The Bond of Cheese Lovers

“If all the trees were bread and cheese there would be considerable deforestation in any part of England where I was living.”
G. K. Chesterton
“Essay on Cheese”

I’ve found an appreciation for a food so fine as cheese, distinguishes one. It may not give prestige, but it does set one apart. I cast my lot with the likes of G. K. Chesterton. The question is whether he is so quick to place himself with me.

For several years now, I’ve fancied the idea of having a shirt made for myself that says “I like cheese” but in the Swedish language as opposed to English because of my Scandinavian heritage. Further reflection upon this idea has lead to the use of a light blue tee shirt with yellow writing, rather like the flag of Sweden. I would be quite satisfied with the simplest of text styles as long as everything else was in order.

I also find myself in the company of other cheese lovers! Last year I was in a Bible study that met on Tuesday nights. We all liked cheese. Upon discovering this wonderful information, I promptly set out to find G. K. Chesterton’s essay that I’ve fondly quoted above! In honor of cheese, we had, you guessed it, a cheese party. Each person was to bring something with cheese and to top it off, we watched a cheesy movie. We ate cheddar slices on crackers, Cheese Whiz, Cheetos, Cheese-its, baked bre, even macaroni and cheese. As Chesterton would have said, our party was “quite the cheese!”

Then, last quarter, as if proof of forever being in the company of cheese lovers, my downstairs neighbors were so appreciative of me bringing them dessert one day, that they made my roommates and me a batch of brownies. The catch was that I had to try one and tell them what I thought before learning their secret ingredient. I was impressed with their baking skills, but did notice a slight discoloration in the brownies as well as an added flavor that isn’t often combine with dessert. I complimented them and learned that the secret ingredient was a good sized handful of Cheese-its!

Though G. K. was from a different time, a different place and a different social status than I, I believe we would bonnded--over cheese.


Chesterton, G. K., “Essay on Cheese.” Alarms and Discursions. 1910. http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/cheese.html>. 16 May 2007.