It’s that time of year again: the wind is a-howlin’, the noses are a-snifflin’, and Punxsutawney Phil predicted yet another six weeks of winter (but really, we all saw that coming). Thankfully, the Cheese Co-Op, which recently merged with the Local Co-Op, is back and ready to comfort us during these long, cold months. What better time than now to curl up with your favorite book (or a class reading), a glass of something red, and a box of Ritz crackers that you entirely intend to finish? The only justification you need is that you’re smothering each salty, processed bite with the taste of a much classier, cheesy spread.

A share in the Cheese Co-Op is a total of 100 points, but you can split your share with up to two other people and pay only 33. If you are experienced with the Cheese Co-Op, then you know that this relatively low price is well worth the quick and easy pickup of artisanal cheeses. But did you know about the local farms that produce them?

The Wesleyan Cheese Co-Op has developed strong working relationships with a few farms in the Connecticut and Massachusetts areas. Its committee communicates with representatives from each farm, figuring out budgets so that dairy devotees may enjoy the fruit of their cows’, sheeps’, and goats’ labor. Cato Corner Farm and Beltane Farm are the two main farms with which the Co-Op has worked; they have provided the bulk of the deliveries for as long as I have been at Wesleyan.

Cato Corner Farm, located in Colchester, Conn. just east of Middletown, produces cow’s milk cheese.

“Cato Corner Farm is a small family farm in Colchester, Connecticut, where the mother-son team of Elizabeth and Mark raises 40 free-range Jersey cows without the use of hormones or subtherapeutic antibiotics,” the farm’s website reads. “From our cows’ raw milk, we hand make a dozen styles of aged farmhouse cheese ranging from mild and milky to runny and pungent to sharp and firm.”

Cato Corner Farm’s cheeses have won numerous awards, both in-state and nationally. Cato provides Wesleyan with a range of cheeses, from sharper hard cheeses to crumbly blue cheeses, all of which are phenomenal. Its Womanchego—a feminist spin on the classic Spanish cheese—has nothing to do with gender, but is absolutely delicious.

Located in Lebanon, Conn., Beltane Farm makes its cheese from goat’s milk. Its claim to fame is its tangy chèvre, or goat cheese, that can be purchased with multiple spice options, including “Herbs de Provence” and “Black Pepper.”

“Beltane Farm makes a variety of artisanal, farmstead goat milk cheese on our farm in Lebanon, Connecticut,” the farm’s website reads. “Although our award-winning fresh Chevre is our most popular cheese, we also make a number of fine French style ripened cheeses as well as Feta. Our Oberhasli, La Mancha and Saanen goats are milked twice daily and provide the milk for our cheese.”

Paul Trubey, the Beltane representative, informed me that because the farm’s goats don’t start kidding until the end of February, their batches of cheese won’t be coming until the latter half of the semester.

The Cheese Co-Op, like all of the co-ops on campus, is a truly wonderful opportunity to both cook with high-quality ingredients and develop working relationships with people and communities in nearby towns. Being situated in central Connecticut certainly has its snowy drawbacks, but opportunities such as these remind us that in our industrialized world, we can bond over organic foods and sustainable agriculture.