NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Not the cheese!!!!!!

[teela1978]

http://jezebel.com/5912178/earthquake-in-italy-devastates-the-worlds-artisanal-cheese-supply

I don't think I've seen it posted elsewhere :(

[Nae]

Oh my goodness. I need to watch the news more, I had no idea about the earthquake, much less the cheese.

I guess that just means prices will go up, such a waste.

[Shorty89]

:( Not the cheese!

[HintOfMint]

Anything but the cheese!!!!!

Long live the cheese! :cheese:

[sun-kissed]

There was an earthquake... in Italy? I need to get out more.

The cheese... so tragic.... :shake:

[christine1989]

Earthquake= major problem. Earthquake destroying artisan cheeses= 1st world problem. Lol! Seriously though, I hope everyone is alright...cheeseless but alright.

[Jing]

Earthquake destroying artisan cheeses= 1st world problem.

This quote is made of awesome.

[Vampyria]

Slovenia is near Italy so we also felt the earthquake. I heard about the cheese in yesterday's news.

[terylenerose]

Forgive me for saying this, but this thread has no hair in it. Shouldn't it be in... oh, the Cheese Forum, say? Not that there is one or anything.
And yes, this is a first world type of problem. "Artisanal" curdled cow's milk being squished? Yeah, right. I see. I'm one of those rude vegans, so don't expect me to care too much. I meant to start a thread on cheese. I think I'll just go off and do that.
*leaves thread*

[Altariel]

I have felt the earthquake very well. It woke me up at 4 in the morning :O
I'm about 60km far from where the earthquake started.
My poor cheese!!

[GlennaGirl]

Won't somebody please think of the cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad everyone is all right!

[trolleypup]

Forgive me for saying this, but this thread has no hair in it. Shouldn't it be in... oh, the Cheese Forum, say? Not that there is one or anything.
And yes, this is a first world type of problem. "Artisanal" curdled cow's milk being squished? Yeah, right. I see. I'm one of those rude vegans, so don't expect me to care too much. I meant to start a thread on cheese. I think I'll just go off and do that.
*leaves thread*
/mod hat on: An occasional thread on cheese (given LHC's culture of cheese being the last choice) on the Mane Forum is acceptable. /mod hat off

Sad that so much damage was caused by underbuilding racks in an area subject to occasional earthquakes.

[Noortje]

Fortunately there probably are wheels of local, artisinal cheese available for everybody! Lokal farmers markets etc can probably cater for your cheesy needs! Even me, in rural Samnanger, far away from everything, I have local cheese production (osteri.no) 5 min away. Support local cheese!! :cheese:

[heidi w.]

Full wheels or bricks of cheese are often wrapped, and some might be salvagable, perhaps?

Some are wrapped in paper, or cloth, or even in a wax exterior.

400,000 wheels, that's a lot of cheese. Glad I don't eat much cheese.

Bad news for cheese connosoirs.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Fortunately there probably are wheels of local, artisinal cheese available for everybody! Lokal farmers markets etc can probably cater for your cheesy needs! Even me, in rural Samnanger, far away from everything, I have local cheese production (osteri.no) 5 min away. Support local cheese!! :cheese:

Perhaps laws in Norway differ, but in the U.S. selling cheese at farmer's markets can often be illegal unless they can comply somehow with regulations for selling cheese. I have a friend who tries to sell cheese at farmer's markets, and he operates illegally. So far, he hasn't been caught.

But my mother ran a wholesale cheese distributing business for domestic and imported cheeses, eventually spreading her inventory beyond just cheese. She no longer runs this business, but man, was it a great business she had. Everything comes and goes, seems to me.

Word to the wise: "American" cheese has a mere 10% of real cheese in it. Just FYI. All the rest is fillers. Or at least that's what it was in the late 70s to 80s....I highly doubt they've improved the recipe, although the price has "improved." (Used to be the food for hungry people, and a cheese commonly given to people lacking enough food to eat. Now all they get is a crapload of pasta or noodles, and maybe enough (although usually not) some kind of marina or tomato sauce. It's a joke to be fed in the US, or at least where I am currently.

heidi w.

