Oregon residents strike a balance of work and recreation. The state’s natural resources include snow skiing, sailing, hiking, fishing and hunting. The serious is balanced with the humorous. Portland’s hipsters are gently spoofed on the Independent Film Channel show “Portlandia.” In one episode, celebrity chef Bobby Flay refers to “blackberries” much to the dismay and frustration of the director who insists that Flay calls them marionberries, a native fruit.

A native Oregonian I spoke with was proud that a local Portland coffee brand, Stumptown, is now sold in New York City, but she also seemed a little dismayed because the beans are no longer unique to Oregon.

As Tillamook cheese and its other dairy foods make inroads into grocers and restaurants across the United States, the dairy farmers who make up the co-operative can be proud of how far their milk has traveled. When a regional product becomes national, does it lose its appeal to the hometown crowd? Tillamook doesn’t think so. It’s just more evidence that the little co-op that could has succeeded on a larger stage.