Joyce “The Crazy Cheese Lady” Henion

Joyce  “The Crazy Cheese Lady”  Henion, farmer and cheese-maker from Acorn Hill Farm

Annie Yu: What is your favorite thing to eat?

Joyce Henion: Oh God, should I be subjective to my stand? I guess beets with goat cheese and a good local white wine.

AY: What do you like to do during your free time?

JH: (laughs) What free time? Seriously, farming and cheese-making take up a lot of my time. I guess in the winter, when I have a little bit of free time, I like to go skiing.

AY: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

JH: I guess I would go to Scotland because I have family roots there and it’s just beautiful.

AY: How did you get started in this industry?

JH: It was a series of beautiful accidents. I got a couple of goats to make cheese and yogurt for my family and then my friend started a farm market, so she asked me to sell my cheese there and now it’s been about eight years. I didn’t set out to do it, so that’s why I call it a beautiful accident.

AY: What is your favorite thing about the community? Whether it’s right here selling your cheese on campus or in the town of New Paltz?

JH: Sometimes I joke I should live in New Paltz ‘cause I spend so much time here. It’s a cool, diverse community that just seems to function well together. You know, sometimes the town and the school get into conflicts but in the end it all works out, that’s where the diversity comes in. It just works.