ACS Raleigh — Day Three

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Dawn broke over the horizon this morning like a nicked yolk in a frying pan; although the humidity is visible, the temps, especially once the sun goes down, have been quite tolerable.

Moderator Bill Graves, Dr. Donnelly, Dr. Nsofor, Cathy Strange

My first session sounds like a snoozer, but it dove into the white hot center of cheese regulation that is currently shifting like the beach during a hurricane. The panel for “Working Proactively to Mitigate Risks and Promote Cheese Safety” consisted of Dr. Cathrine Donnelly from VIAC, Cathe Strange from Whole Foods Market, Dr. Obianuju Nsofor from the FDA, and moderated by Bill Graves of the Dairy Research Institute. It began with a very discouraging presentation from Dr. Nsofor about the FDA’s take on their re-evaluation of dairy safety issues, specifically around the 60 day rule, which was adopted in the 1960s on the basis of assumptions (not scientific study) about pathogens viability in a high acid, low moisture environment. Better late than never, the FDA is now scientifically testing those assumptions, and they have not been bourn out, specifically with higher moisture cheeses aged over 60 days.
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ACS Raleigh — Day Two

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dawn over eastern Raleigh and the Piedmont
There is so much to pack into each ACS conference (or maybe because many of the attendees work with dairy animals) things start early; with breakfast at 7:30am, Kevin and I woke at 6:00am with the sun clearing the horizon and the Progress Energy building across from the Marriott; the moisture in the air is visible this early, though the locals say that we’ve been very lucky. The temps have *only* been in the 90s the last few days, and that trend is forecast to continue — a serious cool down for August.

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After breakfast (largely of Vermont cheese for me, though muffins and bagels were also available) Temple Grandin kicked off the conference this morning. She had a lot to say about animal welfare, organic versus conventional agriculture, BIG ag versus small ag, Europe vs. US ag, and the shocking lack of basic biology knowledge in the general public. Her speech was inspiring, especially in how she was able to convince huge corporations to care about the animals the processed– she claimed that right now more than 50% of the animals slaughtered in the US are processed using equipment she designed. The speech was also reassuring because I know many farmers who are using similar measures to what she described as necessary so that any animal has “a life worth living” even if they are grown to become meat.
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ACS Raleigh — Day One

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Raleigh City Center Wednesday Farmers Market

On Wednesday we were greeted by a City Center Farmers Market at the base of the convention hotels this morning. It happens downtown every Wednesday from 10am to 2pm, but today it’s been enhanced with five local cheese makers (normally there are only two cheese makers) joining the other vendors, an ACS tasting tent offering local cheese and local beer pairings, a grilled cheese competition between local chefs, and a live band.

Cheesemakers at the market:

Chapel Hill Creamery
Hillsborough Cheese Co.
Goat Lady Dairy
Calico Farmstead
Holly Grove Farms

Others are off on tours of local cheese makers, farms, and food markets around The Triangle; or taking one of the “Deep Dive” workshops, such as “Food Safety and Artisan Cheesemaking”