The Great French Cheese Tragedy

[pim]

Much more serious than the disappearing of a secret cheese formula with the passing away of the druid who made it in his cave is, to me, the legal apparatus actually forbidding the making of some excellent traditional foods or making their production impossible. It is true for cheese production, fruit production, cattle breeding, etc. This is not a necessary evil, it is a deeply inhuman and pervert streak in the EU apparatus, the result of ignorance and laziness, and it needs to be fought.

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This is precisely the issue. It is far more devious than market forces doing the work, or some odd cheese makers dying of old age. The EU regulations have made it very difficult and less profitable to make raw milk cheese. These regulations cover everything from the cleanliness of the animal, the situation in the farms, to the pasteurization of the milk itself. They have made it nearly impossible for small producers of raw milk cheese to operate due to the high cost of maintaining code and scientific testing required.

The EU regulations are also responsible for the state of milk that is used to make the cheese. Most of the milk produced under these rules is too “clean” to be proper for cheese making. Milk is a fragile ecology, “clean” milk is as good as dead liquid. Nothing will grow in it.

Another problem is the changing nature of dairy industry in Europe. The trend toward large dairy farms is edging many breeds of cow closer and closer to extinction. In the 1950's, there were at least 30 common breeds of milk producing cows in Europe. Currently there are five, the most predominant being the “milk factory” Holstein. This shortage of diverse milk source has a strong effect on cheese making. The respect for the terroir is diminishing from the disappearing diversity of cows.

How very sad!

[Ptipois]

Another problem is the changing nature of dairy industry in Europe.  The trend toward large dairy farms is edging many breeds of cow closer and closer to extinction.  In the 1950's, there were at least 30 common breeds of milk producing cows in Europe.  Currently there are five, the most predominant being the “milk factory” Holstein.  This shortage of diverse milk source has a strong effect on cheese making.  The respect for the terroir is diminishing from the disappearing diversity of cows.

How very sad!

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Very sad, indeed. It has been known for awhile - and cattle breeders agree on this - that Holstein cows are preferred for their ability to produce large quantities of milk, but it is not good quality milk compared to, say, the milk of Norman cows, Ferrandaises and Aubrac cows in Auvergne and Rouergue. Making camembert or cantal cheese without the milk that originally produced them means added difficulty and a drop in quality. And those cows produce more milk, fine. But then there's milk overproduction and nobody really knows how to deal with it. That's a good example of European regulations painting themselves in a corner.

It also has to be said that the various breeds of regional cows are very handsome (and that applies to all European regional cow breeds, not just French) and are part of the general beauty of the country. Fortunately efforts are made to preserve our bovine heritage. The lovely red Ferrandaise cow nearly disappeared, some people are fighting to keep her on the Auvergne slopes. And just as fortunately, thin-legged, huge-bellied Holstein (which is not a very sturdy breed) will not fare in certain geographical conditions, and won't prosper in the mountains (which accounts for the survival of high-altitude breeds like Abondance and Tarine in the Alpes, Salers, Ferrandaise and Aubrac in the Massif Central.

The "mad cow crisis", all evil effects aside, has also helped redefine the problem. Regional breeds are preserved to ensure good quality meat in medium or small-sized cattle farms. That is the case of Limousine, Salers, Charolaise, and to a lesser extent Normande, Bazadaise, etc. This helps preserve our milk cow heritage as well. For instance Charolaise is good for meat, but it is very poor for milk. This is why Norman cows are used for feeding calves in the Charolais region. When crossing the Bourgogne-Mâconnais-Nivernais region by train or TGV, do you sometimes notice that herds of white cows in fields are sometimes studded with two or three cream-and-brown cows? These are the Norman wet-nurses. You may notice that Norman cows are used for this purpose, not Holsteins (it seems that humans are treated with less consideration than calves here ).

You may also notice that this sort of re-regulation of cattle diversity through several factors has nothing to do with the "market" (although perhaps indirectly, through the ESB crisis).

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Another problem is the changing nature of dairy industry in Europe.  The trend toward large dairy farms is edging many breeds of cow closer and closer to extinction.  In the 1950's, there were at least 30 common breeds of milk producing cows in Europe.  Currently there are five, the most predominant being the “milk factory” Holstein.  This shortage of diverse milk source has a strong effect on cheese making.  The respect for the terroir is diminishing from the disappearing diversity of cows.

How very sad!

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Very sad, indeed. It has been known for awhile - and cattle breeders agree on this - that Holstein cows are preferred for their ability to produce large quantities of milk, but it is not good quality milk compared to, say, the milk of Norman cows, Ferrandaises and Aubrac cows in Auvergne and Rouergue. Making camembert or cantal cheese without the milk that originally produced them means added difficulty and a drop in quality. And those cows produce more milk, fine. But then there's milk overproduction and nobody really knows how to deal with it. That's a good example of European regulations painting themselves in a corner.

