Four Inane Questions with Green Dirt Farm Founder Sarah Hoffmann

As the legend goes, Green Dirt Farm founder Sarah Hoffmann dreamed of running her own farm business while working as a doctor at the University of Washington. As a wee-one, she loved growing up on a farm. Hoffmann says she took inspiration for making fine cheese and running a business from her Aunt Jean, who owned a gourmet cheese shop in an era when women business owners were rare. 

So, in 2002, Hoffman took a leap of faith to start her dairy in Northwest Missouri. Today, the farm business is run by Hoffman and her daughter, Eliza, along with their hardworking and dedicated motley crew. From humble cheese-preneurs, the business has blossomed to include a cheese store and café in Weston, and a restaurant in downtown Kansas City. “We’re fulfilling our dreams and doing the groundwork, literally, to craft fantastic cheese humanely and sustainably,” Hoffmann says. 

Collectively, Team Green Dirt has earned over 80 awards from the artisan cheese community over the years, including a recent third place in Best of Show in the prestigious American Cheese Society Competition. The farm has also gotten props for supporting sustainability and social good.

We caught up with Hoffmann during a rare lull in the action to pepper(jack) her with our litany of funky questions. We also inhaled a tasty $200 cheese board while waiting for her answers. Happens. Bless.

The Pitch: What’s a holiday we don’t currently have, but desperately need on the calendar? 

Sarah Hoffmann: We desperately need International Stinky Cheese Day! It’s a day where everyone will carry their favorite stinky cheese around with them all day and wait for the reactions of the people near them. 

Stinky cheeses are super fun because they surprise us by not tasting like they smell. They have great umami, meaty flavors, and funk. They’re one of the great flavor sensations of the world in my opinion. Plus, they’re my fave.

What’s the worst concert you’ve ever been to? 

Oh jeez. probably one of my kids’ piano recitals. I won’t say which one because they might read this! Another cringe-worthy concert I went to? A Bob Dylan concert back in the early ’90s. I think he was completely wasted the whole time. He had trouble remembering the lyrics to his own songs and we couldn’t understand anything he said or sang. 

What’s the most random fact you know? 

The French sheep’s milk cheese “Roquefort” was the very first food to be given legal name protection. And, it was in the 1400s, way before the legal protections for wine names! The French pioneered the idea of legal name protections by making it a law that you can’t use a specific name for food unless the food meets exacting standards of production and identity. These laws have helped to preserve the identity of many traditional foods. I think it’s so cool that a sheep’s milk cheese was the first food to have legal name protection.

What’s the biggest misconception about your job? 

So many people mistakenly think that we milk goats. We don’t—we milk sheep! This misconception is probably because sheep dairying in the U.S. is very rare. We’re one of only about 50 commercial sheep dairies in the entire country. 

Another misconception is that sheep’s milk is just like goat’s milk. Interestingly, it’s completely different. Everything about it is different, from taste to chemical makeup. Sheep milk is more concentrated than goat or cow milk, and it doesn’t have the same flavor compounds that give goat milk its goaty flavor. Sheep milk is richer and much better tasting.

Bonus 5th Question: Spicy or not spicy? Yes, we’re talking about food, dear.

Spicy sometimes. It all depends on the food. I prefer to add my spicy though, rather than have it controlled by somebody who’s out to make me sweat—like my husband. We make a yummy-spicy, chili-flavored fresh cheese. What I love about this cheese is that, besides the moderate zing you get, you can really taste the flavor of the peppers.