Mark Armstrong and Barbara Grant, from Acoustic Farms in Springville Iowa, won awards for some of their homemade cheeses!

Here is the message from Mark:

“Over the weekend we entered a cheese contest in Syracuse NY.  Cheeses had to be made with only Jersey milk and awards were awarded on a point system, not just 1st 2nd etc.  The contest included cheeseries from across the US and some in Canada.  Now remember, some of these people have been making cheese as a family tradition for a long time. We entered 4 different types of cheese, 3 soft Fromage Blanc styles and a raw milk Parmesan. Thanks to our beautiful Jerseys and the support of my lovely wife,  we managed to receive 3 medals,  Bronze, Silver, and Gold for our cheese.   This is our first contest and we are just amazed.”

Here is an except from a local newspaper article about the contest:

“Judges search for best Jersey cheese at annual gathering in DeWitt
The competition is part of annual industry gathering held in Syracuse area.
Friday, July 03, 2009
By Debra J. Groom, Staff writer, Oswego County News

Seventy-seven cheeses. Piece by piece, the cheeses were tasted, smelled, handled, squeezed and thoroughly examined Thursday by six judges at the North American Jersey Cheese Awards contest at the DoubleTree Hotel in DeWitt.

This was just one event in the American Jersey Cattle Association and National All-Jersey Inc. annual meetings and conventions being conducted in the Syracuse area through Saturday. More than 400 Jersey cattle owners from across the country and other parts of the globe gather to celebrate their breed and learn more on how to raise these cattle.

The cheese contest is only in its second year, having kicked off its inaugural edition last year at the convention in Jersey - the English isle where the Jersey breed originated.The cheeses in the contest Thursday were all made with Jersey milk and submitted from across the United States. The six judges, dressed in crisp white chef’s jackets, meticulously examined each of their samples without knowing the maker or state of origin of the cheese. Working in teams of two, each team had 25 or 26 cheeses to taste. ”

Mark says the cheese-making facility on their farm is about two weeks from being fully-inspected and operational. New Pioneer Co-op grocery store and Roots in Cedar Falls will be carrying their cheeses.

Mark and Barbara state that their inspiration for become cheese-makers happened during the 2008 Slow Food Terra Madre Conference in Turino, Italy. They met other cheese-makers at the conference and the discussions encouraged them to try this new aspect of farming. Local Foods Connection nominated Mark and Barbara to be delegates to the conference.

Sincerely, Laura Dowd