Watch out cheese criminals, it looks like some charitable cheese heroes are surfacing. Hailing from the farmland of Pennsylvania, the PA Dairymen’s Association recently brought four tons of cheese to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.
The Dairymen’s Association takes pride in having provided guests of the Pennsylvania Farm Show with milkshakes, fried cheese cubes, and grilled cheese sandwiches for over sixty years. This year, however, they set their sights a little higher and partnered with the food bank.
Photo Credit: Sue Gleiter, PennLive.com
Along with taking donations, The Dairymen’s Association used the help of 2,000 cows who made their way to Harrisburg, Penn., as part of the 2015 All-American Dairy Show, which took place in September at the PA Farm Show Complex and Expo Center.
The Association sent the cow’s milk to Penn Cheese in Winfield, where it was converted into cheese and given to the food bank. The 8,300 pounds of cheese is worth approximately $40,000. The cheese has been broken into 170,000 slices and is estimated to feed around 40,000 people in 27 countries.
“We are thrilled to receive this,” Joe Arthur, the executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank said to Penn Live. “If we don’t receive this donation we have to buy it on the market and it is very expensive. It’s going to be a huge help for a lot of people.”
We hope any potential cheese thieves reading this are inspired to change their ways. If so, The PA Dairymen’s Association is still accepting online donations, or you can get in touch with your own local food bank to find ways to get involved.
Feature Image: “Various dairy products” by Alaettin YILDIRIM | Shutterstock
Sarah Cummings
Sarah Cummings is a native New Yorker braving the Boston winters to study Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. In her spare time, she can often be found rock climbing, cuddling the neighborhood cats, or integrating goat cheese into her every meal.
