Sunday, September 19, 2010

Raw deal

Having now invested in a herd share of three cows I am following the raw milk debate with some interest. Mainly because I have zero trust in the government to get these things right. I have a parallel in my current industry where there was a big push on lysteria that would have made it almost economically impossible for a butcher to do their own smallgoods.

Now food standards and various state bodies claim that they are trying to protect the consumer. But regulations like this, that remove production from the small butcher and put it all in the hands of the big factory producers means that soon you will be having maybe five very similar hams and bacons in Australia. The ability of a butcher to be able to make their own ham or salami or kransky gives them a point of difference from the Coles and Woolies of the world. It gives our palates a testing point, to find out what we like in a food.

The thing is, the big producers mission statement would read like this, profit, profit, profit, taste. Our suppliers make cures and premixes that allow the big guys to make more money. Sliceable water was one of the phrases I heard at my last technical conference.

So when I see the big dairy producers in Oz telling me that raw milk is dangerous and that pasteurized cheese is just as good, I get the feeling that they are looking at their mission statement dreading the small producer that might force them to change to taste before profit.


-- Post From My iPhone

PS. One of the twitterati pointed out that if governments were that worried about raw cheese affecting our health, they might remove cigarettes from sale, something that is proven to kill more people than any food product available anywhere.

9 comments:

  1. Couldn't agree with you more. We tear our hair out with the regulations imposed on us. I think they feel good knowing they can tell us how we should live our lives after all these years.

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  2. Love the irony your twitterati friend pointed out. Yes it seems crazy not to at least support the choice. For those who agree I suggest you visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/m0i9l10k/ and sign the petition to maintain and extend Australian artisan cheesemakers’ right to produce – and for consumers to eat – Australian raw milk cheese.

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  3. *practices, not processes .. soz.

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  4. Damn blogger and its vanishing posts. Soz. Re-comment.

    No issue with people making foods for their own consumption and for that of their friends. I do get a fraction edgy at the thought of private enterprises feeding the population with really minimal regulation. I REALLY don't know the ins and outs, but it seems to me anyone as long as they follow some basic guidelines for packaging - (not talking about private producers with shops, as such, but street side stuff...) - there isn't any real way to monitor good manufacturing processes and HACCP guidelines.

    I'll table this bloke as an example of what I mean. He is a functioning butcher with staff south of Brisbane, somewhere, I believe.

    http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3958&page=0

    Honestly, that bloke TERRIFIES me. I'm "StG" in that thread. With my own experiences with people selling 'produce', I'm involved in goats, as you know, but some in the industry are a civil lawsuit waiting to happen. I kid you not.

    If you could GUARANTEE every single person selling privately made consumables have signed up for various courses and qualification related to food production and that the dollar isn't their main motivation, but like you, the betterment of what we eat then I'll be more inclined to back what you're about, but until then I'm sus as FK on private producers.

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  5. OMG, it's gone again. You ain't censoring me right?. Wouldn't think so.

    Long one, short. Some producers ruin it for many. Private producers need to set the standard for themselves.

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  6. The US has been pulling this kind of shit for ages. Our big businesses are simply borrowing pages straight out of US corporations plan-books.

    We're not as badly off as the USA yet. But you're right: this crap about raw milk is too stupid for words. Pasteurised cheese is a sad, pale imitation of the real thing.

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  7. Moko has left a new comment on your post "Raw deal":

    No issue with people making foods for their own consumption and for that of their friends. I do get a fraction edgy at the thought of private enterprises feeding the population with really minimal regulation. I REALLY don't know the ins and outs, but it seems to me anyone as long as they follow some basic guidelines for packaging - (not talking about private producers with shops, as such, but street side stuff...) - there isn't any real way to monitor good manufacturing processes and HACCP guidelines.

    I'll table this bloke as an example of what I mean. He is a functioning butcher with staff south of Brisbane, somewhere, I believe.

    http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3958&page=0

    Honestly, that bloke TERRIFIES me. I'm "StG" in that thread. With my own experiences with people selling 'produce', I'm involved in goats, as you know, but some in the industry are a civil lawsuit waiting to happen. I kid you not.

    If you could GUARANTEE every single person selling privately made consumables have signed up for various courses and qualification related to food production and that the dollar isn't their main motivation, but like you, the betterment of what we eat then I'll be more inclined to back what you're about, but until then I'm sus as FK on private producers.

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  8. I'm not advocating people like me can sell raw milk or cheese. But the artisan producers that are already making great cheese with proper tests and would have further testing regimes on raw milk, should have the option.

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