation for quality cheese hasn't gone unnoticed; Thornloe Cheese won the 2018 Innovation Award for community and industry leadership.

Thornloe boasts a huge range of delicious cheeses – choose from the award-winning mild and creamy Devil’s Rock; the sharp and salty Casey Blue; or their earthy, nutty Harley Blue Goat Cheese, a very rare find in Canada.

However you enjoy Thornloe Cheese, it's good to know you're buying real dairy, locally produced – 100% milk, 100% of the time, made in Ontario.

To find out where you can buy Thornloe Cheese, head to thornloecheese.ca.