Road Food

Milwaukee Is Using Provolone Juice to Thaw Icy Roads

Making it safe to drive since 2013.
Making it safe to drive since 2013. Photo: Shutterstock

Milwaukee has launched a pilot program that harnesses the power of cheese brine mixed with rock salt to de-ice the city’s frozen roads, because when 2.7 billion pounds of cheese per annum pours out of your ears, you may as well dump some of the leftovers onto the streets. “We’re just trying to make every possible use of cheese,” a city alderman tells the Times, adding that the program, which saves the city money by deploying an otherwise useless byproduct, may soon spread around the country. But there’s an art to the coating of streets with cheese: “You want to use provolone or mozzarella,” says an official. Milwaukee’s cheese roads join the ranks of New Jersey’s pickle-brined highways, the great hops-lined avenues of Massachusetts, and the beet-sugar-glazed streets of Missouri. [NYT]

Milwaukee Is Using Provolone Juice to Thaw Icy Roads