July 16, 2010 – On Friday July 23rd, Natural Pastures Cheese Company will open its doors to the residents of the Comox Valley.  To celebrate the 30 Day Local Food Challenge, Natural Pastures is giving tours of the production area to passport holders for the Food Challenge.  There is cheese available for tasting, cheese making demonstrations and the feature cooking demonstration is by Karen Pattison of BiteSize Specialty Foods. The Natural Pastures Cheese plant is located at 635 McPhee Ave.  The open house starts at 11:00 am and finished at 3:00.  All are welcome to try some of our award winning cheese and talk with our dedicated staff.

“We don’t usually have the production area open to the public,” said Doug Smith, Natural Pastures Operations Manager, “This is the only time the plant has been open for public viewing since we first started producing cheese in 2001.”

Natural Pastures Cheese Company is an artisan cheese producer that has won many Canadian and international cheese competitions.  High quality locally produced milk is used by our Swiss trained Gold Medal winning cheese-maker to produce over 15 varieties of cheese that are sold across Canada.

The Comox Valley 30-Day Local Food Challenge is an immersive community experience each July that connects people from around the Comox Valley to the agricultural traditions and potential of this region.

Each year, local residents are challenged to spend 30 days experiencing local food through farm and food producer tours, restaurant events, educational activities and demonstrations that showcase the work and bounty of the nearly 500 farms, food producers and food-related organizations in the Comox Valley.

2010 major sponsors include the Comox Valley Record, JET FM, Comox Valley Regional District, Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures Strathcona, Impact Visual Communications and Eatmore Sprouts with support from the Comox Valley Farmers Market Association and the Comox Valley Farmers Institute.