Farmstead cheese farmstead cheeses are produced from water buffalo milk (mainly Buffalo mozzarella). Farmstead cheeses are most often made on family farms in small batches and is often sold at local farmers' markets. While Europe has long had a very strong tradition of farmstead cheese-making, it is only in the last decades of the 20th century that farmstead cheese-making began to return to prominence in North America. In the United States, the top states for farmstead cheesmaking include Vermont, California, and Wisconsin, although farmstead cheese is growing rapidly in other states, like Georgia, as well. North Carolina is another state that has
Cheese milk sugars into lactic acid, then the addition of rennet completes the curdling. Vegetarian alternatives to rennet are available; most are produced by fermentation of the fungus "Mucor miehei", but others have been extracted from various species of the "Cynara" thistle family. Cheesemakers near a dairy region may benefit from fresher, lower-priced milk, and lower shipping costs. Cheese is valued for its portability, long life, and high content of fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is more compact and has a longer shelf life than milk, although how long a cheese will keep depends on the type of cheese; labels