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Good cheese begins in the field. So says celebrated cheesemaker Martin Bienerth from his store in Andeer, Switzerland, close to the rocksresort. “You need good grass with herbs and flowers for the cows,” he explains. But for Bienerth, before there was cheese, there was a dream.

When he first arrived in Andeer, Bienerth asked local farmers to stop cutting off the cows’ horns. The locals laughed until they saw Bienerth at work and came to understand his philosophy of keeping things local and maintaining the natural order in life.

Today, Bienerth and his wife make cheese from 100 local cows, and together they have influenced their supply chain by rewarding farmers who take care of the cows properly. Indeed, the process is so hyper-local that Bienerth doesn’t require energy for transport or refrigeration. It’s all about freshness—holding up a piece of cheese that’s winning awards the world over, he explains that “two days ago it was grass, one day ago it was milk, and today it is cheese.”

This love for simplicity is not only environmentally friendly, it’s helping the local economy. And to that Bienerth simply says, “Cheesemaking is about love. If you are angry, you cannot make good cheese.”