From CISA’s Local Hero Spotlight on WRSI, some real talk from farmer, dynamo, and master cheese-maker Shannon Rice-Nichols, owner of The Farmer and The Cheese.
Shannon’s tale is vast, spanning farmer collaborations to COVID chaos and tragedy to “a rather epic goat milk feta” and teaching Gordon Ramsey how to make pulled-curd mozzarella. Listen here, and don’t forget to visit their new creamery opening in March for ice cream, cheese, and so much more!
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There’s a lot of moving pieces to Shannon’s operation, including…
The farm: among other things, they offer box membership shares and supply eggs and produce to the Go Fresh Mobile Farmers’ Market in Springfield. At the beginning of COVID, they also began diverting food that couldn’t be sold to restaurants to community members that needed it.
The Farmshop and Cafe: offering “seasonal farm produce, items made from our own and regional farm products, grab and go meals, and a café with a simple seasonal menu.” Online ordering too!
And now the creamery! (opening in March): house-made ice cream, yogurt, kefir, and of course cheese. Shannon is an official master cheese-maker with serious chops. Expect to find all kinds of cheese here, including “goat-cow milk Romano”…”mozzarella and cheddar cheese curds”…and Latin American cheeses inspired by local interest.
Where’s the name from? “Just before I moved here, my friend shared a dream that she read a book I wrote – a memoir called ‘The Farmer and The Cheese,” says Shannon, and she ran with it!
