Food

‘The Evergreen’: How cheese has shaped Oregon

By Mia Estrada (OPB), Jenn Chávez (OPB) and Katy Osuna (Copper + Heat)
May 5, 2025 1 p.m.
Queso fundido makes the most of Mexican cheeses like quesos Oaxaca and asadero

Queso fundido makes the most of Mexican cheeses like quesos Oaxaca and asadero

Heather Arndt Anderson / OPB

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World-class cheese is all around us in Oregon.

From our largest cheese producers like Tillamook and Rogue, who won the world’s best cheese in 2019, to some of our smallest producers like Helvetia Creamery and Don Froylan, who won the best string cheese in the country for two years in a row.

And while Oregon doesn’t produce the quantity of cheese like Wisconsin, Idaho, or other leading states do today — Oregon punches above its weight class in terms of quality. And the production of cheese has also shaped the history of the state.

Katy Osuna from the Copper & Heat podcast joins us to share the history of cheese in the region and how it became so special.

Osuna also produced a documentary about cheese for OPB’s Superabundant. Check it out.

Listen to all episodes of The Evergreen podcast here.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

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