{"id":5550,"date":"2020-08-20T14:58:41","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T17:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/?p=5550"},"modified":"2020-08-20T14:58:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T17:58:41","slug":"in-pursuit-of-eco-friendly-cheese-producers-embrace-wineries-farming-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/in-pursuit-of-eco-friendly-cheese-producers-embrace-wineries-farming-methods\/","title":{"rendered":"In Pursuit of Eco-Friendly Cheese, Producers Embrace Wineries\u2019 Farming Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you think about\u00a0winemaking<\/a>, you might imagine sweeping vineyards tended lovingly by farmers who view themselves as shepherds of the earth. Animal agriculture, on the other hand, could conjure visions of Upton Sinclair\u2019s\u00a0The Jungle<\/em>, factory farms and methane pollution.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some truth to both visions, but neither presents the whole picture. Small-scale,\u00a0biodynamic and organic<\/a>\u00a0wineries are often rooted in environmentally friendly practices that renew the soil. But industrial wineries also exist, and some use an array of chemicals to produce and preserve their wines.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, most animals in the U.S. food system live cramped, unhappy lives, says Leslie Cooperband, a soil scientist who left academia to start\u00a0Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery<\/a>\u00a0with her husband in Champaign, Illinois. \u201cThat\u2019s the reality for 98% of livestock in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, ecologically minded cheese producers can treat the land and animals more responsibly. They capture methane emissions, track and reduce their resources, and embrace regenerative agriculture, a land management technique also used by some wineries.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal agriculture can be a problem when it comes to climate change,\u201d says Marshall Webb, carbon drawdown coordinator at\u00a0Shelburne Farms<\/a>\u00a0in Vermont. \u201cBut it can also be one of the big solutions when it\u2019s done well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shelburne Farms and Oregon-based\u00a0Rogue Creamery<\/a>\u00a0have both instituted measures in hopes of becoming carbon neutral in the next five to 10 years. While carbon neutrality can be difficult for\u00a0consumers to discern<\/a>, ecologically minded wineries like California\u2019s\u00a0Fetzer Wines<\/a>\u00a0have also made it a priority.<\/p>\n

As in wine, cheesemakers have to educate themselves, their employees and the public about how they embrace sustainable farming.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal agriculture is being lumped into a single category: industrial,\u201d says Cooperband. \u201cWe\u2019re trying really hard to educate people about this other option, pasture-based dairying.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Importance of Grass<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Andy Hatch, co-owner and cheesemaker at\u00a0Uplands Cheese Company<\/a>\u00a0in Wisconsin, says there are a variety of issues encapsulated in sustainable cheesemaking. Among them are soil quality, the impact of the animal on the landscape. \u201cThese concerns all look better through the concerns of grass-based animal management,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Healthy grasslands are integral to environmentally friendly cheese.<\/p>\n

When cows graze, they pull the grass up by the roots and leave their manure. To keep the grass healthy and nutritious, farmers can split their pasture into sections and rotate the cows within them to allow for optimal grass regrowth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad will frequently say he\u2019s not a dairy farmer, he\u2019s a grass and dirt farmer,\u201d says Jessica Little, co-owner of\u00a0Sweet Grass Dairy<\/a>\u00a0in Georgia. \u201cIf you have nutritional grass, the cows take care of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2), whereas plants take in CO2 and release oxygen.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuminants [like cows] take carbon out of air and sequester it in the soil better than anything humans have invented,\u201d says Little. While overgrazing can strip the soil and erode the landscape, carefully managed grazing does the opposite. It creates healthy grasslands that sequester carbon.<\/p>\n

The soil isn\u2019t the only thing that\u2019s healthier. The cows at Sweet Grass live three to five times longer than the average dairy cow, according to Little.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Pasture<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To reverse climate change requires a multifaceted approach, so environmentally conscious cheesemakers adopt many tactics.<\/p>\n

Some, like Rogue Creamery and California-based\u00a0Cowgirl Creamery<\/a>, farm organically. \u201cIn doing so, you eliminate 750 chemicals out of that process of producing food,\u201d says David Gremmels, president of Rogue Creamery.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s\u00a0Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.<\/a>\u00a0and Italy\u2019s\u00a0Quattro Portoni<\/a>\u00a0purchased methane digestors, which capture gases from manure placed within the system and turns it into simple organic matter and usable biogas. Shelburne Farms enrolled in a program, the Green Dairy Cohort, through the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. It tracks expenditures of water, electricity and other resources, and then provides strategies to reduce their environmental impact.<\/p>\n

A crucial way for people to reduce their environmental footprint can be to consume fewer animal-based products. But if you want to enjoy cheese responsibly, seek out producers committed to limiting their impacts on the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

Six Eco-Friendly Cheese Producers to Try<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sweet Grass Dairy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try:<\/strong>\u00a0Green Hill<\/a>. Pair with sustainably-produced\u00a0Gloria Ferrer NV Sonoma Brut M\u00e9thode Champenoise (Carneros)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shelburne Farms<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try:<\/strong>\u00a01-Year Cheddar<\/a>. Pair with a bold red, like the\u00a0Domaine Bousquet 2019 Virgen Organic Malbec (Tupungato)<\/a>, which is made from organic grapes.<\/p>\n

Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try:<\/strong>\u00a0Chevre Frais<\/a>. Pair with\u00a0Barker\u2019s Marque 2019 Three Brooms Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough)<\/a>, a zesty, certified sustainable option.<\/p>\n

Uplands Cheese Company<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try:<\/strong>\u00a0Pleasant Ridge Reserve<\/a>. Pair with the organically growth\u00a0The Eyrie Vineyards 2016 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rogue Creamery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try:<\/strong>\u00a0Caveman Blue<\/a>. Pair with the sustainably produced\u00a0Pacific Rim 2018 Sweet Riesling (Columbia Valley)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quattro Portoni<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try:<\/strong>\u00a0Quadrello di Bufala<\/a>. Pair with the\u00a0Valle Reale 2018 Montepulciano d\u2019Abruzzo<\/a>, a medium-bodied red from an organic estate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you think about\u00a0winemaking, you might imagine sweeping vineyards tended lovingly by farmers who view themselves as shepherds of the earth. Animal agriculture, on the other hand, could conjure visions of Upton Sinclair\u2019s\u00a0The Jungle, factory farms and methane pollution. There\u2019s some truth to both visions, but neither presents the whole picture. Small-scale,\u00a0biodynamic and organic\u00a0wineries are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/domainebousquet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}