It’s no secret: Vermonters are fanatic about maple syrup. Wedrizzle it over our pancakes and smoked bacon, have it in our creemees andcandy, brew it with our beer; we flavor our lives with this sweet, stickysubstance.
The Vermont Agencyof Agriculture, Food and Markets, in partnership with the Vermont SugarmakersAssociation and UVM Extension, will hold three public meetings seeking comments on the proposed changes to the maple grading system.
Currently, the U.S.and Canada are the largest maple-producing countries in the world, and have completely different grading systems. In Vermont, an entirely separate gradingsystem is in place. For example,“Fancy,” “Grade A Dark Amber” and “Grade B” syrup only exist in the GreenMountain State’s markets.
The proposedchanges aim to streamline a variety of grading jargon into a new set ofconsistent international standards. “Vermont fancy” would be replaced with“Grade A Golden Delicate Taste.” The other grades would undergo a transformationas well:
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