In Our Own Voices

Bruce Workman

Jeff Wideman

Jeff Wideman and Bruce Workman—Milk on Their Shoes


Thirty years ago, you could drive in rural Green County and buy cheese that had simply ceased to exist elsewhere. You could visit a rural crossroads cheese factory from an almost-disappeared time, where the cheesemaker sounded more like a reserved Swiss man than an American. The kettles were copper, the cheese round, the holes huge and the flavor – well, the flavor was almost un-American. But like I say, that was 30 years ago.

This is the story of two Wisconsin Master Cheesemakers – you might call them cheese conservationists. Bruce Workman and Jeff Wideman "got milk on their shoes" as the old Swiss cheesemakers used to say, preserving old world traditions at small factories in Green County.

Watch & Listen


America's Dairyland: In Our Own Voices Conversations with Wisconsin Dairy Farmers and Cheesemakers

Select a profile below to hear the audio interview and view the slideshow:

The Mayers
The Honorable Profession of Dairymen

Jeff Wideman and Bruce Workman
Milk on Their Shoes

Mike Gingrich
Splendor From the Grass

Crave Brothers
Our Father's Dream: Keeping Farming in the Family

The Truttmans
Forward to Yesterday: Grazing Our Way to the Future

Sid Cook
From Cheddar to Art

Sam Cook
Inside Work, If You Can Get It

Laura Daniels
The Making of a Dairy Farmer

Ed Janus
Biography