NEW ENGLAND

1797 Farm
337 Fickett Road
Auburn, ME 04210
(207) 786 - 4688
www.1797farm.com

Blythedale Farm
Cookeville Road
Corinth, VT 05039
(802) 439 - 6575
www.vtcheese.com

Bonnieview Farm
2228 South Albany Road
Crafsbury Common, VT 05827
(802) 755 - 6878
www.vtcheese.com

Cato Corner Farm
178 Cato Corner Road
Colchester, CT 06415
(860) 537 - 3884
www.newenglandcheese.com

Cobb Hill Cheese
5 Linden Road
Hartland, VT 05048
(802) 436 - 1246
www.vtcheese.com

Doe's Leap
1703 Rt. 108 South
East Fairfield, VT 05448
(802) 827 - 3046
www.vtcheese.com

Green Mountain Blue Cheese
2183 Gore Road
Highgate Center, VT 05459
(802) 868 - 4193
www.vtcheese.com

Jasper Hill Farm
884 Garvin Hill Road
Greensboro, VT 05841
(802) 533 - 2566

Lakes End Cheeses
215 West Shore Road
Alburg, VT 05440
(802) 796 - 3730
www.lakesendcheeses.com

Major Farm
875 Patch Road
Putney, VT 05346
(802) 387 - 4473
www.vermontshepherd.com

Neighborly Farms of Vermont
1362 Curtis Road
Randolph Center, VT 05061
(802) 728 - 4700
www.neighborlyfarms.com

Orb Weaver Farm
3406 Limekiln Road
New Haven, VT 05472
(802) 877 - 3755
www.vtcheese.com

Shelburne Farms
1611 Harbor Road
Shelburne, VT 05482
(802) 985 - 8686
www.shelburnefarms.org

Taylor Farm
RR1 Box 129
Londonderry, Vermont 05148
(802) 824-5690
taylorcheese@comcast.net

Willow Hill Farm, LLC
313 Hardscrabble Road
Milton, VT 05468
(802) 893 - 2963
www.sheepcheese.com

Woodcock Farms
10 Turner Road
Weston, VT 05161
(802) 824 - 6135
www.vtcheese.com

MID-ATLANTIC

Farmersville Cheeses LLC
PO Box 502
Oldwick, NJ 08858
(201) 653 - 6330
www.farmersvillecheeses.com

Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese Company
5500 Route 79
Trumansburg, NY 14886
(607) 387 - 3108

Highfield Dairy Farm
263 Corner Road
Big Cove Tannery, PA 17212
(717) 485 - 5792

Keswick Creamery
114 Lesher Road
Newburg, PA 17240
(717) 423 - 6758

SOUTHEAST

Capriole
10329 New Cut Road
Grenville, IN 47124
(812) 923 - 9408
www.capriolegoatcheese.com

Everona Dairy
23246 Clarks Mountain Road
Rapidan, VA 22733
(540) 854 - 4159

Goat Lady Dairy
3515 Hess Hackett Road
Climax, NC 27233
(336) 824 - 2163
www.goatladydairy.com

La Chevriere at Sullivan Pond Farm
1754 Mill Creek Road
Wake, VA 23176
(804) 776 - 0759
www.lachevriere.com

Meadow Creek Dairy
6724 Meadow Creek Road
Galax, VA 24333
(276) 236 - 2776
www.meadowcreekdairy.com

Sweet Grass Dairy
19635 US Highway 19N
Thomasville, GA 31792
(229) 227 - 0752
www.sweetgrassdairy.com

Sweet Home Farm
27107 Schoen Road
Elberta, AL 36530
(251) 986 - 5663

Yellow Branch Farm
136 Yellow Branch Circle
Robbinsville, NC 28771
(828) 479 - 6710
www.yellowbranch.com

GREAT LAKES

Lovetree Farmstead Cheese
12413 Country Road Z
Grantsburg, WI 54840
(715) 488 - 2966
www.lovetreefarmstead.com

Steve-n-Sons Sustenance
14238 60th Avenue
Coopersville, MI 49404
(616) 997 - 1306
www.steve-n-sons-sustenance.us

CALIFORNIA

Bellwether Farms
9999 Valley Ford Road
Petaluma, CA 94952
(707) 763 - 0993
www.bellwethercheese.com

Bravo Farms
34292 Road 124
Visalia, CA 93291
(559) 627 - 3525

Fagundes Old-World Cheese
8700 Fargo Avenue
Hanford, CA 93230
(559) 582 - 2000
www.oldworldcheese.com

Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company
7713 Road 24
Orland, CA 95963
(530) 321-8727
www.realfarmsteadcheese.com

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company
PO Box 9
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
(415) 663 - 8880
www.pointreyescheese.com

Redwood Hill Farm
5480 Thomas Road
Sebastopol, CA 95472
(707) 823 - 8250
www.redwoodhill.com

Three Sisters Farmstead Cheese
23801 Road 180
Lindsay, CA 93247
(559) 562 - 2132
www.threesisterscheese.com

Winchester Cheese Company
32605 Holland Road
Winchester, CA 92596
(909) 926 - 4239
www.winchestercheese.com

NORTHWEST

Juniper Grove Farm
2024 SW 58th St
Redmond, OR 97756
(541) 923 - 8353

Saving Cherished Slow Foods, One Product at a Time

American Raw Milk Cheeses

Raw Milk Cheesemaker, courtesy of SF Foundation for Biodiversity

Producers

The first American cheeses were modeled on English and Dutch products and later on German and Italian ones, as immigrants brought their cheesemaking skills and traditions to the New World. Over the past 200 years, American cheesemakers have 'domesticated' these cheeses by making versions of traditional European cheeses. Dry Jack, Teleme, and Brick are examples of American cheeses based on European originals (Parmesan, Taleggio, and Limberger, respectively). In the past few decades, new American cheesemakers, many of them women, have created a wide spectrum of innovative artisan cheeses.

Often invented or based loosely on existing cheeses, these products are as unique as the cheesemakers themselves and they reflect as much persona as they do terroir. Hard, soft, cooked curd, washed rind, pressed, wrapped, they vary from huge 40 kilo wheels to tiny 100 gram forms, and are wrapped in leaves, sprinkled with ash, or crusted in salt. The cheeses included in Slow Food's first American Presidium project have a few common denominators: the use of raw milk from either the cheesemaker's or a local farm, and a powerful commitment to sustainable agriculture and artisan production. Many of these cheesemakers are 'farmstead' producers, using only the milk from their herd. Promoting farmstead means limiting the size of the farms involved (usually small family concerns) and adding an extra guarantee of quality.

The smallholders who make these artisan cheeses are usually working singly or only with their families. They make cheese daily and sell the vast majority at a weekly farmers' markets or directly to local restaurants, not through distribution networks. Given that they are selling at a tiny farmers' market where they might be the only cheese seller on hand, they may need to produce up to 10 or 12 different types of cheese - with one herd of 25 cows - to satisfy all the local needs: fresh cheese, grating cheese, cooking cheese, and table cheese. It's difficult to focus on any single variety when producing such a range of products, but it is the only way for a small producer to survive.

Raw Milk Cheeses, courtesy of SF Foundation for Biodiversity

The Presidium

In the United States, the sale of raw milk cheeses that are aged less than 60 days is illegal, and cheesemakers are also at risk of losing the right to produce all raw milk cheese altogether. Due to the lack of a regional identity and the difficulties in collaboration between different producers (they may be hundreds of miles apart), the situation facing American raw milk cheese producers is challenging. Small cheesemakers feel isolated and, in addition to the problems involved in running a business, have to contend with the problems of uncertain and everchanging health and food safety regulations. To put the project on a firm base, Slow Food has had to reconsider the normal structure of a Presidium and focus on the objectives.

The result is a project involving over 30 producers, connected not by historical or geographic links but by common aims: the improvement of quality of American raw milk cheeses and the creation of links between cheesemakers. A group of tasters, comprising Slow Food and cheesemaking experts, select the best raw milk farmstead cheeses each year from among participating producers. These cheeses will become the ambassadors of the project, representing the Presidium in different events and serving as an example of high quality for American producers. The Presidium has organized educational exchanges for cheesemakers, as well as tastings and promotional events.

Production Area: United States
Presidium Coordinator: Robert LaValva

Raw Milk Cheesemakers’ Association

Members of the Raw Milk Cheese Presidium reconvened in August 2007, during the American Cheese Society Conference, to create a new independent Raw Milk Cheesemakers’ Association. This new member based Association, open to raw milk cheesemakers, will focus on promoting and protecting the right to produce raw milk cheeses of quality in the U.S, and provide a network to assist small-scale cheesemakers with technical, regulatory and business resources. The Raw Milk Cheese Presidium will be a subset of this Association.

For more information on the Raw Milk Cheesemakers’ Association, please visit www.rawmilkcheese.org.

To read more about the Association, click here.

• To view the Raw Milk Cheese Presidium’s production protocol, click here.
• Click here to return to the full list of USA Presidium.