It also has to be said that the various breeds of regional cows are very handsome (and that applies to all European regional cow breeds, not just French) and are part of the general beauty of the country. Fortunately efforts are made to preserve our bovine heritage. The lovely red Ferrandaise cow nearly disappeared, some people are fighting to keep her on the Auvergne slopes. And just as fortunately, thin-legged, huge-bellied Holstein (which is not a very sturdy breed) will not fare in certain geographical conditions, and won't prosper in the mountains (which accounts for the survival of high-altitude breeds like Abondance and Tarine in the Alpes, Salers, Ferrandaise and Aubrac in the Massif Central.

The "mad cow crisis", all evil effects aside, has also helped redefine the problem. Regional breeds are preserved to ensure good quality meat in medium or small-sized cattle farms. That is the case of Limousine, Salers, Charolaise, and to a lesser extent Normande, Bazadaise, etc. This helps preserve our milk cow heritage as well. For instance Charolaise is good for meat, but it is very poor for milk. This is why Norman cows are used for feeding calves in the Charolais region. When crossing the Bourgogne-Mâconnais-Nivernais region by train or TGV, do you sometimes notice that herds of white cows in fields are sometimes studded with two or three cream-and-brown cows? These are the Norman wet-nurses. You may notice that Norman cows are used for this purpose, not Holsteins (it seems that humans are treated with less consideration than calves here ).

You may also notice that this sort of re-regulation of cattle diversity through several factors has nothing to do with the "market" (although perhaps indirectly, through the ESB crisis).

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How interesting to get some background on French cattle. Year before last we drove from the Bugey area east of Lyon to Cognac, looping south through Lozere and Dordogne. While my husband commented on the changes in roof styles and architecture in general, I pointed out the differing breeds of cattle we encountered. I hope these differences in culture, for lack of a better word, continue.

[Mallet]

Perhaps it is time to revive this superb discussion; with France's recent "Non" vote on the EU constitution. Is this good news for artisanal cheese producers?

[John Talbott]

Perhaps it is time to revive this superb discussion; with France's recent "Non" vote on the EU constitution. Is this good news for artisanal cheese producers?

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Here from the depths of the 18th, I seem to recall something like "Plus ca change, ......"

[robert brown]

I agree with John. The less Brussels sticks its nose into the cheese business, the better. Not adopting the new EU Constitution would mean just that. Being a patriot of my country's currency and a big consumer of cheese in France, I voted "non" in spirit.

[bleudauvergne]

We read the consitution completely, every word. I was concerned, because I had heard all kinds of terrible things. We both spent a good deal of time studying it and found no evidence that ratifying the treaty would affect cheese production or trade at all. It was seriously my first question when preparing to vote: Will the European Constitution have a detrimental effect on the rules governing the production and trade of artisanal products like cheese? My second question was - is the proposed European constitution indeed a political document? Apparently that was the question being debated up to the election.

[Mallet]

I have spent some time this morning looking over the constitution (although I haven't read every single word), and am curious to hear your reasoning on why the constitution would not, at least potentially, affect production of certain artisanal products.

It seems to me like some of the areas of proposed common policy, such as public health, could have an impact on artisanal cheese production.

[Bux]

And I am of the opinion that the bureaucrats in Strasbourg have already affected the nature and quality of the cheese in France as well as the chocolate. Of course technology and other larger changes are likely to have an even greater affect in the future.

[John Talbott]

I have spent some time this morning looking over the constitution (although I haven't read every single word), and am curious to hear your reasoning on why the constitution would not, at least potentially, affect production of certain artisanal products.

It seems to me like some of the areas of proposed common policy, such as public health, could have an impact on artisanal cheese production.

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I think everyone is right. That is, those who say not much will happen and those who say it could potentially have had an impact even on food (to stay on topic.)

By the way, I too read it pretty closely under the guise of a French lesson and I thought it was so oversweeping, so good-intentioned, so truly banal and so bureaucratic that one would not know what actual impact it would have had on daily life until years afterwards when laws were written to try to implement its broad goals.

As I understand Constitutions (and I am not an expert), few are as brief as our own in the US. That said, they spell out the outlines of intent, that is, the "what"; it's the bylaws, laws, rules and regulations that specify the "how".

An example, everyone in the EU should be able to work everywhere within it. Fine. It would have been telling to have seen how long it would have taken for a Turkish dentist (if accepted) to set up shop in the 16th.

Getting back to cheese, foie gras and geographically "named" products (feta, parmesan, cognac), once again, I think existing and future laws and regs will have more of an impact than the previously-proposed Constitution.

To respond to Mallet, indeed, public health (an area I am an expert in) includes product safety, smoking, seatbelt use, etc. Again, though, I cannot see Sweden, Italy, Norway and Malta's laws on smoking in public places becoming EU policy overnight.

Bux (as usual and welcome back by the way) has a great point - technology and other factors (eg labelling, marketing, wish to penetrate markets in very different cultures, safety standards in the tiniest of countries (read Malta and Luxembourg)) could wag the dog.

[John Talbott]

I wasn't sure where to tuck this because so many topics deal with raw milk/pasteurized cheese, etc, but this AM's IHT had an interesting article by Michael Johnson where he compares America's rising interest in raw milk cheese with France/EU trends but holds out hope that at least at his shop, I assume near Bordeaux, there's no fear for the future.