The Good Food Awards, a celebration of tasty, authentic, and responsibly produced food and drink, have announced their 182 finalists in nine categories: beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, confections, pickles, preserves and spirits. This year, they've received a record number of cheese entries! Who are you rooting for?

The desire to create a taste of place was mentioned as a driving force by many of the Finalists. As Tim Young, the producer of Nature’s Harmony Farm Fortsonia Gruyere explained: “It’s critical that our cows’ diet reflects our local terroir. That means they need access to a polyculture of grasses, weeds, forbs, herbs, legumes, etc. from which to choose … this will result in subtle flavors that give the cheese a sense of time and place that cannot be replicated elsewhere. After all, if all dairies are feeding grain to their cows, and if all grain is essentially the same, then how unique can the cheeses really be?”

See the finalists here
Photo by Michael Korcuska