Artisan Cheese-Making Brings Them A New Slice Of Life
October 19, 2010 | 1 min to read
For five generations, Karen Bianchi-Moreda's family had been dairy farmers in the Sonoma town of Valley Ford. The year 2009 almost changed all that as she watched her neighbors leave the business one after another. Then she found cheese.
Now her dairy, Valley Ford Cheese Co., is one of several across the country that have found new life by turning their focus from commodity milk into making some of the best artisan cheeses in the nation.
These are hard times for small dairy farmers — there are water shortages, corporate dairy processors are paying an average 40% less for milk than they did two years ago, exports are falling, and the cost of hay, cattle feed and gas are skyrocketing.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Los Angeles Times.