Milking it

When it comes to the movement focused on eating foods grown or raised locally, the North State’s got it made. Whether it’s fruits and nuts from surrounding orchards, rice from nearby fields or any of the plethora of vegetables that grow plump and delicious in this region’s soil, there’s no shortage of bounty for our local tables.

Obviously, it doesn’t get to our plates without a lot of hard work. So, each year, the CN&R chooses a few local farmers to offer an inside look at the effort—and love, there’s surely a lot of that—that goes into producing edible goodness to fill our hungry bellies.

This year, we chose to focus on local dairy operations, of which there are surprisingly few remaining since the Great Recession hit. At the Orland Farmstead Creamery, milk is made into luscious cheeses; at Duivenvoorden Farms in Cottonwood, it’s kept more or less as nature made it: served as raw milk. We also sat down with a chef who chooses food sourced as close to her table as she can find it—including cooking with some of those Orland cheeses.

Whatever your palate desires, don’t forget that you can find much of it right here in our backyard.