There are many really, really good cheeses in the US. Obviously we don’t compete over the same cheeses, like we aren’t trying to best the Italians’ zizzonas (yes, that’s a linguistic double entender). But Wisconsin is the origin of Colby (which a fresh Colby is my personal favorite) and has perfected quality mass produced cheeses (Colby, cheddar, mozzarella mostly). The local favorite is fresh cheese curds. They deliver them, still warm, to vendors like grocery stores and seven gas stations. They sell out within an hour, usually, so people have to plan their timing to get any without making a special trip to any of the half dozen local cheese producers in any given area. I think we produce a lot of American cheese, but we don’t eat that crap. Here is a picture of just about half the cheese at a grocery store in Green Bay. The prepackaged sliced cheeses and stuff take up another whole aisle.

The East and West Coasts are good at more complex cheeses. And Wisconsin imports them in bulk and processes them for individual sales (cut and package) on a very large scale due to an unusually high demand for cheese here. Making it easier and cheaper to get really great cheese in Wisconsin than .most anywhere else in the country. Also, although I don’t drink, most wisconsinites can drink most Europeans under the table, which is extremely unusual as I wouldn’t make that claim for most of the world. There are a lot of signs in bars in Germany and England barring people from Wisconsin from entering drinking competitions there for a reason.