[Dovetail]

How awful. I grew up in California, which has its fair share of earthquakes, and they aren't any fun. We build our buildings there with specifications for structural damage during a quake, but I doubt there are any laws to regulate structure of cheese racks.
I wonder what other historic buildings were destroyed? And 7 people! (so far) I feel bad for their families. I hope all of our members here are well, and their assets intact!

Also, I do love myself some cheese. My husband is Italian and we go through A LOT of cheeses :cheese: we do have a lot of farms around here, but mostly for meat cows. I wonder if I can find a local place <3

Edit to add: heidi, I had no idea that it could be illegal. Though I could see temperature being an issue. I wonder if it's ok to sell at a Brick and Mortar store.

[Noortje]

Perhaps laws in Norway differ, but in the U.S. selling cheese at farmer's markets can often be illegal unless they can comply somehow with regulations for selling cheese. I have a friend who tries to sell cheese at farmer's markets, and he operates illegally. So far, he hasn't been caught.

heidi w.

I'm no cheese expert, but I do know that you need to operate from a certified kitchen - production room, and it is quite a lengthy process. The cheese manifacturer mentioned, and another 3 I know of in a 50km radius are. There are probably a lot of rules concerning the cheese itself, but she makes non-pasteurised cheese, with natural rennet, so my guess is that it's not that restricted. No black cheese here! ;)
Anyway, my point was that, although it's horrible what happened in Italy, you might be surprised how many wonderfull cheese you can find on your doorstep :heart:

[elbow chic]

there is something v. naughty about illegal cheese that makes it even better. :face:

[Lady Neeva]

I heard about it earlier-400,000 wheels of cheese lost, which my teachers compared to the amount of wheels on cars that go through the freeway each day.

[GlennaGirl]

there is something v. naughty about illegal cheese that makes it even better. :face:

;) :eyebrows: :cheese:

[PixxieStix]

Oh snap, I better head to the grocery store tomorrow and load up on my favorite aged Gouda. :D Alas poor cheese, we knew them well!

My prayers go out to the families who lost a dear loved one though.

[jacqueline101]

Sorry about the cheese.

[teela1978]

/mod hat on: An occasional thread on cheese (given LHC's culture of cheese being the last choice) on the Mane Forum is acceptable. /mod hat off


I'm glad you concur. I had an internal debate over posting this on the mane forum or the friendship board... and decided that cheese is a main board issue.

[heidi w.]

Edit to add: heidi, I had no idea that it could be illegal. Though I could see temperature being an issue. I wonder if it's ok to sell at a Brick and Mortar store.

You can if you have a proper license and a proper type of setup. If you're selling, it's likely wrapped in wax, or paper or cloth. So you would have to keep it at a certain temperature, and use clean knives every time one cuts, say, 5 pounds from an entire wheel or brick of cheese. Likely stainless steel counters, and stuff like that if you cut from a wheel into smaller sellable chunks. And below someone mentioned that one must have an all-steel kitchen. That is also true of folks who wish to sell baked goods are farmer's markets; they too must use an all-steel kitchen and comply with rules. Of course, these rules can fluctuate somewhat from state-to-state. I don't think this is a federal law of compliance. I think it's from the state on down..... At local farmer's markets here, they have inspectors come through the farmer's market to make sure it's all in compliance. That's when a lot of vendors tend to disappear cuz they're selling something not in compliance. And if you think a DUI is a hassle to overcome, once you've got the food people on you, it sort of never ends. They watch you like a hawk. This is why selling food is so hard; all these rules one has to follow. And of course, we tend to like our food pretty clean and healthy. So you don't want those rules to go away very much.

heidi w.