Herds and Curds, conversations with farmhouse cheese makers and small dairy producers exploring cultural traditions, innovations, relationships with animals and cheese production techniques and practices.

Through the prism of cheese making, Herds and Curds explores the devastating consequences of industrialisation and global capitalism on the world of dairy farming in the past century or so. We delve into a range of complex issues with people (predominantly women) in the dairy industry who are returning to traditional small scale farmhouse cheese making practices and introducing innovations to optimise the health and well being of their animals, the land and workplace environments.

We talk with enterprising, passionate cheese makers who are championing biodiversity of indigenous microbial communities that contribute to the flavour and safety of cheese, designing healthy farming systems for their animals, land and workers and considering all components of the industry through a sustainable lens from reusable packaging to cooperative sales systems.