If you live in the Midwest, you may catch us doing cheesemaking demos and in-store book signings in March, 2008 at a Whole Foods Market near you. We are pleased to partner with Whole Foods to have an event that spreads the word about the farmstead cheese movement, home cheesemaking, how to select great cheeses to eat, and more. Linda will also be signing copies of her book "Mad Sheep." We are scheduled for:

Whole Foods in Omaha Nebraska store on March 7,
Whole Foods in Willowbrook (near Chicago) on March 12,
Whole Foods in Madison, Wisconsin on March 14,
Whole Foods in Milwaukee on March 15,
Whole Foods in Lincoln Park, Chicago on March 16,
Whole Foods in Northbrook, IL on March 17,
Whole Foods in West Bloomfield, Michigan on March 20.

Three Shepherds Farm is a true family farm and has the involvement of all five members of the Faillace Family: Larry and Linda and their three children, Francis, Heather, and Jackie have worked together since 1993 on a farm enterprise that has a commitment to sustainable practices and high quality artisanal products. The production of their highly-acclaimed raw milk cheeses from the finest grass-fed milk has a loyal following not only in the Mad River Valley of Vermont, but across the country (when available!). Larry and Jackie's cheeses have been featured in numerous publications and on television including "Food Finds" on the Food Network, Martha Stewart television, "Gourmet," "Cooking Light," and "Ski" Magazine. The cheeses are handmade in small batches and aged with care in their unique strawbale aging cellar.

Larry and Linda have taught the techniques, philosophy, and gastronomic delight of farmstead cheesemaking to more than 600 students from North America, India, and the Middle East. The class is normally taught at Three Shepherds cheesemaking facility in the heart of the Green Mountains of Vermont, but they have also taken the class on the road to the University of Nebraska, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardener's headquarters, and several farms on the East coast. Group rates are available, please contact us if you have specific needs we can help with. On farm cheese consulting is also available for facility development, product refinement, new product creation, and more. See the "Cheese Classes" page for details on dates and description for the 2008 scheduled classes.

Many will be familiar with the invasion of Three Shepherd's Farm by the United States Department of Agriculture in 2001. Forty armed federal agents and USDA officials stormed the farm in the middle of a blizzard on March 23, 2001 and seized the family's beloved flock of healthy sheep and killed them for a disease that doesn't exist to this day. The government's own laboratories proved the sheep to be healthy but the USDA has engaged in destroying evidence, hiding evidence from Federal court, ignoring the Freedom of Information Act, putting the Faillaces under months of surveillance, and using an outside laboratory which has been shut down for gross negligence. Linda Faillace has written a critically acclaimed account of the story in her book "Mad Sheep--The True Story behind the USDA's War on a Family Farm" which was published by Chelsea Green Publishing in 2006.