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photo credit: Courtesy of Jennifer BiceJennifer Bice with her 'upbeat' charges.
The contributions of Jennifer Bice to the 20th and 21st-century advancement of artisan food, specifically dairy products made from goat's milk, cannot be overestimated.
Bice is among a small NorCal group - mostly women - who popularized these now-beloved foods. Her goat’s milk kefir, yogurt and fine cheeses are part of the culture of excellence of Northern California.
Bice said goats have really hit their moment.
“The goat's personality and the happiness and upbeatness of goats is really enough to you know draw anyone in,” Bice said.
Bice said she first came to Sonoma County decades ago.
“My parents moved us from Southern California suburbia in the 1960s to Sebastopol,” she explained, “And we had an acre in the country, a former apple orchard like so many in Sebastopol and my father had been in 4H, which is an agricultural youth organization, and pretty soon we were joining 4H and getting all sorts and manners of animals,” Bice said.
Bice said goats became a personal favorite early on.
“We taught them to jump and we used to dress them up and pretend we were in the circus," Bice said. "And you know, it just kind of grew from there."
Today, Bice's Redwood Hill Farm spans 20 acres and boasts approximately 100-120 goats, with around 60 actively milked. But with the sale of her Redwood Hill Creamery business to Swiss dairy company Emmi in 2016, Bice said she has taken the opportunity to semi-retire back on the farm.
"As the creamery got larger and larger, I was starting to feel like I was getting a little bit out of my realm with having almost 90 employees,” Bice said. “And so I did decide to sell."
Bice said she picked Emmi for its ethics.
“They have the long-term vision rather than make a lot of money quick and fast and sell it over again,” Bice said. “Also, they're very into the sustainability that I really value."
Bice said these days she's embracing life back on the farm.
“Now I feel like I'm at least semi-retired and I get to be with the goat,” Bice said. “We have a flower field and also do olive oil....so, we are doing farming and it just is really nice knowing that it's still there."
Bice offers seasonal farm tours, usually late March through May, and sometimes in October. The tours feature baby goats, milking demonstrations, and time to interact with the animals.
Jennifer Bice was Clark Wolf’s guest on a recent episode of Savoring Sonoma: The Hour. If you missed their conversation, or want to hear it again, you can find it at KRCB.org/SavoringSonoma. You can also subscribe to the podcast.
