Aug 23, 2022
Linda and Larry Faillace spent
years at the University of Nottingham in England, where Linda
became an expert in Mad Cow Disease (BSE). Upon return to the U.S.,
they imported sheep from Europe, with USDA approval, and began a
cheese making business in Vermont, with their three
children active participants in the enterprise.
But a few years later, the USDA came after them, claiming that
their sheep might carry BSE, and told them to surrender their
sheep. Because they had science on their side––no sheep had ever
had BSE––the Faillaces fought back...with grim and dramatic
consequences. Linda's book, Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind
the USDA's War on a Family Farm , tells the story...well, most
of it. The real reason for the USDA's attack on their farm was
revealed a decade later, as she recounts in today's podcast.
Still, Linda Faillace remains an optimist, and she and her husband
have continued to make cheese and teach cheese making and culinary
arts. She has a lot to say about the growing power of the
ever-growing local food movement.