Sick of Moldy Cheese? How to Cut the Cheese.

It’s 11:34 on October 31, and while most people are asleep, I’m lying awake thinking about… cheese.

I spend a lot of time thinking about food—its life, its design, and how we store it. Tonight, it's cheese. I’m thinking about cheese as a living, breathing thing, and I’m questioning how the way we package it impacts its lifespan. 

Who decided cheese should be delivered as a long, skinny brick?

Was it so slices would fit perfectly on sandwiches? Was it so packaging was easier to stack in the grocery cooler or maybe it’s based on how it ships? Or is it just less likely to stick to your knife if it’s thin?

It’s hard not to wonder what these packaging decisions are really costing us. In food, in waste, in experience. Does the person behind the “skinny brick of cheese” realize what they’ve done? Did they ever consider the cheese itself? Did they think about how cheese naturally ages and what happens when you cut it from start to finish, end-to-end, one slice at a time? 

What if instead, we honored the way cheese is supposed to age?

Here’s a fact: any exposed surface area of cheese will lose moisture and age. That’s just the nature of it. By cutting into the surface from every side, you could keep your cheese fresher, reduce waste, and enjoy it at its best. So why isn’t cheese sold in a cube? A cube would allow us to slice from all sides, cutting away the aged outer layer and working our way towards the fresher, inner core. Makes sense, right?

Imagine a cube of cheese on the shelf at your grocery store. Would you buy it? Or would you pass it by, trained to reach for that familiar skinny slab?

Until someone has the courage to put a cube of cheese on store shelves, let me propose a solution: *cube it yourself.*

Here’s how:  

1. Take that poorly designed slab out of its plastic prison.
2. Cut it into thirds or quarters.
3. Stack the pieces into a cube, wrap it in Abeego, and store it in your fridge.

Then, as you eat, slice from every side, working toward the center. It may feel strange at first but you’ll start to notice the difference. Your cheese will stay fresher, longer.

Isn’t it fascinating how the way we cut cheese is just a habit—a habit built around packaging that never considered the life of cheese itself?

That’s the thought that will finally let me get back to sleep. Until next time.

Keep Food Alive,
Toni Desrosiers