Taking a trip along the Vermont Cheese trail is akin to taking time to smell the flowers. It slows down time. En route you see beautiful places, meet interesting people and get to savor that marriage of art and science called cheese. Like the resurgence of ancient arts such as glassblowing, weaving, pottery and others that now dot the Vermont landscape, small-scale cheesemaking is back. Awakening the consciousness of the most culinary-inspired consumer, Vermont cheeses are superb. And visitors who take the time to learn how it's done, get a full flavor experience.

Let's Make Cheese
The making of cheese is such a wholesome and earthy process. It's simple and yet simply amazing. The ingredients, regardless of the type of cheese one intends to make, are few. It starts with milk. And, conventional wisdom holds that the better the milk, the better the cheese. Next to milk there are only a handful of other ingredients. You need a starter culture to engage the fermentation process, plus rennet, from either an animal or vegetable source, to help the milk coagulate into curds, and, lastly, salt. That's it. The other variables are: heat, which can vary substantially depending on the desired outcome; technique, which also varies depending on the milk source and the scale of production; and time, which can be neither rushed nor drawn out. The steps are prescribed, the recipe is precise, and the technique is tested, tried and true.

With all the excitement, notoriety and recognition now surrounding the Vermont cheese industry, one might come away thinking that cheesemaking is a new venture in Vermont. But nothing could be further from the facts. An ancient art that has found a modern niche, cheesemaking is as old as Vermont itself.

Early Vermont Turns to Dairy Farming
When Vermont became the 14th state in the union, in 1791, 85,000 people lived here. Some operated grist mills to process wheat for making bread, soon making Vermont the breadbasket of New England producing an estimated annual surplus of 30,000 bushels as early as 1792. Other early settlers brought sheep with them as part of their family agricultural operations both for meat and for wool. Beginning in the 1810s sheep farming began to develop from a largely subsistence operation into an industry that gave Vermont national prominence, first for the production of wool, and later for its superior sheep breeding. But starting around 1840 the bottom fell out of the domestic wool market and sheep farming began to decline. Gradually sheep farming was eclipsed by the emerging cow dairy industry. The latter, as time would bear out, seemed ideally suited to the rugged terrain of Vermont.

It was back in 1810 that Honorable William Jarvis of Weathersfield imported two Holsteins and a bull from Holland. Jerseys and Guernseys from the Channel Islands near France and Ayshires from Scotland were also imported in the early 19th century. Soon it was known that Vermont conditions were nearly ideal for the breeding, raising and grazing of cows, which resulted in high quality and high yield milk production.

In the early days, all of the milk produced on the farm was consumed, either in the form of fluid milk or as butter and cheese. The latter was made because it retained the nutritional value of the milk without spoiling so fast. The women of the farm made up large quantities of butter and cheese during the summer months to be stored in the springhouse until winter or used to barter for other goods. It was hard, hot, physical work.

From Farm Kitchen to the World
Four factors gradually converged to move cheesemaking out of the farm kitchen and into a wider marketplace. First, there was soon a significant surplus of milk resulting from larger and better herds being developed across the state, notably in the north. Second was the coming of the railroad in 1850, which promised access to more distant markets. Third was the introduction of the iced railroad car in 1854, which made it even more plausible to ship dairy products off the farm. Fourth was the increasing demand for milk products by consumers in large and growing metropolitan areas, such as Boston and New York. All of these factors contributed to the emergence of Vermont as a dairy powerhouse in the later half of the 19th century.

Cheese Factories Abound
As the Civil War raged on, Consider Bardwell built the first cheese factory in the state of Vermont. The year was 1864. In the next five years cheese production soared, ranking Vermont as one of the highest cheese producing states in the Union. Even though much of the cheese was still being made in the home, Vermont was producing about 9 million pounds a year. Ironically, it was after Vermont reached its peak production in 1869 that the cheese factory system in Vermont began to flourish. Virtually every farming community of significance would have a cheese factory, many would have several. By 1895, there were 58 cheese factories in Vermont.

