Wisconsin Ag Connection - More Women Involved with Wisconsin Artisan Cheesemaking

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More Women Involved with Wisconsin Artisan Cheesemaking
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 02/02/2007

As more Wisconsin cheesemakers increasingly move into the arena of crafting artisan and farmstead products, a promising trend is taking shape in the Heartland: more and more women are taking the lead. Of the 1,222 currently active licensed cheesemakers in Wisconsin, less than 40, or 3 percent, are female. In the past three years, however, that trend has spiked upward with a half dozen women earning their licenses and opening their own farmstead cheesries.

"Not only are we seeing a renaissance in artisan cheeses in Wisconsin, we're seeing an emergence of women taking the role of lead cheesemaker in the artisan make room," said Jim Gage, manager of the Dairy Business Innovation Center, a non-profit organization started three years ago to increase the number of specialty dairy plants in Wisconsin.

"Many of the clients we're working with today are women who recently or who are currently working to earn their cheesemaker's license," Gage said.

While working as a cheesemaker is by no means new for women - historically many women made cheese in their kitchens and a handful worked in cheese factories - a definite trend is developing of more women starting their own cheesemaking operations. And instead of hiring a cheesemaker, women are taking classes and completing apprenticeships themselves.

More young women are also considering a future in cheesemaking.