Like any farm product, we think it is important to reduce carbon foot print and use the item that is closest to your table. Sugar Maple trees are limited to the Northeastern United States, Canada and Great Lakes region. For this purpose, the Maple Syrup sold at Jupiter Foods is from Pennsylvania. In Wendell Berry’s 2015 book, “Our Only World” Troy Firth was introduced to us as a steward of the forest. Since 1971, Firth has practiced sustainable forestry as the owner and manager of Firth Maple Products, producing and selling certified organic maple syrup while taking a different approach to sustainable timber harvesting. Firth led the movement towards uneven-aged forest management instead of intensive even-aged management, a method that cultivates greater forest habitat diversity and ecosystem integrity. In an era when mechanical tree removal is the status quo, Firth uses horses to skid logs on his 7,000 acres of forest, demonstrating that horses can meet the needs of industrial forestry without compromising the health of the forest floor.
For over 45 years, Troy Firth has set himself apart as a responsible and thoughtful pioneer in sustainable forestry. Firth has received numerous accolades from conservation and forest industry groups, including the Pennsylvania Tree Farmer of the Year Award, Forest Conservation Stewardship Award, and many others. In his 2013 essay “A Forest Conversation,” acclaimed author Wendell Berry wrote of Firth’s work:
“A forest, kindly used, will outlive unimaginably any of its trees.” Wendell Berry
