cheese « Build A New Life in Prince Edward County

Giving us the Straight Goods; Thanks Fifth Town!

Contributed by Karin Desveaux-Potters, Gastronomy Cluster, Economic Development Office

In an ideal world, everything always goes according to plan and nothing ever goes wrong. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world, and often the best we can do is to respond to unfortunate situations that arise swiftly and responsibly with tact and grace.

This is exactly how Petra Kassun-Mutch, founder of the Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company reacted when she discovered that very low levels of Listeria had been discovered in her state-of -the-art dairy in Cressy, Prince Edward County.

Often cited within the artisan cheese industry as an example of exemplary food safety protocols, the Fifth Town team has been able to work closely with inspection agencies in an efficient, highly professional way to rectify the problem as quickly as possible.

Petra’s messaging has been transparent and timely, providing the public with extensive information.

For all information and any updates, visit www.fifthtown.ca or call the dairy directly at 613.476.5755. In the meantime, the only cheese that has been affected and recalled is Rose Haus; all other Fifth Town cheese remain safe and a pleasure to eat.

If you would like to invest in gastronomy in Prince Edward County, please contact me at 613.476.2148 x344 or email kdesveaux-potters@pecounty.on.ca

Tags: cheese, Cressy, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company, food safety, Listeria, Prince Edward County
Comments (2) | Posted over two years ago by Karin Desveaux-Potters

Making Cheese on The Farm

Contributed by Karin Desveaux-Potters, Gastronomy Cluster, Economic Development Office

Farming is a difficult, often unreliable business and because of that, farmers are some of the best innovators out there. It is rare to find a farm with a single revenue source; more often than not farmers tend to have off-farm jobs or several revenue streams within their overall operations to make the whole thing work. Dairy farming is no exception.

In 2010, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) piloted a project that encouraged and assisted dairy farms to add “on-farm processing” into their sales mix called “Project Farmgate“. Under this pilot project, select farms were assisted with market development support and staff resources to liaise with the provincial ministry for plant approvals in the pasteurization and processing of fluid milk, cheese and butter.

There is clearly a market for dairy products processed on-farm; buying cheese, butter or milk on the farm it was made at is pretty much the ultimate local-food sourcing experience. With the current artisan food trends that focus on small batch, handcrafted products including artisan cheese, the timing couldn’t be better. The success of the pilot program was recognized at the DFO’s annual general meeting this past week when the organization opted to support on-farm processing in their current strategic plan. This is excellent news for existing dairy farms who want to transition into value-add opportunities such as farm gate sales of cheese, butter and fluid milk.

Dairy farms interested in the on-farm processing opportunity should contact the DFO for more information.

If you would like to invest in gastronomy in Prince Edward County, please contact me at 613.476.2148 x433 or email kdesveaux-potters@pecounty.on.ca

Tags: Artisan Cheese, butter, cheese, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, farm gate sales, Farming, fluid milk, innovators, Local Food, on-farm processing, pilot project, small batch, value-add opportunities
Comments (2) | Posted over two years ago by Karin Desveaux-Potters

New Grant Money for PEC and Surrounding Counties for 2010

Contributed by Karin Desveaux-Potters, Gastronomy Cluster, Economic Development Office

My week got off to a fabulous start when Prince Edward Hastings MPP and Minister of Education Leona Dombrosky called to inform me that the a grant application we had submitted to the Ontario Market Investment Fund (OMIF) was approved by the province in the amount of $93396.

The money is going towards work that will focus on attracting investment and creating jobs in local, artisanal agriculture-based food production. The goal of the project is to assist and encourage existing and new investors to expand their businesses through creating value added food products from local agriculture.

This Regional Economic Development Project is building on the successful and award winning Invest in Cheese initiative that is already a partnership between Lennox & Addington, Frontenac, Hastings and Prince Edward County. The four community partners are positioning themselves as a thriving region for local, agriculture based food production and are ready to assist stakeholders in the expansion of current businesses and attract new investment to the area.

Based on the successful results and momentum built on the existing wine and cheese industries, the objective is to encourage and facilitate the start-ups and expansions of other producers in related areas throughout the region, leveraging the current trends in local food production and demand for local food.

The benefit to the community is that these kinds of expansions and start-ups will keep farming vibrant and viable, add value to existing farming operations through new opportunities in products such as preserves, vinegar, mustard, charcuterie, cheese, micro brewery, micro distillery etc. and create new job opportunities.

Tags: artisanal, charcuterie, cheese, creating jobs, local agriculture, micro brewery, micro distillery, mustard, preserves, value added, vinegar
Comments (1) | Posted over two years ago by Karin Desveaux-Potters