At her family farm in Vermont, Emma Marvin can sense the passage of time.

There are places where you stand and the realization sort of flows over you that I was here five years ago.

My dad was here 25 years ago, maybe.

My grandfather might have visited this tree.

There is a temporal connection that's really different with this kind of work.

Maple Serp is the embodiment of a cultural practice in the Northeast that dates back centuries.

Marvin is the co-CEO of Butternut Mountain Farm, a maple syrup company that she runs with her brother.

And for her, the sweet, sticky, golden brown liquid is more than just a breakfast topping.

Maple syrup is sunlight captured by a plant.

We're harvesting a tiny bit of the stored carbon from the tree, and everything else stays intact.

The way maple syrup production works, there is economic incentive to be great stewards of the northern

forest. Creation of this product has so much additional value beyond the product itself.

Maple syrup is the end result of a long process that starts with the sap of maple trees.

What it's not is table syrup. The stuff made by brands like log cabin and Mrs. Butterworths,

which contain corn syrup and preservatives. To be called maple syrup, it can only contain the sap of the maple tree.

That's it.

There is nothing except a lot of effort added to maple syrup.

But all of that effort makes for a pricey product.

A gallon of Butternut Mountain Farms grade A maple syrup is around five times more expensive than a gallon of Mrs. Butterworths.

So, is it worth it?

It is hard to convert people from the less expensive table syrups or pancake syrup to pure maple.

Cost is a big factor, but when people have made this commitment to try the real thing,

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