Finding Her Place in the Big Cheese

How UNC Asheville helped Shannon Herlihy transform a passion for food systems, health, and justice into a career supporting small-scale cheesemakers around the world

By UNC Asheville

February 13^th, 2026

Shannon Herlihy ‘18 never thought she’d find herself saying the phrase, “I work in big cheese,”—a phrase that, she jokes, brings up the image of a towering Manhattan office building made up entirely of Swiss cheese, with holes for windows and little worker mice running around the halls. In reality, her job as a Sales Associate at Forever Cheese is far more meaningful as a result of how UNC Asheville prepared her for a career rooted in food systems.

“UNC Asheville provided me with the knowledge to support an understanding of our food systems that encompass the land, the people, and the interconnectedness of both,” she says.

UNC Asheville graduate Shannon Herlihy (L) and Mike Sadler (R) discuss Italian blue cheese as part of the Forever Cheese webinar series.

At UNC Asheville, “I could study agriculture and food systems, and incorporate health and wellness—a conglomeration of everything I’m interested in.”

Diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder as a child, Shannon learned early how food directly affects your health and daily life. In high school, she pursued a culinary program and took a class that opened her eyes to how closely intertwined food systems are with the environment. Those experiences shaped her college path, leading her to choose UNC Asheville because its liberal arts curriculum allowed her to combine her passions.

“I could study agriculture and food systems, and incorporate health and wellness—a conglomeration of everything I’m interested in,” she recalls. That flexibility allowed her to major in Environmental Science, design a Food, Land, and Community concentration, and minor in Health and Wellness Promotion.

Staff and students gather for a Food Equity Initiative community meal at UNC Asheville.

“Food systems affect everyone because everyone eats. It’s not just a matter of health—it’s a social justice and an environmental issue, and they all feed into each other. ”

Small, discussion-based classes in food policy further deepened her understanding of how socioeconomic factors influence access to food. “Food systems affect everyone because everyone eats. It’s not just a matter of health—it’s a social justice and an environmental issue, and they all feed into each other, ” she explains.

At UNC Asheville, Shannon helped launch the University’s food pantry and Food Equity Initiative, gaining hands-on experience building systems that improve access to healthy food. During her senior year, she attended a series of environmental lectures, and from one of these events, received an invitation to North India to work on a farm after graduation.“UNC Asheville gave me the confidence to teach nutrition classes, to garden and farm professionally, and to have a solid foundation to continue learning about other specific parts of our food systems, like venturing into the world of cheese and food sales.”

Mediterranean spread at a community meal hosted by Shannon for the Food Equity Initiative at UNC Asheville.

Before transitioning into food sales, Shannon farmed with AmeriCorps, taught cooking and nutrition classes to families in communities with higher rates of SNAP eligibility, and worked as a cheesemonger. As she learned about small-scale cheese producers around the world, she began connecting the dots between her education, personal experiences, and professional work. “I want to be a part of a food system that isn’t contributing to the industrialization of agriculture,” she explains.

Shannon’s current employer, Forever Cheese, is a specialty cheese importer and distributor based in NYC. The company imports artisan cheeses and specialty foods from small producers across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, and Switzerland, and is committed to keeping small family farms alive and preserving traditional cheesemaking practices. In her current role, Shannon works directly with buyers at famous New York food emporiums.

After a classroom discussion, visiting lecturer Dr. Vandana Shiva (R) signs Shannon’s (L) copy of Seed Sovereignty, Food Security: Women in the Vanguard of the Fight against GMOs and Corporate Agriculture.

Shannon says that being part of the cheese world has been both surprising and comforting. “Europe really has the right idea. In Italy, if you need meat, you go to the butcher; if you need cheese, you go to the cheese shop,” she says. “Transportation between small farms and local stores preserves flavor, nutrition, and the integrity of the food. That’s the core of the slow food movement.”

Shannon is grateful she took a wide variety of classes at UNC Asheville that prepared her to help reframe how people think about food. Though her midtown office isn’t actually made of Swiss, in her world the “big cheese” represents a commitment to keeping traditional food systems alive, one artisan cheese at a time.

Shannon (L) and Mark Altskan (R) lead a virtual training demonstration for The Chef's Warehouse.

Footnotes

Story by Gressa Cedergren. Gressa is a senior studying English with a concentration in Creative Writing at UNC Asheville. She has been working as an intern in the University’s Communications and Marketing Department since summer 2025.

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Finding Her Place in the Big Cheese

How UNC Asheville helped Shannon Herlihy transform a passion for food systems, health, and justice into a career supporting small-scale cheesemakers around the world

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