In the heart of Philadelphia’s trendy Fishtown neighborhood, where culinary innovation meets artisanal craftsmanship, dairy farmer Sue Miller eagerly approaches the popular restaurant Pizzeria Beddia, with its open kitchen, polished concrete floors and Miller’s Red Cat cheese on the menu.
Miller, an accomplished cheese artisan, loves to visit chefs and restaurateurs who order the many varieties of cheese that she crafts on her family’s 80-cow dairy farm in Southeast Pennsylvania.
The Miller family has been farming at Birchrun Hills Farm in Chester County for three decades. About 15 years ago, Sue Miller started making farmstead cheese using milk from their own Holstein cows. To be considered farmstead, the cheese must be made mostly by hand using milk from the family’s herd, right on the farm where the cows are raised.
At Birchrun Hills, making specialty cheese starts from the ground up.
“It all begins with the soil,” Miller says. “You know, consumers aren’t necessarily thinking about the soil when they purchase a wedge of cheese. But as dairy farmers and cheese makers, we think about that every day,” Miller says.
Miller’s husband, Ken, and their sons, Randy and Jesse, prioritize soil health and caring for their cows. While Sue was honing her cheesemaking craft, Randy and Jesse Miller earned Dairy Science degrees at Cornell University. The family’s goal is to continue their dairy farming tradition for years to come.
The Millers use sustainable farming practices like rotating crops, planting in strips along the land contour, and avoiding tilling the soil, to prevent erosion and keep their land healthy.
“Our cows are giving us this beautiful quality milk that we can take and make into delicious and nutritious cheeses. This is an important connection for us, starting with the soil, growing the feed for our herd, milking the cows and then making cheese. It is a beautiful cycle,” Miller says.
Sue says it is meaningful to witness the connection between her family’s hard work and the delicious foods that consumers enjoy. She says interacting with customers brings her joy.
Inside the Fishtown restaurant that is a perennial entry on many Best Pizza in America lists, Joe Beddia greets Miller with a warm hug. The two sit across a table to chat and taste several of Pizzeria Beddia’s menu items that feature Pennsylvania cheese.
Miller, as the president of the Pennsylvania Cheese Guild, knows many of the cheesemakers featured in the dishes. Beddia says he was very deliberate in choosing the best of locally sourced products.
As a pizza maker and the author of Pizza Camp: Recipes from Pizzeria Beddia, Beddia has spent years creating the perfect dough that forms the framework for his famous pies. Developing the crust was his labor of love. For the best cheese, Beddia relies on local farmers.
“If you are that considerate with the dough, everything else you put on the pizza matters equally,” Beddia says. “It really matters to me where the food comes from, how does that affect the Earth and the local economies,” Beddia says.
Miller says she thinks about dairy farming in the same way. For Sue Miller and her family, every wedge of cheese is a testament to their dedication to environmental sustainability, craftsmanship, and the communities they serve—whether enjoyed at their farm, in homes or on restaurant tables.
“We think of ourselves as the community’s cheesemakers. I want people to be mindful that this is an agriculture product,” Miller says. “There’s a family behind it. There’s a farm behind it. It is really meaningful to us.”
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