US Cheesemakers Growing, Changing With the Times

A judge checks the aroma of a blue cheese in one of the 116 categories in which cheeses are entered, in Green Bay, Wis., March 5, 2019. Judges sample multiple cheeses over the course of two days.

Judging for the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest is held in the atrium of Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis., March 5, 2019. The judging is open to the public and visitors watch judges and sample cheeses.

Richard Guggiesberg (center) cradles his champion Baby Swiss cheese. Marieke Penterman (right), whose cheeses placed second and third in the competition, and general manager of her company, Kim Raybuck, also pose on the winners podium, in Green Bay, Wis.,

Marieke Penterman of Marieke Gouda does her happy dance that has become a familiar sight at cheese contests. At the U.S. Cheese Championship, her cheeses were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 cheeses among the 2,555, in Green Bay, Wis., March 7 2019.

Judges say Swiss cheeses are difficult to get right, in part because the holes – called the “eyes” – have to be perfectly formed on the inside, seen at the U.S. Cheese Championship in Green Bay, Wis., March 5, 2019.

A team of judges tallies the scoring for a wheel of cheese at the U.S. Cheese Championship, held in Green Bay, Wis., March 5, 2019. All cheeses start with 100 points and are docked fractions of points for flaws.

Judges smell a sample of one of the 2,555 cheeses entered in the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, in Green Bay, Wis., March 5, 2019. Smell is just one criterion in the technical competition of the contest that began in 1981.

Guests at the U.S. Cheese Championship gala could help themselves to samples from a giant wheel of Swiss cheese that had been among the cheeses judged in the competition, in Green Bay, Wis., March 7, 2019.

گزارش‌های سیامک دهقانپور، خبرنگار اعزامی صدای آمریکا، از کنفرانس جهانی ضد تروریسم در دانشگاه رایخمن در شهر هرتزلیا، اسرائیل

At the gala event to announce the winner at the U.S. Cheese Championship, ticket-holders got to sample dozens of cheeses, including the always-popular cheddar, in Green Bay, Wis., March 7, 2019.