cheese ground zero

I live in Wisconsin, which is proudly known as America's Dairyland. At one point, there was a serious movement to have our state motto be the 'eat cheese or die' state.

So when this kerfluffle started, I was a little amused. Apparently, a physicians' group is taking issue with our cheese consumption so they put up this billboard in Green Bay:

The PCRM said they chose Green Bay deliberately. The company that makes the cheesehead hats, as seen on the grim reaper there, is pissed. The mayor of Green Bay was less than amused when the organization asked if he would put a junk food warning label on everything sold with cheese. I mean, that's pretty much everything in Wisconsin. We once had a law that required restaurants to serve butter or cheese with everything.

I think the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said it best when they called Green Bay "cheese ground zero." Cheese makes up a significant part of our economy. We all eat cheese. Even my lactose-intolerant sister. I was talking with a fitness-instructor friend about our high-protein pre-workout snacks and it turns out both of us turn to cheese - she goes for the cottage variety and I snack on the Babybel light variety.

But I can certainly understand the concern a "physicians" group might have. (Quotes intended based on this article.) Most processed cheese is high in fats, chemicals and other icky stuff. We shouldn't eat it. But real cheese? The stuff made from milk and bacteria? Not so bad.

Maybe I'm biased because I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I come from a long line of dairy farmers. At one point, my grandparents had the largest farm in the county. And I like cheese. I am especially fond of very sharp cheese and bleu cheese and mild white cheeses, depending on the application and almost always with wine.

So where do you fall? Is cheese good or bad? Really, I want to know how people in other parts of the world feel about cheese, because I live in cheese ground zero.