More Greek Yogurt ado in the New York Times. It turns out there still may be people who haven’t heard about it, but not for long…
Dairy Sanitation Workshop May 16th
The Maine Cheese Guild will sponsor a Dairy Sanitation Workshop to be given by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Orono on May 16th. This year it will — for the first time — include a demonstration session of cleaning and sanitizing procedures using dairy production and processing equipment.
This is an all-day workshop, but will include a catered lunch.
May 16, 2013 – 8:00am-5:00pm
Nutting Hall, Room 204 – University of Maine, Orono campus
For directions and a campus map, please visit these web sites:
http://umaine.edu/about/driving-directions/
http://www.umaine.edu/locator/home-2/display-building/?id=261
Lunch is included and coffee and snacks in the morning.
Space is limited to the first 30 people.
Cost for Guild Members: $30.00
Non-Guild Members: $60.00
This workshop will cover an overview of sanitation topics such as bacterial pathogens related to dairy products, milking/milk room sanitation, as well as facility sanitation. Ronda Stone from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry will also talk about sanitation from an inspector’s perspective. Other special guests will include Sarah Spring, Spring Day Creamery who will discuss her own recent sanitation issues and how she overcame them. We will also have hands-on activities in the Pilot Plant to take the theory we learned and put it to practice.
An online registration web site link will be posted on the Maine Cheese Guild web site in the next few weeks.
A detailed agenda will soon follow. Thanks and if you have any questions, please contact Beth Calder at UMCE.
How Now Maine Cow?
The Maine Sunday Telegram (and associated newspapers) published a good overview of the present state of Maine’s 307 (currently) dairies this past Sunday. It is NOT a bright or positive story, but it is an honest look at a critical keystone of Maine agriculture and the federal and state programs that control much of what dairy farmers are (or are not) paid.
One fact left out of this excellent article is that Maine now asks the Oxford Casino to help fund its price support program. How sad that we depend on gambling revenue to keep fresh local milk in the grocery stores? We need to wake up and be willing to pay the TRUE price of our food, and stop hiding the true cost, which really hides the value of our hard working and dedicated Maine farmers. And if dairy farming doesn’t make economic sense, we should not be surprised that most young Mainers don’t want to go into that field…