Cutting the Curd

The Cheese Board Collective is a fifty-year-old worker-owned cooperative business located in Berkeley, California. On this week's episode Elena chats with worker-owners and cheese buyers Omri Avraham and Linh Nguyen about the collective's unique operational approach. Some highlights: full-time employees get five and a half weeks vacation each year, everyone makes the same wage and every worker owner has the freedom to pursue creative endeavors within the business and outside of it. Elena sheds tears of joy at the mid-show break! Follow-up note: here's how to spell Linh's favorite cheese: Petit Cattenoz! Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elena takes us out to San Francisco for the 4th annual SF Cheese Fest, hosted by the California Artisan Cheese Guild. Meet the folks behind Achadinha Cheese, Folly Cheese Co., Stuyt Dairy Farmstead Cheese and the cracker folk at Rustic Bakery! Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peter Gethers, author, screenwriter, playwright, book editor, and film and television producer (!!), chats with Diane about his new memoir – what Library Journal calls "a great primer on second acts and living (and dying) well." Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rob Frie, Director of Operations for Roth Cheese calls in from the heart of America’s Dairyland. Elena and Rob chat about Roth Cheese’s unique cheese selection and their approach to the dairy business. Plus, we learn about Wisconsin’s cheesemaking–and ski destination!–‘Little‘Switzerland’. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This year the American Cheese Society competition received 1,954 entries! On today's show the competition's Best in Show winners–Jasper Hill Farm and Cows Creamery–will join Diane to talk about their winning cheeses and how they got to where they are today. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amid the inspiring energy at this year's American Cheese Society conference, Elena chats with Gordon Edgar of Rainbow Grocery about the store's long-standing worker-owned business model and how it all works IRL. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elena chats with Katie Fuhrmann in the studio during a break from Katie's Wisconsin-based cheesemaking. We learn how Katie and her team (many of whom are family members!) have built out their dairy and cheesemaking operations into a full-fledged Agri-tourism destination. Also, Katie reveals the algorithm behind how her family names their cheeses! Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kathleen Shannon Finn, past president of the American Cheese Society, Garde et Jure and Maitre Fromager in the Guilde des Fromagers Confrérie de Saint-Uguzon joins Diane to talk about the cookbook she's launching in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the American Cheese Society Conference this month. Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Cheesemonger Invitational is an industry must-see at this point! On today's show Elena chats with 2018 winner Eric Schack about his journey to cheese and his triumph at this year's competition. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Clara Diez and Ruben Valbuena of Cultivo chat with Elena about Cultivo, their Neals Yard Dairy-inspired shop in Madrid. Born from an economic need to get their cheeses in front of more customers, we hear how Cultivo is evolving and developing into a full-blown cheese destination and way of life. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.