What is California's Artisan Cheese Festival?
California's Artisan Cheese Festival is a nonprofit organization which presents an annual festival in March in Petaluma, California at the Sheraton Sonoma County–Petaluma Hotel. The festival’s mission is to:
- Educate people who want to learn more about artisan cheese
- Support the artisan cheesemaking community and its sustainability; and
- Celebrate and enjoy the creations of the artisan cheesemakers.
What does California's Artisan Cheese Festival include?
Over the four day festival weekend we celebrate and explore handcrafted cheeses, foods, wines and beers from California and beyond. At our second annual festival in March 2008 more than 1,700 attendees met more than a dozen international award-winning cheesemakers and learned how to taste, buy, serve and enjoy distinctive artisan cheeses from the experts. The educational seminars and tastings were led by cheese experts, cheesemakers, chefs and fromagiers from across the country, and virtually every session involved tastings and/or pairings of artisan cheeses. The festival featured a wide variety of artisan cheeses from California and beyond, together with their artisan bread, food, wine and beer complements. See the Schedule of Events from the 2008 festival for the complete program.
Planning for the 2009 festival, to be held March 20-23, 2009, is underway and the schedule of events will be posted and tickets will go on sale in the fall of 2008.
How is California's Artisan Cheese Festival Supporting the Artisan Cheesemaking Community
and Its Sustainability?
The festival's goal of supporting the artisan cheesemaking community and its sustainability is accomplished in several ways. As the first festival to focus on artisan cheeses, the festival promotes broad awareness of the artisan cheesemaking community, and enjoyment of its products. Through its educational offerings the festival also helps consumers better understand artisan cheeses, and their advantages over non-artisan cheeses. It also shows the wide variety of artisan cheeses available, and the flexibility with which they can be used. The festival's marketplace event on Sunday gives the cheesemakers an excellent opportunity to showcase and sell their cheeses.
The festival helps the artisan cheesemaking community directly by contributing 10 percent of all ticket proceeds to nonprofit organizations that work to (1) protect and preserve the lands needed by the artisan cheesemakers for their cows, sheep and goats; (2) train and encourage the next generation of milk producers and cheesemakers; and (3) support the artisan cheesemaking community in California. The festival also supports the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which is working to eliminate hunger in Sonoma County.
California's Artisan Cheese Festival has made donations totaling $18,000 to date to the following nonprofit organizations:
- Sonoma Land Trust
- Marin Agricultural Land Trust
- Petaluma Future Farmers of America
- California Artisan Cheese Guild
- Redwood Empire Food Bank
What is “Artisan Cheese?”
Artisan cheese is produced in small batches, with particular attention paid to the tradition of the cheesemaker’s art, and thus uses as little mechanization as possible in the production of the cheese. Artisan cheeses may be made from all types of milk and may include various flavorings.
This definition is drawn from the definition developed by the American Cheese Society.
What is “Farmstead Cheese?”
In order for a cheese to be classified as “farmstead,” as defined by the American Cheese Society, the cheese must be made with milk from the farmer’s own herd, or flock, on the farm where the animals are raised. Milk used in the production of farmstead cheeses may not be obtained from any outside source. Farmstead cheeses may be made from all types of milk and may include various flavorings.
What is the Difference Between “Artisan Cheese” and “Farmstead Cheese?”
In brief, “artisan” concerns the manner in which the cheese is made, and “farmstead” relates to the source of the milk.
A cheese can be both artisan and farmstead, and can be one and not the other. For example, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company produces Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese, which is both artisan and farmstead. Cheeses made by Cowgirl Creamery are artisan cheeses, but are not farmstead since the milk is provided by the Straus Family Creamery.
|
 |
