The food chain is such a fascinating process, isn’t it? Particularly the way certain ecosystems affect each other, like grass-fed beef offering more nutrients than cattle raised on grain. Or, on the dark side of that cycle, when an invasive species can really fuck with your production process, like these greedy wild boars that are preventing Munster cheese production in a specific rural area of France.
The Local reports that “In the Haut-Rhin department in the Grand Est region of France, farmers are battling an unusual enemy.” To make the region’s notoriously stinky Munster cheese, “at least 70 percent of the feed given to the cows” must come from a certain pasture area.
Unfortunately, wild boars have also discovered these bucolic pastures, and are tearing them up looking for grub, thereby mixing dirt and other filth into the cow’s diet. One cheese producer complained to France Blue, “They turn up the earth so we have a problem with the grass but what’s dangerous is that shit and dirt get into the hay. It’s not good for the animals or for cheese.”
Hard to believe that anyone can tell the difference, as the Munster (not to be confused with the mild Muenster) is one of the stinkiest cheeses on earth. It is aged in caves, washed in brine, and has a smell akin to fried eggs or armpits, depending on whose unfortunate nose you’re asking.