If you buy cheese from the grocery store, the odds are that the cheese you buy was made in an industrial warehouse where milk is brought in and the people making it have never seen the animals who produce it. Even some of the most delicious cheeses in the world use this method. It’s necessary for scale. But, there is something special that a cheese farm who is there for the whole process gets that the person making Parmigiano Reggiano does not…a deeper connection to the source.

Boxcarr are not just a cheesemakers, they are farmers as well. With over 70 goats at their Cedar Grove property, they are there every step of the way – from grass to curd. Every one of their goats has a name. And when you walk the barn with owner Dani Copeland, she can identify any of them without even needing to check their tag. These aren’t just animals to her and her crew, they have a close bond with them.

Just a stones throw from Dani and the goats, her husband Austin works inside the cheese house turning the milk into over a dozen varieties of cheese.
Although this is our third year inspecting Boxcarr, it’s actually the first time getting to actually step inside the cheese house, and we quickly understood why when we experienced the amount of effort it takes to enter that space and keep it safe and sanitary.

You see, all cheese essentially starts with the same ingredient, milk, and it’s the particular starter cultures they add to it and way it’s treated that allows it to turn into each specific cheese. Making sure that milk is not getting contaminated with any outside bacteria is not only essential to ensure it’s safe, but also so their product is consistent.

After a head-to-toe change into provided outfits and boots, we watched (and even helped) them make their feta and robiola cheeses. We kept on thinking about the phrase, “don’t cry over spilled milk.” The person who wrote that was clearly not a dairy farmer.

When Boxcarr spills milk, they see the hay required to feed the goats, the time it took Emilia, Daisy, & Cersei to produce it, and the hours they spent milking them to get it. Even the cow milk they buy from their friends who own a nearby dairy farm has a different value when you personally know the labor in producing it. Every drop is precious.

Getting to see the process from birth (yes, a baby goat was born while we were there) to finished, aged cheese took our appreciation for the work Boxcarr does to another level. It’s a long and challenging process, but the results speak for themselves. Great cheese made by great people.