Milk Trekker : September 2016

Who I am and what my mission is.

I spent ten years making cheese in the US before beginning to travel globally volunteering with cheesemakers and herders in 2019. I wish to document the intersection of traditional and modern techniques, and portray the global diversity of dairying, cheesemaking, and grazing practices. In doing this I want to show how the final cheese is the end product of a complex series of relationships and decisions made by humans, that are embedded in a a cultural, geographic, and climatic setting. I advocate for raw milk, a natural starter cultures, heritage breeds, regenerative or ecologically responsible grazing, and the right of all humans to ferment milk in their own homes, selling in local markets. In order to further my mission I am writing a book, and hope to build an online archive, a global database of cheese, dairy, and grazing knowledge. I would love to talk with anyone interested in hosting me anywhere in the world and hearing about how you do things.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Visiting Sugar House Creamery

In upstate New York, close to the Canadian border, lies a magical place called Sugar House Creamery. I got in touch with owner/operators Margot and Alex who invited me, a complete stranger, to come stay for a few days during their annual green grass get down when they let their small herd of 12 Brown Swiss cows out to pasture after the winter. I drove over from Vermont and was immediately impressed with the tranquility of the farm, quality to of the milk and cheese, and legitimacy of the operation.

The cheese above is called Lil Dickens. It is a scrumptious Geo rind cheese with a delicate satiny texture.

The cows, the cheese, a little farm store where raw milk and farm products are sold. Promotion of other local farms and participation in a small scale economy. They have it all dialed in.