Given that specialization makes things cheaper and more efficient, maybe the idea of locavorism/grow-what-you-eat doesn't make a lot of sense.

I've been occasionally documenting here my own experiences making cheese, and I have to admit that I'm paying a fairly steep price for my adventures in fromage. Let's see, the original kit cost $40 and additional supplies, include a suitable pot and wooden drying board, ran about $35. I've spent $36 on milk trucked in from the Hudson Valley to the local farmers' market. That's more than a hundred bucks spent, and I'm probably missing an expense or two. Of course, if I keep up my cheesemaking I can spread out some of those costs across future batches. But so far I've made three pounds of hard cheese, working out to be about $35/pound for cheese that, frankly, between you and me, hasn't tasted so great.

Now, I like supporting local farmers and knowing where my food comes from, but at the same farmers' market I buy that milk there are locally-made artisanal cheeses for sale that probably top out at, what, twenty bucks a pound, max? I enjoy the actual making of the cheese as a hobby, but it might not be the smartest way to put food in the pantry.
Jun. 13, '08
cheesemaking, food, locavorism