01
Do recognized makers still meet the six pillars?
Any maker that has drifted out of compliance is notified, given an opportunity to correct, and if not corrected, loses recognition at the review.
§ III · Governance
How the Standard
is governed.
The Real Wisconsin Cheese Curd Standard is administered by a six-member editorial board of Wisconsin cheesemakers, with funding disclosed in writing and recognition decisions made by majority vote. Here is how that works.
6
Board members
2 yr.
Rolling terms
50%+
Majority required
1×
Annual review
Why it matters
Credibility requires rules.
A standard is only as credible as its governance. We have published the rules of this Standard in detail because the alternative, an opaque editorial process, is the practice that allows most food-marketing claims to drift over time into things that no longer mean what they used to mean.
The sections below describe how we make decisions, who makes them, and what happens when we get something wrong.
Governance at a glance
The structure behind the Standard.
6
Wisconsin cheesemakers
Every board member must hold a current Wisconsin cheesemaker's license.
2
Year terms
Rolling appointments prevent more than three seats from changing in a single year.
1
Vote per company
No single company may occupy more than one board seat at a time.
0
Paid board seats
Board members are not compensated for their service.
01 · The people
The editorial board.
Recognition decisions are made by a six-member editorial board of Wisconsin cheesemakers. The board's role is advisory and adjudicatory: members evaluate applications, vote on new recognitions and removals, and review the annual tier assignments.
Board members are not paid for their service. They serve two-year terms with rolling appointments, so that no more than three seats turn over in any given year. The current board is listed in full on our About page.
Each board member must hold a current Wisconsin cheesemaker's license. The composition of the board deliberately includes makers from multiple tiers, multiple regions of the state, and multiple cheese specialties. Heritage-tier members balance the perspective of third-and-fourth-generation creameries against the perspective of newer farmstead operations.
✓
Current Wisconsin cheesemaker's license required.
✓
Multiple regions and cheese specialties represented.
✓
Rolling appointments limit annual turnover.
✓
No company may hold more than one seat.
02 · Recognition
How recognition decisions get made.
Any Wisconsin creamery that believes it meets the six pillars of the Standard may apply. From there, every recognition follows the same basic process.
01
Application.
A Wisconsin creamery submits an application demonstrating that it meets the six pillars.
02
Board review.
Applications are reviewed in the months leading up to the annual review. Additional information may be requested.
03
Majority vote.
Recognition requires a majority vote of the board. Tie votes go to the chair elected at the start of the year.
04
Recognition.
Recognition is binary. Tier placement is decided separately through a structured rubric and reviewed annually.
Recognition and tier placement are separate decisions.
A creamery may be recognized as a Recognized Maker without qualifying for Heritage or Master tier in the same review. Tier promotions are reviewed annually. Tier demotions follow the same process: a board vote, notice to the creamery, and a published rationale.
03 · Accountability
The annual review.
The Standard is reviewed every year, in full. Every review is organized around three questions.
02
Should pending applications receive recognition?
The board reviews applications submitted during the year, requests additional information where needed, and votes.
03
Should the pillars themselves be revised?
Pillar revisions are rare and require a five-of-six supermajority. Any change is published with a full rationale.
04 · Disclosure
Funding, conflict, and disclosure.
Real Wisconsin Cheese Curds is published in partnership with Gardner's Wisconsin Cheese, a fourth-generation family creamery in central Wisconsin.
Gardner's funds the site's operating costs: hosting, design, photography, the editor's time, and the infrastructure of the badge program. Gardner's does not control what we publish.
The editorial wall is documented in our About page and reiterated in the footer of every page on the site.
“If we recommended Gardner's in every guide, we would be a marketing site, not an editorial one.”From our editorial commitments
05 · Recognition status
Adding and removing makers.
Adding a maker
Application → review → vote.
The maker submits a written application, the board reviews it, and a vote follows. Applications are accepted year-round and reviewed at the annual review.
Removing a maker
Three possible reasons.
A maker may lose recognition because it no longer meets the pillars and does not correct the issue, because the maker requests removal, or because of conduct incompatible with the Standard's editorial values.
The third category requires a five-of-six supermajority and a published explanation.
06 · When we're challenged
Disputes and corrections.
Any creamery, reader, or maker may dispute a decision made by this Standard. Disputes are submitted in writing to the editor. The editor reviews the dispute and, where warranted, brings it to the board for reconsideration.
Disputes that lead to a reversed decision are documented publicly with the same prominence as the original decision.
Corrections to published content — factual errors in a profile, an incorrect link, or a date wrong by a year — are made on the page where the error appeared, with a dated correction note appended at the bottom.
We do not silently edit corrections. We do not delete coverage we later regret. The dated correction becomes part of the record.
07 · Transparency
Records and public access.
Vote tallies on recognition decisions, application submission records, and meeting minutes from the annual review are kept on file. Any reader may request access through our contact channel.
The Standard is not a government body and is not subject to formal open-records laws, but the editorial principle is the same: a credible standard is a transparent one, and sunlight is the simplest test.
Request records →