Alpine Cheese is Slowly Disappearing From Store Shelves and The Reason Behind It Is Truly Worrying

Up above in the towering mountains of Europe, cow herders diligently follow a tradition called “transhumance” every year. At the arrival of early spring, when the blanket of snow enshrouding the Alps starts melting away, these herders take their cows into higher mountain grounds, so they can feed on fresh meadow grass and produce bounteous quantities of milk, per CGTN Europe. They haul pails full of milk and pour it into cauldrons placed upon the stove, waiting for it to convert into cheese. Nowadays, this tradition seems to be disappearing from the Alpine mountains, and so does Alpine cheese.

When Hannah Howard, a food writer for Food & Wine, visited a cheese cave in Italy’s Valle d’Aosta, she discovered that most of the shelves were empty. Howard, who “loves stinky cheese,” was disheartened. She delved deeper into the declining production of one of Italy’s iconic mountain cheeses and discovered the real reason. “Fontina producers are making significantly less cheese than usual, brought on by a perfect storm of challenges: climate shifts, rising costs, labor shortages, and changing consumer habits,” Howard described.