SEMINAR TO FOCUS ON AMERICAN ARTISANAL CHEESES PRODUCED FROM JERSEY MI LK  

Reynoldsburg, Ohio (April 15, 2008)—Jeffrey P. Roberts, principal consultant for the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, will present the opening program of the 2008 Annual Meetings of the American Jersey Cattle Association and National All-Jersey Inc. in Asheville, N.C. 

In his seminar on Wednesday, June 25, Roberts will relate Jersey-specific insights about regional and national trends in artisan cheesemaking, the types of cheeses being produced, and marketing directions.  

He will also conduct a guided tasting of artisan cheeses similar to his program at the 2007 Fancy Food Show in New York City, but this time using only Jersey milk cheeses.  

“Artisan cheese represents something distinctive about an area,” Roberts says in his widely acclaimed book, The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese. “The key is milk: its flavors, color, butterfat, protein and other elements depend upon myriad factors. Each dimension adds another layer of complexity to the quality of milk.”  

Sixty percent of the 180 cheesemakers using cow’s milk profiled in the Atlas use Jersey milk for all or part of their production. Roberts identified 37 cheesemakers making cheeses exclusively with Jersey milk, and another 71 producers using Jersey milk in combination with milks from other cattle breeds, goats, and/or sheep.  

The seminar starts at 3:00 p.m. at Asheville’s Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Resort. It is free and open to the public. There is a charge of $15 for the guided tasting, with a limit of 100 tickets available.  

Roberts helped establish the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at the University of Vermont, Burlington. The VIAC is the nation`s first and only comprehensive center devoted to artisan cheese. Its activities include cheesemaker certification programs and a technology transfer program; a research agenda which, in part, examines the microbiological safety of raw milk cheeses in order to preserve raw milk cheesemaking in the U.S.; and a public service program which promotes artisan cheeses through consumer education, cheese tastings, and media contact.  

Roberts’ educational work spans a wide range of interests, from agriculture and food policy, to conservation and environment, to public health and community development. In addition to lecturing on the history and culture of food for the New England Culinary Institute, he was asked by Shelburne Farms in 2000 to create its now-annual “Pasture to Palate” residential program on cheesemaking. Roberts has twice coordinated the U.S. exhibition at the biennial Cheese festival in Bra, Italy. He is also a national director of Slow Food USA.  

Roberts was a co-author of Stewardship Begins with People: An Atlas of Places, People, and Handmade Products, published in 2007 by the National Park Service’s Conservation Study Institute, located at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vt.  

The North Carolina Jersey Breeders Association is the host for the 2008 national Jersey meetings, which conclude June 28 at the 51^st National Heifer Sale for the benefit of national Jersey youth development programs. A complete schedule of events and meeting registration form are available at www.ncjerseybreeders.com, and also on the USJersey web site at www.usjersey.com. Early-bird registration and hotel rates are available until May 23.  

The American Jersey Cattle Association is the oldest dairy breed organization in the United States, organized in 1868 to improve and promote the Jersey breed. National All-Jersey Inc. was formed in December of 1957 to promote the increased production and sale of Jersey milk and milk products. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Jersey Marketing Service, was created in 1970 to provide marketing assistance to buyers and sellers of Jersey genetics.

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