“Americans eat 35 pounds of cheese per year on average — a record amount, more than double the quantity consumed in 1975. And yet that demand doesn’t come close to meeting U.S. supply … Add to that a global drop in demand for dairy, plus technology that’s making cows more prolific, and you have the lowest milk prices since the Great Recession ended in 2009. Farmers poured out almost 50 million gallons of unsold milk last year — actually poured it out, into holes in the ground.” I know what you’re thinking. With that kind of cheddar at stake, milk needs a team of scientists, public relations people, and branding experts to move more product. Well, it turns out the dairy industry has just such a group working on its behalf. And now that we’re long past the days of kids packing a mini milk carton in their lunch boxes, moving more milk means moving more cheese. From BusinessWeek: The Mad Cheese Scientists Fighting to Save the Dairy Industry. (Note: I could have filled this puff piece with a lot of udderly cheesy puns, but I didn’t want to be grilled by grated-upon readers who’d have the right to be cheesed and want to tear me to shreds. Besides, I’m lactose intolerant.)