Back in 2010, Vivien Straus was chatting with Cowgirl Creamery co-founder Sue Conley about the financial challenges that were threatening legacy dairies and creameries that had thrived in Northern California since the 19th century.
Vivien was on the Marin Economic Forum board as the agricultural representative, and “I desperately wanted to find a way to help our local dairies,” she recalls, of increasing environmental disputes and burgeoning operational costs.
Conley suggested creating a Cheese Trail map, and within a year Vivien’s first map came out, showcasing Marin and Sonoma producers.
“I just truly care about saving our farms,” Vivien says. “I’m a dairy girl. I grew up with cows in West Marin, helping run what became Straus Family Creamery.”
The map was an immediate success with tourists and locals. Soon, Vivien’s brother, Michael Straus, joined the project, bringing his tech and social media skills. The tiny grassroots project has exploded to 80,000 copies printed last year, listing 44 family-owned artisan creameries across the nation. More than cows, boutique producers now feature goat, sheep and Italian water buffalo milk, all producing rich, buttery, brilliant cheeses that bloom in styles from creamy soft to tangy hard aged.
“I can get very sad about the loss of our local dairies,” Vivien says. “But every action we take, no matter how small, makes a difference, for an industry that should and can always flourish.”
“Our goal is to get all 1,000 or so cheesemakers across the country to join,” Michael says. “Cheesemakers can reach out to us for listing on printed and digital maps, and our website is expanding into a national resource. We’re also just about to launch an eight-state Route 66 Cheese Trail, which will highlight cheesemakers, cheese shops and cheese-centric businesses.
“We’ve heard anecdotally from cheesemakers that 20 to 80% of their business comes because of the Cheese Trail, especially if they’re also open to the public to sell directly to consumers and host farm tours.
Because once you taste these magnificent cheeses, you really can’t go back. It changes how you eat, and how you value our farms.”
You can grab your copy of the Cheese Trail map for free at select locations across California, including cheese shops, farmers’ markets, wineries and visitor centers. Visit CheeseTrail.org/print-map for a list of partner locations, to download the digital map, or purchase by mail. The Sonoma-Marin portion of the map (at right) highlights our local stops along the trail.
Illustration by Lisa Krieshok, Krieshok.Com