The oldest Vermont cheese factory still in use today is Crowley Cheese located in the little hamlet of Healdville. It was built in 1882 to expand the home-based cheese operation begun by Winfred Crowley and his wife Nellie in 1842. Crowley Cheese is now believed to be the oldest, continually operating cheese factory in the western hemisphere. Little has changed. Then as now, every batch of cheese is made entirely by hand. Other early factories include Plymouth Cheese Factory (1890), and the Grafton Village Cheese Company (1892).

Some factories came and went. Others were made over into creameries for converting milk to butter as butter began to replace cheese as the state's leading commercial dairy product. Between 1890 and 1900, the number of creameries doubled. Among these was the creamery built in Cabot in 1893 by Mr. F.A. Messer that would later become the Cabot Cooperative Creamery when 94 local dairy farmers bought it in 1919 for $3,700 and a cord of wood each.

At the turn of the 20th century, 80% of Vermont's milk was being made into butter or cheese. At that time, the balance of home to factory production was 50/50. Vermont ranked first in New England for cheese production and first in the nation for butter production. The Franklin County Cooperative Creamery in St. Albans was the largest single butter producer in the world. While Vermont cheese production peaked in 1869, butter production didn't peak until 1915. But both declined coming into the 1920's in favor of fluid milk sales, which offered farmers a better financial return with fewer production costs. At that time, the number of cows in Vermont (367,891) exceeded the number of people. But only 1% of Vermont milk was being made into cheese out of the 142 million gallons of milk being produced.

Fewer Farms; More Milk
In the ensuing decades, the development of commercial dairying led to a decline in the number of farms, though those that remained were larger than ever. Increasing regulations, higher production and equipment costs, and decline in fluid milk consumption are some of the factors that forced many farmers out of business. In 1954, Vermont contained approximately 10,000 dairy farms; by 1987 there were 2,700 dairy farms and the numbers continued to decline at the rate of about four farms per month. By 1996, there were 155,000 dairy cows in Vermont, producing 2.6 billion pounds of milk on 1,974 farms.

Those farms that remain have had to diversify their income sources. This has contributed to the resurgence of cheesemaking as a farm-based operation. Although it takes 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese, the price per pound for cheese more than makes up for the drop in yield, especially when using surplus milk.

On the more recent end of the spectrum are family farms such as Taylor Farm in Londonderry and Neighborly Farm in Randolph whose own cows provide the milk for their small-scale cheesemaking operations. Vermont Shepherd, in Putney is one of a dozen or so cheesemakers in the state now making cheese with sheep or goats milk.

In 1997, the Vermont Cheese Council (VCC) was formed with a grant from the Vermont Dairy Producer's Council to assist small and large cheesemakers gain a market and reputation for their emerging products. Today, there are 31 cheesemaking members, the majority of which make relatively small amounts of cheese from 10,000 - 100,000 pounds per year. In total, today's cheese industry in the state of Vermont is formidable. Collectively they are producing roughly 70 million pounds of cheese a year*.

Award Winning Cheeses of Vermont
With the help of the VCC, Vermont's cheesemakers have capitalized on lessons learned more than one hundred and fifty years ago. Vermont cheeses sells. They have intrinsic taste and texture appeal as well as being nutritious and delicious. In some cases,

the cheeses are also hard to find which adds to their appeal. In 1898, then Governor of Vermont, Josiah Grout from Derby, wrote: "Vermont is peculiarly a state of farms and farmers, which accounts for the noble character of her people." This nobility of character is much in evidence among today's cheesemakers. Hard working and industrious, they are producing world-class cheeses. In August 2001, at the American Cheese Society (ACS) 18th Annual Conference & Judging, Vermont cheesemakers earned 12 awards including seven blue ribbons for cheesemaking excellence, the third year in a row that Vermont Cheese Council (VCC) members had won a combined dozen or more awards. And this is only one out of dozens of competitions in which Vermonters have achieved recognition in recent years.

The Vermont Cheese Trail has been organized to help travelers find their way to these often out-of-the-way venues. For a complete listing of all VCC members and the cheeses they have available, visit the VCC web site: www.vtcheese.com.