It’s National Cheese Lover’s Day!

I always thought I loved cheese, but I didn’t realize how much I really loved cheese until I started making it.

Much like everything in the food system these days, what you find at the grocery store is such a tiny subset of the diversity that exists among cheeses. The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS, 2022) literally tracks per capita cheese consumption in such broad categories as “Cheddar”, “Other than Cheddar”, “Total other-than-American cheese, excluding cheese not from cows”, “total natural cheese” (which does not include cottage cheese but I don’t know what it does include? 🤔), and various other vague categories that basically makes it look like all people eat in this country is cheddar and mozzarella (which, combined, make up about 23% of per capita cheese consumption in 2022). Curiously, total cheese consumption has gone up by by over 35 lbs a year in the last 20 years in the US! I love cheese, but holy smokes that’s a huge jump.

There’s a huge diversity of cheese out there that goes beyond those blanket categories, even ones I had no idea existed when I started making cheese. And the subtleties in my methods can change the flavor of a cheddar, meaning what we set out to make can end up so dang different from what you find in the grocery store, and may be a “Cheddar” in process, but have a flavor unlike anything you’ve ever purchased.

There’s a lot to say on this topic about microbes and love of process and resistance to big food, etc., etc. But for now, the main thing is that cheese is such an incredible life force, and I love doing my part to maintain the small scale traditions that, literally, keep cheese alive. I truly am a cheese lover.