Peggy Smith is the co-founder of Cowgirl Creamery along with Sue Conley.[1][2]

Both women are credited with their role in developing Northern California's artisan cheese industry.[3] In 2006, with Conley, she won a James Beard award in recognition for "significant and lasting achievements and contributions to the food and beverage industry for ten or more years."[4]

Early life

Smith attended the University of Tennessee, where she met Conley.[5] In 1976, the two women moved to San Francisco, where both took jobs in the restaurant industry.[6] Smith worked at Noe Valley Bar and Grill in San Francisco and Mount View Grill in Calistoga before she was hired to cook at the new upstairs cafe at Chez Panisse.[7] She worked at Chez Panisse for 17 years.[8] After leaving Chez Panisse, Smith moved to Point Reyes, California, where she and Conley founded Tomales Bay Foods with the intent of marketing and distributing foods made in the West Marin area.[9]

Work

Smith co-founded Cowgirl Creamery, a manufacturer and distributor of artisan cheese, along with Conley.[10]

They founded the cheese-making company as a way of creating a product which showcased the organic milk produced by Albert Straus at Straus Family Creamery: "We saw the need to showcase great quality organic milk. The farm economy could not survive the state it was in, so we saw a need to preserve land in agriculture."[11]

Smith is a member of the California Artisan Cheese Guild. With Conley, she wrote Cowgirl Creamery Cooks.[12]

In 2016, Smith and Conley sold Cowgirl Creamery to Emmi, a Swiss dairy firm.[13]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ "Interview: Cowgirl Creamery founder Sue Conley". Food GPS. November 1, 2010. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "Cowgirl Creamery: Two Women at the Top of Their Game". February 13, 2013. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  3. ^ "Sale of Cowgirl Creamery includes Marin outlet". Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  4. ^ "2006 James Beard Foundation Award Nominees on StarChefs.com". starchefs.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  5. ^ "How to Start a Culture: Meet the Matriarchs behind Cowgirl Creamery". The Bold Italic. April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  6. ^ "Thinning of the Curd". Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  7. ^ "Cowgirl Creamery: Two Women at the Top of Their Game". February 13, 2013. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  8. ^ "Women in Business 2014: Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, Cowgirl Creamery and Tomales Bay Foods". The North Bay Business Journal. June 23, 2014. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  9. ^ P., Roberts, Jeffrey (2007). The atlas of American artisan cheese. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub. Company. ISBN 978-1-933392-34-9. OCLC 87127629.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Women in Business 2014: Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, Cowgirl Creamery and Tomales Bay Foods". The North Bay Business Journal. June 23, 2014. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "Interview: Cowgirl Creamery Owners Sue Conley & Peggy Smith | PBS Food". PBS Food. April 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  12. ^ Donnelly, C.; Kehler, M. (2016). The Oxford Companion to Cheese. Oxford Companions. Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-19-933090-4. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  13. ^ "Sale of Cowgirl Creamery includes Marin outlet". Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
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