The Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County is partnering with The Farm at Doe Run and Éclat Chocolate to raise funds for research and conservation efforts of the Center through the sale of special Stroud products.

The Stroud Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, is an independent, non-advocacy nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing knowledge and stewardship of fresh water through scientific research, environmental education, and watershed restoration-- worldwide.

The Farm at Doe Run is donating 10 percent of proceeds from its Mayfly Cheese to the Stroud Center.

Éclat Chocolate will share 50 percent of all proceeds from the Stroud 72 percent cacao chocolate bar with Stroud.

The Farm at Doe Run

Cheese lovers have a new reason to celebrate this holiday season: The Farm at Doe Run-- which won Gold at the 2016 World Cheese Awards in San Sebastian, Spain, and second prize for best in show at the American Cheese Society’s 2016 and 2017 conferences-- has released a new cheese in support of clean fresh water around the world.

The Farm at Doe Run is donating 10 percent of proceeds from its Mayfly Cheese to the Stroud Water Research Center.

The Mayfly Cheese is named in honor of the delicate winged creatures that fly above healthy streams and rivers; they’re what Stroud Water Research Center scientists call the canary in the coal mine: when the mayflies disappear, it’s a good sign clean water has disappeared too.

Stroud Center Executive Director Dave Arscott said, “We have a long history of partnering with farmers and landowners to plant streamside forests and implement other practices on land that will benefit the water quality in streams and provide a healthier habitat for the fish and other organisms living in them. The Farm at Doe Run is one of those partners. The Mayfly Cheese, produced using sustainable farming practices, is the perfect way to celebrate and fund this work.”

The Farm at Doe Run is situated along Sharitz Run, a small tributary of Doe Run, which in turn feeds into Brandywine Creek-- Wilmington, Delaware’s drinking-water supply.

Although currently listed as an impaired stream by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, recent watershed restoration work guided by the Stroud Center at The Farm at Doe Run and other sites owned by cooperating landowners has greatly improved water quality.

The Stroud Center has also helped the effort by planting 6,000 trees in the watershed. The long-term goal is to restore a viable brook trout fishery to Sharitz Run.

Cheesemaker Samuel Kennedy said, “We love the idea that Stroud Water Research Center is located right here in our own backyard and has long been recognized nationally and internationally for their freshwater research, education, and watershed restoration programs that help affect water quality and availability around the world. Their dedication to our local water system is remarkable, providing necessary research and programs to ensure the future of clean healthy water, our ecosystem, and farming.”

Just a 10-minute drive from the farm, the Stroud Center provides educational programs about streamside reforestation, riparian forest buffers, and their Leaf Pack Network® for students and tour groups.

In a formal statement, the farm’s creamery team announced, “Clean healthy water is essential to healthy communities, and we are honored to be working to help repair streams in our area with the help of the highly skilled scientists at the Stroud Center. Our support for local environmental organizations is just one way in which we are committed to building a healthier landscape for us all.”

The Mayfly is a Camembert-style cheese with a bloomy rind and is inspired by The Farm at Doe Run’s Normandy milk from their grass-fed herd and the beauty of tradition. It is available at the following retailers:

-- 320 Market in Swarthmore and Media, Pennsylvania

-- Cornerstone in Wayne, Pennsylvania

-- Country Butcher in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

-- Triple Fresh in East Fallowfield, Pennsylvania

-- Terrain in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

-- Glen's Garden Market in Washington, DC

-- The Dabney in Washington, DC

Éclat Chocolate

Just in time for the holidays, proceeds from the sale of a new chocolate bar will help protect clean fresh water around the world.

Éclat Chocolate, whose chocolates were named best in America by Bon Appétit, has released the Stroud Chocolate Bar to support the scientific research, environmental education, and watershed restoration work by Stroud Water Research Center.

The world-renowned nonprofit dedicated to advancing knowledge and stewardship of fresh water is celebrating its 50th anniversary and will receive half of all proceeds from the 72 percent-cacao chocolate bar.

The Stroud Chocolate Bar is available at the Éclat Chocolate website and through Éclat Chocolate retailers.

Stroud Center Executive Director Dave Arscott said, “The Stroud Chocolate Bar is such an appropriate way for people to support clean fresh water given our recent work near Iquitos, Peru, to assess water quality in streams. DNA studies have confirmed that the pristine forest region of Iquitos, along the headwaters of the Amazon River, is the birthplace of the evergreen cacao tree (Theobroma cacao). Our work has shown that the Iquitos region is not only famous for supplying the original genetic stock of the cocoa bean but also for supplying clean fresh water to the Amazon. It is wonderful that the new chocolate bar will help support our efforts to conserve and restore tropical forest ecosystems and their streams."

“We have always been a supporter of environmental and sustainable practices, as water quality affects all facets of ecosystems. Water conservation and protection is important to a sustainable planet and quality of life to the farmers that grow this amazing cacao,” said Master Chocolatier Christopher Curtin.

For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Stroud Water Research Center website, Click Here to subscribe to UpStream.  Click Here to subscribe to Stroud’s Educator newsletter.  Click Here to become a Friend Of Stroud Research,  Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, include them in your Circle on Google+ and visit their YouTube Channel.

[Posted: Dec. 12, 2017]

12/18/2017