Coronavirus hits Bay Area’s artisan cheese industry hard

April 15, 2020

Bay Area artisan cheese makers are making tough decisions right now. Some are laying off staff. Others are switching up the cheeses they produce, hoping to wait out the coronavirus in the aging room. That’s because just about all of California’s boutique cheese makers have seen their sales drop since state and local shelter-in-place orders went into effect, forcing restaurants to close their dining rooms and suspend their typical cheese orders.

More stories like this:

Why Cowboys Still Wear Blue Jeans

April 29, 2026

It’s embarrassing to admit, but for the past few years I’ve been actively pretending to be a cowboy. I start most mornings with Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” playing on repeat in my head. It started with wrestling goats — learning to manage a small herd on our twenty acres just north of San…

Read More

Remembering Rick Lafranchi

April 16, 2026

We are deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Rick Lafranchi, a beloved member of the Lafranchi family of Nicasio and a tireless ambassador for West Marin agriculture. Our hearts go out to his wife Debby, his siblings Randy, Scott, Jan, Diane, and Kimberly, his children and grandchildren, and to everyone who had the privilege…

Read More

MALT Awards $400,000 in the Fifth Round of Its Small Grants Program

April 15, 2026

Marin agriculture is in transition. The pressures are real and immediate: rising costs, limited land access, housing for workers, a next generation trying to find its footing — all against the backdrop of a changing climate that is reshaping what it means to farm and ranch here. MALT’s small grants program is one part of…

Read More