NEWARK, Mo. — Two key ingredients turn milk into cheese at Heartland Creamery.
"Everything in cheese is about temperature and time," said Mauricio Toro, the creamery's office administrator.
A step-by-step process can take up to 10 hours from start to finish to make one batch of artisan cheese. The time involved in the process also tempers many employees who come to Heartland to turn around lives governed by drugs, alcohol and other addictions.
"I've had good jobs on the outside. I was a graphic designer," said one cheesemaker, who did not give his name. "My problem was alcohol, 10 years of alcohol addiction. I was going through all kinds of legal issues and came to a point I knew I needed a change in my life, a drastic change. I looked up online different places. This seemed like the right place for me."
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