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National and mondial cheese day, on March 27th, 2018
To your calendars ! The National Cheese Day is being revamped with a new and even more appetizing program to showcase rare cheeses, small productions made with raw milk, everywhere in France, among participating cheesemakers. You are cheesemakers and you wish to participate : contact us on the association’s email, in the contact form.
In the wake of the Salon de l’Agriculture and the Salon du Fromage, both held at the Porte de Versailles Paris in March, the 2001 National Cheese Day will be held throughout France on March 27th, reminding consumers and gastronomes that French cheese with raw milk is an important national theme. Much more than a food product, it symbolizes our culture, our know-how, the diversity and colour of our terroirs, the variety of animal breeds that have shaped the landscape, our gastronomic reputation in the world. If no one is surprised to see wine as a major cultural product, what about cheese ? Who knows the great cheese vintages ? Where can I find cheese cards in restaurants and wine shops that advise customers ? Is there a specialized press dedicated to cheese ? The association alerts French citizens to the trivialization of this highly symbolic product of a multi secular heritage.
Seven teen years that the Association has created this civic and festive event for the recognition of raw milk cheese, the preservation of the confidential and artisanal productions that form the basis of our agri-food history.
Under constant pressure from the dairy giants, who are not idle either in creativity or communication, raw and artisan milk cheeses have been diluted in the landscape and almost disappeared. National Cheese Day is there to remind us once a year that our raw milk cheeses are the heirs of a multi-century-old terroir, that producers fight every day to keep a tradition alive in a hostile context, that consumers are more attached to the terroir than we are told, and above all, that we are guarantors of this jealous heritage everywhere else !
While raw milk cheese is becoming the ultimate in foreign countries in Spain, Portugal, and even in countries that were the greatest enemies of the land such as the United States, Canada or England, it is still all too often marginalized in France. However, while there are encouraging signs for some of the more stringent PDOs - the last PDOs for 4 years have all been 100% raw milk after 25 years of successive decrees authorising pasteurisation - consumption falls by around 4% (*) each year, while overall consumption of cheeses remains stable (25 kg per year per inhabitant). Several reasons could explain this phenomenon : a lack of information and communication which leads to a lack of awareness of the existence of these cheeses, a decrease in distribution networks and the number of producers, confusion skilfully maintained by labelling which benefits industrial products... These clusters of clues suggest that we must act quickly because it is easier to deconstruct than to build. The rising trend in favour of sustainable development could be a positive factor in reviving the desire to consume raw milk cheeses, provided the stakes are explained. The development of short circuits could favour the return to the farm and the shelves for cutting large surfaces can also play an important role in the promotion of its products. The association made up of manufacturers, producers, militant gastronomes, chefs... has set itself the mission of informing consumers in order to guide them in their choices. This means training the palate of those who are just starting out, learning to read a label, making the difference between a brand and an AOC, buying at the right price and being demanding, boosting professionals...
Who’s involved ?
A small poster will be visible in all participating points of sale Some retailers offer a plate at one euro, make tastings of their choice... The list will be updated shortly.
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