Mutual Aid Network Meets

the Seeds of Cheese

TEK Cheesemaking Part 1: Milk Trekker teaches for the Small Ruminant Network

Kara Huntermoon, Ecological Integration
June 07, 2026
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“The Milk Trekker wants to do a class in Oregon! Wouldn’t it be great if we could host him here?”asked Angela, our Small Ruminant Networkcoordinator for 2026.

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Three members of the SRN stepped up to co-organize. After some scrambling from farmers busy with a million other spring tasks, Sour Milk School came to Veneta, Oregon. It was an incredible five days of cheesemaking, conversation, and catered meals at Earthwise Riverstead Farm, with some folks camping out at the farm next door.

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During a lunch break Trevor Warmedahl, the Milk Trekker, kindly allowed me to interview him for this article. I’ve edited the conversation for length and clarity. Any errors are mine. (Trevor, if you point out mistakes I will happily fix them!)

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Kara: How long have you been making cheese?

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Trevor: I started out ten years ago as a cheesemaker for commercial dairies of various sizes in the United States. We made cheese in the standard modern way: large companies that pooled milk from different farms and pasteurized the milk. As a cheesemaker, I never saw the cows. The whole process was too sterile and too separate from life.

I developed an interest in raw milk and farmstead cheese, and started working for raw sheep dairies in California and Colorado. That was better, but still there was something missing.

I read David Asher’s book, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking, and I realized that’s what was missing: dairy sovereignty. It wasn’t being practiced in the US. I had to go outside the states to learn the entire process directly from the animals, the pasture, the farmers, and the cheesemakers—including aging and selling cheese at local markets.

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Kara: What was your first step to learning outside the US?

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Trevor: I got a job in Mongolia in 2019 managing a cheese plant. But they followed the same models as my US employers: colonial, pasteurized, European-style cheeses. I wanted to learn about the traditional Mongolian cheeses, so I quit my job. I lived with a family of traditional Mongolian yak herders, making cheese from yak milk in their yurts.

I started writing about it on Instagram and Facebook, and eventually on Substack, and then I wrote a book, Cheese Trekking: How Microbes, Landscapes, Livestock, and Human Cultures Shape Terroir. I realized I could travel, learn, and educate others instead of working in a cheese factory.

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Kara: What helped you keep going?

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Trevor: I met David Asher in 2021 and we became friends. He encouraged me to start teaching Sour Milk School, and he also got me in touch with his publisher (Chelsea Green). They wanted me to write a cheese book with recipes, but I wanted to write about my travels, and they agreed. I keep saying “There are no recipes for this type of cheese,” but even so, I expect my next book will be full of recipes! Between Substack subscriptions, Sour Milk School, and book sales, I’m generally able to fund my travels.

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Kara: What do you like about teaching Sour Milk School?

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Trevor: I learn best by doing. Teaching helps me implement hands-on skills, so it’s a mutual learning opportunity for both me and the students. I love benefiting farmers, shepherds, and cheesemakers in the US. It’s amazing to see people making connections between dairying, meat consumption, and cheesemaking.

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Kara: You mentioned in class that you received a scholarship to study rennet. Tell us more about that.

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Trevor: The scholarship is called the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award, and it’s designed for food professionals who want to research aspects of cheesemaking and bring their findings to North America to teach US cheesemakers. I used the funds to travel to Spain where rennet is still being made by the cheesemakers themselves. I learned how traditional rennet is made from the abomasum of a young animal, and also how to make rennet from the thistle flowers of cardoon. I wrote several articles about it on Substack, with lots of photos, if people want to know more.

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Kara: What’s next for you?

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Trevor: In October I will be guiding a gastronomic cheese tour in Spain. Folks can come with me for an educational vacation, to learn about cheesemaking and taste lots of interesting traditional cheeses.

Kara: How can people find out more about your work?

I’m on Instagram and Substack as Milk Trekker, and there are a few videos on YouTube.