My coverage of August as National Sandwich Month continues. Now that I’ve given my recommendations for sourdough and for lunch meats, I get into the cheeses to place in middle of the sandwiches.
Like meat, it’s important to source cheeses from grass fed cows. Conventional dairy comes from cows which raised in feedlots and fed corn, soy, and wheat for a good portion of their lives. The feed is often genetically modified and sprayed with harsh pesticides. These cows were also likely given hormones and antibiotics. Grass fed dairy has cows roaming on opens pastures and being able to eat grass as their main source of food
In alphabetical order, here are the 6 best grass fed pre-sliced cheeses:
Clover Sonoma
Clover Sonoma originates back to 1916 when their milk was bottled and distributed by the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery. 1977, the Benedetti family became the owners of the Clover brand and are now a third generation family owned business. They partner with independent family farms across Northern California, the Rockies, and the Southwest, including family farms which have been in dairy for six generations. Clover Sonoma sets high standards for farms to partner with them as they requires that the family farms follow the Clover Promise of Excellence. They’re also the first dairy in the United States to receive the American Humane Certification. Clover Sonoma’s sliced cheeses consist of pepper jack, sharp cheddar, medium cheddar, and Monterey jack.
Kerrygold
99% of farms in Ireland are family owned. Kerrygold is a co-op 14,000 family farmers. As a co-op, Kerrygold has its farmers in its best interest. They guarantee that the farmers are paid a fair wage. Being a dairy farm in Ireland, they’re the only country with a system with standards as high as their Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS). The SDAS determines the standards for animal health and welfare, hygiene, land management, water usage biosecurity, and greenhouse gas emissions. All of the farms who participate in the program have their standards measured and are presented ways of improving their practices. Kerrygold’s cows graze on grass all day long for a large portion of the year. Grass makes up the majority of their cow’s diet along with a small amount supplementary feed for their health. Their cheeses in the sliced varieties come in cheddar and Dubliner.
Organic Nuna 
Jeff Lichtenstein, founder of Organic Nuna, is the 4th generation in his family to work in the food industry. One of Jeff’s earliest memories is eating a deli sandwich at his grandparents’ luncheonette in Bensonhurst. After graduating college, he went to farm biodynamic/organic fruits and vegetables and goat cheese dairy for his father in Moca, Dominican Republic. Shortly after, Jeff created Gourmet Guru, the first natural and organic retail incubator and distributor in New York City. Then he founded UNFI Next, which provides customized experience for selected brands distributed by UNFI. And Jeff founded Organic Nuna, which remains family owned and operated. All of Nuna’s feed and land is certified organic with more roaming space than the industry standards. As Nuna is a Native American word for land, they donate every quarter to Native American foundations dedicated to organic and sustainable farming practices. Nuna’s cheeses are all pre-sliced and the options are swiss, sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, provolone, and muenster.
Organic Valley
In 1988, seven Wisconsin farmers in the Coulee region were fed up with industrial chemical farming taking over the American agriculture system. They created a cooperative of family farms known as CROPP (Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool). The coop later became Organic Valley, specializing in organic dairy. In 1996, they moved into the meat industry. They were the first in the industry to ban animal by-products from a cow’s diet. Today, they’re a cooperative of over 2,000 farms in 34 states plus Canada and Australia. Their cows are on pasture 50% more than the USDA requirement. Three of their cooperative members are working a program called Climate-Smart Farming. Their goal is to raise the bar for carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions and achieving carbon neutrality or hopefully a carbon-positive position. All of their Organic Valley’s cheeses are certified organic. In terms of sliced offerings, they have provolone, raw sharp cheddar, spicy cheddar, smoky cheddar, muenster, baby swiss, American, and white American.
Rumiano Cheese Company
Fred, John, and Richard Rumiano were American immigrants from Italy in the early 1900s. They first worked in goldmines, shipyards, and liquor before settling near Willows, CA and starting a dairy operation in 1919. Italian hard cheese wasn’t available anymore after World War I, so they created their Monterey dry jack to serve the San Francisco and regional markets. Over the years, the Rumiano Cheese Company expanded into more factories for manufacturing and packaging, launched into new markets all over the U.S. plus Europe, and Asia, and had its leadership passed down from one generation of the Rumiano family to another. In 2005, they became the first plant on the west coast to produce organic cheese at scale. Then in 2019, Rumiano Cheese introduced an organic raw cheddar which is never heated more than 102° F and aged a minimum of 90 days. Today they have a wide range of flavors from the popular Rumiano Family Organics to the bold Rumiano Redwood Coast lines. Their monterey jack, pepper jack, mozzarella, sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, havarti all come sliced as well as an American cheese.
Truly Grass Fed
The dairy for Truly Grass Fed comes from over 3,000 farms located across Ireland. Every farm has an average of one cow per two acres. The farms are all Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World. This independent nonprofit certification program guarantees that the animals are raised outdoors on pastures for their entire lives on farms using sustainable methods. Truly Grass Fed’s cows are able to enjoy and graze on the luscious acres of green pastures for the majority of the year. When it becomes colder in the winter and the grass’ growth slows down, the cows move inside. Indoors, the cattle are provided with grass silage collected from the fields during the summer plus a small amount of concentrates for extra nutrition. Grass makes up 95% of the cow’s diet. The grass on the farms doesn’t require any mechanical irrigation as it’s watered by the bountiful amount of rain which Ireland gets. This also helps the farmers cut down on energy costs. Their grass growth rate exceeds the European average by more than a third. To keep their soil fresh, Truly Grass Fed encourages their ranchers to test their soils every three to five years, add the proper nutrients, and reseed when necessary to replenish the grasses. For pre-sliced cheese, they have sharp cheddar and aged cheddar.