“We can’t win.”
Mélodie, a French immigrant and naturalized American, owns Oregon Cheese Cave in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley, where she has operated for seven years. With 15 years in the specialty food industry, she sells a mix of local and international cheeses, including French and European varieties. Picard describes the food industry as increasingly challenging due to inflation, high manufacturing costs, tariffs, and reduced financial support for domestic products.