Farmers market to include cheese-making demo June 11

The Historic Lewes Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 11, at The Lewes Historical Society Complex, 110 Shipcarpenter St., Lewes.

The market demonstration at 10 a.m. will feature Mike Berardinelli from Touch of Italy, Lewes’ first salumeria and pasticceria. He will demonstrate the art of making fresh Italian mozzarella.

Born in the Bronx, Berardinelli grew up in Yonkers and made his way to coastal Delaware in 2002. He received a degree in electrical engineering from Delaware Technical & Community College before discovering his passion for food and artisanal cheeses.

Berardinelli honed his craft under the tutelage of the mozzarella maestro of Arthur Avenue, Orazio Carciotto, cheese artisan at the Casa Della Mozzarella in the Little Italy section of the Bronx. He makes the cheese daily from the freshest ingredients in the glass enclosure at the front of Touch of Italy on Second Street in Lewes.

Maureen Miller from the Lewes Public Library will be reading “Planting a Rainbow” by Lois Ehlert at 9 a.m. in the schoolhouse at the Lewes Historical Society. All children are welcome.

The Historic Lewes Farmers Market is competing in the 2011 America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest, and it needs everyone’s help to win. Voting is now under way to select America’s Favorite Farmers Market at www.farmland.org/vote. The contest is a nationwide challenge to see which markets can rally the most support from their communities. Online voting is taking place through midnight, Wednesday, Aug. 31, when four winning markets - one large, one medium, one small, and one boutique - will receive the title of America’s Favorite Farmers Market for 2011. Winners will be featured on the food site Epicurious.com and will be honored at local celebrations that include prizes.

Casting a vote for the Historic Lewes Farmers Market is a fun and easy way to support local farmers, the market, and the community. To vote, go to www.farmland.org/vote and select the Historic Lewes Farmers Market. Last year, the market placed No. 2 nationwide in the medium-sized market category. The America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest is hosted by American Farmland Trust, the nation’s leading conservation organization dedicated to saving America’s farms and ranch land, promoting environmentally sound farming practices, and supporting a sustainable future for farms. The contest is a part of the organization’s No Farms No Food campaign, which raises awareness of the dangers of farmland loss by making connections to food.

“Farms near metropolitan areas produce 91 percent of our nation’s market value of fruit, 78 percent of vegetables, and 67 percent of dairy products,” said Jon Scholl, president of American Farmland Trust. “Farmers markets are a vital link between local farms and their supporting communities, providing fresh and healthy food and an experience that cannot be matched anywhere else.”

For more information about America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest or to cast a vote, visit www.farmland.org/vote. For more information about the Historic Lewes Farmers Market visit www.historiclewesfarmersmarket.org.