The Cheese Industry is Homogenized
Presented by WeldWerks Brewing Co.
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By Agela Abdullah
When I stopped being a cook, I decided to enter the specialty cheese industry. Cheese has been part of my identity for years. I love the products, I’ve made lifelong friendships, and I’m always learning something new. It’s a challenging industry that has me exploring science, math and alchemy all while using my culinary skills to come up with fun recipes and pairings. I love what I do.
I first started learning about cheese in 2003 working as a cook in the kitchen of an amazing restaurant in Virginia under an exceptionally talented chef and sous chef. I brought that newfound love for cheese with me in my subsequent jobs here in Chicago, and during the years I’ve lived in New Hampshire and Vermont. I had a separate fridge in my apartment just for cheese. Whether in kitchens, in a cheese shop, or now in an office, cheese has been part of my professional life for almost 20 years now, and it’s very possible that the job I have now is the last job in cheese I will ever have because I’m speaking my truth.
Recently, I was a part of a group that did presentations on being BIPOC in the cheese industry for the American Cheese Society’s annual conference. During my part of the presentation I told people that I was tired of the needs of industry people of color not being taken into consideration. I told personal stories of how the industry had failed the BIPOC community. After years of being quiet I had the floor and I was LOUD.
But did anyone listen? I don’t know. I know the people in power didn’t seem to. They were concerned with keeping the status quo. They wanted to go back to how things were before Covid. They wanted to recruit me and others for their DEI campaign, all while doing nothing to affect real change.
How can I stay in an industry that continuously asks POC to do all the work to change the industry but does not value us enough to compensate us for our labors which are emotionally and mentally taxing? How can I stay in an industry that wants to create a “clean slate”, but refuses to apologize for past and present harms? How can I stay in an industry that turns a blind eye to, and makes excuses for the bad actors among us? How do I stay in an industry where they offer me solutions to problems I don’t have and then call me ungrateful when I don’t praise their generosity?
We’re in what some people are calling a civil rights movement, others call it a reckoning. All I see is opportunity. We can’t change everything, but I believe we can change some things. Now is the time to ask what kind of food industries we want, and to be honest in what we are willing to do to bring about that change.
Established in 2015, WeldWerks Brewing Co. is an award-winning craft brewery located in Greeley, Colorado recognized for brewing an array of beer styles including Juicy Bits, one of the most highly regarded IPAs in the country. WeldWerks has garnered numerous medals and acclaim on the way, including being named the best new brewery in the country by USA Today in 2016 and multiple medals at both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. The brewery’s charitable arm, the WeldWerks Community Foundation, is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports local nonprofits through events like The WeldWerks Invitational.
A former cook, Agela lives in Chicago with two cats, an old laptop, an abundance of yarn, and two sourdough starters. She's a board member of the Cheese Culture Coalition, a non-profit with a mission to educate the next generation of BIPOC cheese industry professionals.
Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Best Served. To achieve our mission of bringing more voices to the table, we are committed to sharing a variety of viewpoints across the industry.
