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Carlos Yescas on why raw-milk cheese matters ...

Seemingly unimportant everyday decisions are hugely political once they become part of a habit and a practice. If for example, we are choosing only one type of cow, or a selection of only one type of lactic culture, or only one form of cheesemaking. We tend to end up with standardized commodity cheeses that while delicious, are generic. Those generic products can be sold anywhere, at a standard price, and used in a typical way: melted. While this convenience may seem useful for some consumers, it rewards conformity in the marketplace and erases the producer. This in turn, pushes producers to compete on price and not quality, rewarding those who can make cheese cheaper and faster.

Raw milk cheeses, on the other hand, cannot so easily be standardized. There are too many points in the system where things change and make those cheeses unique and interesting. They are made with a different idea in mind, not just to turn milk into cheese, or turn a profit, but to feed and nurture. Seeking them, eating them, cherishing them is a political decision to support those complex relationships that allow them to exist. 

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