Revenge of the Curds

I mix my beagles’ dry food dinner with cottage cheese, so I make regular visits to my local corner grocery store to pick up a few containers. I was surprised recently when there was a note on the refrigerator shelf announcing that the cottage cheese was being rationed: One container per customer. When, on behalf of my beagles, I inquired about the new limit, the woman behind the counter explained, “It has something to do with TikTok. Teenagers have been coming in and buying our entire stock.” F. Scott Fitzgerald might have to rethink the notion that there are no second acts in American lives. Cottage cheese, once considered a diet food that had peaked in the 70s, only to be kicked to the curd by yogurt, has ridden a social media and protein wave back to prominence. Cottage cheese is no longer a cottage industry. “A growing obsession with protein among American consumers has given the white curds a new life. A few years ago, online fans began posting about ‘protein-maxxing’ with cottage cheese, adding it to ice cream, smoothies, flatbreads, bagels and pasta dishes. TikTok creators became cottage cheese converts, enticed by the product’s roughly 14 grams of protein per serving.” It’s rare that the New York Times and my beagles wake up asking themselves the same question, but in the 2026 news cycle, anything is possible. NYT (Gift Article): Where Has All the Cottage Cheese Gone?