Chicagoist's Cheese Of The Month: Prairie Fruits Farm Fresh Chevre

Spring has arrived. Flowers and plants are sprouting up from the ground, the air is moist and warm, and we’re in the middle of kidding season— the time of year when nanny goats give birth to adorable, frolicking babies. The only thing better than baby goats is the creamy, fresh chevre that results. Wonderful silken chevre— if there are clouds in cheese heaven, they’re made of you. After speaking with Leslie Cooperband last week for Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day, we couldn’t resist featuring her fresh chevre as our April Cheese of the Month.

Prairie Fruits Farm keeps a small herd of about 100 goats, who spend the majority of their days roaming the pastures, which they occasionally break out of to loot the various orchards and vegetable gardens on the farm. The herd is Animal Welfare Approved, meaning the farm’s goats are raised to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards. “It forces us to really think about welfare in a really holistic framework,” says Cooperband, “It’s not just about how much space they have. It’s about giving animals the opportunity to express their natural behaviors. It’s about letting them be goats.”

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