Where's the Cheese? Part 2

I recently had an email conversation with a gentleman named Randy Carpadus of Bright Hope Designs. His firm provides website solutions to small business, and ag business throughout the foothills. I came upon him through the Farm Trails Guide, and little did I know he would provide some valuable insight into the state of the artisan food movement in the foothills.

Randy was born and raised in Sonoma Valley on a dairy farm that provided milk to the Sonoma Cheese Factory. By dumb luck I found him! Anyway, I put him on the spot and asked him on the record why he believes there is a lack of artisan foods, particularly cheese in the Sierra Foothills, and specifically El Dorado County. I was looking for concrete reasons and he did not disappoint. Truth be known, I was also looking to see if there was any road blocks from the county, but that turned out not to be the case, at least for cheeses.

The main reason there is no artisan cheese being produced in the foothills, specifically El Dorado County is simple. Artisan cheeses are predominately produced in dairy counties, which El Dorado County and I suspect Amador as well are not! Timber was the main source of ag in El Dorado County for at least a century, but certainly not dairy. That plain and simple answer makes sense to me. You need milk to make cheese and we don't have much milk here, or do we?
Randy points out there is a large number of goat farms in El Dorado County, but they can hardly be sufficient to produce cheeses as there are strict state codes to abide by when you are producing foods on site. I am sure the cost to upgrade these farms to a cheese making facility would be quite an investment, and risk at that. Furthermore, Randy explained that our pastures are more suited to beef than to dairy, which have a different requirement.

But the second factor is what Randy called the NIMBY factor. "Not In My Back Yard". The Sonoma of Randy's childhood was ripe for small artisans and craftsmen selling their products from their farms. He describes a Sonoma where people sold hay from their driveways, and produce from road side stands. It was not a big deal because that was normal. The example in El Dorado County is Apple Hill, where small, family owned farms sell apples, Christmas trees and pies from their barns. People who move to Apple Hill expect this to be a part of life. But what about the people who move to Fair Play, or Pleasant Valley or Coloma? People move here for the beauty and rural nature of our county, they love the trees, the wineries and the rivers, but they want to escape the traffic and urban lifestyles they left behind. So when a neighbor, say a farm, one of the reasons they chose to live in this rural environment, wants to start producing cheese to sell to the public, they are not allowed to because of the Not In My Back Yard mentality! I can almost here these people saying "Go make your cheese somewhere else, but not on YOUR FARM!" I can say as a fact that this is propagated by the county of El Dorado because I have heard how winery owners, even in Apple Hill cannot open a restaurant on their property so that their guest can have a meal with the wine they purchase because the county simply does not allow that! As one wine maker told me that his answer from the county was "Well if we let you sell food, we would have to let all the wineries sell food!" To which he answered "So? And your point is?" So El Dorado county does not want you to eat while you are drinking. Plain and simple!

So I ask where is the logic in that? There is a double standard which is this. An apple grower who owns a orchards and a large farm stand can sell his apples, sell his pies made from his apples, sell his cider made from his apples, and sell a tri-tip sandwich, chips and hot dogs, and that are NOT made from his apples out of his commercial, county approved kitchen. But a winery right down the street, can only sell the wine made from HIS grapes and pre-packaged gifts and foods stuffs such as sauces and dips, but NO tri-tip to serve with his wines! How can that be?

This is something I will begin to investigate more, this NIMBY and how the county supports NIMBY to the point of being illogical. But in the meantime, we need to figure out how we can get some local artisan cheese makers some milk to make cheese from!!

NOTE: Today I sent a request to the Larry Lohman, Deputy Director/Building Services and Larry Appel, Deputy Director/Planning of El Dorado County to discuss the lack of artisan foods and the percieved opposition to wineries serving food in El Dorado County.

Where's the cheese?

Hello my wine loving friends! How many of you enjoy a nice cheese plate with your wine from time to time? I love sitting down to a simple lunch of cheese, fruit and a glass of wine. That is as pure a meal as you can get. If the items all happen to be locally grown and produced, that just makes it SO much better! Very Old World, but buying local produce, wine, meats and cheeses has been a normal part of peoples lives all over the world for centuries. Why this phenomenom is just now becoming popular in our culture is beyond me. I am sure the instant gratification of the local Bel Air, Safeway or Nugget has a lot to do with our current food buying culture, but would we as consumers buy local food, wine, meats and cheeses if the price was competitive and the access easier?

Just look at the popularity of local farmers markets to get the answer. They are now poping up almost in every little town, and on a regular schedule. Here in the Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park area, you will find mostly produce and baked goods, and some locally prepared foods. What you do not see is a wide variety of local meats or cheeses. You might find some wineries, but only in the Sacramento and Davis markets. Why is that?

Well, I think for our local farmers markets, the wineries are simply just too close. How hard is it for a person to drive 40 minutes once a week to buy some outstanding local wines? So where are the cheeses and the meats? There is none! I know there are local ranchers who sell beef, excellent beef that is free range. I have tasted it and it is better than anything you can buy at the high end grocers. But for some reason, they can't or will not sell at the markets. And where are the local cheeses? With the number of small farms in El Dorado County, and the abundant land dedicated to agriculture here, why are there no farmstand cheeses, or even artisan cheeses made from milk sourced from other dairies? California has a great orginization dedicated to helping these small business thrive, it is called the California Artisan Cheese Guild . Wouldn't you love to pick up some fresh mozzerella with your heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market?

I am going to spend some time looking into this topic, and see where the logjam is. I cannot believe it is because we have a lack of entrepreneurs in El Dorado County, since this county's backbone is made up of small business owners. I do not think it is because of the lack of available land, this county is mostly agriculture outside of El Dorado Hills. So what is it? I have heard rumblings that it is the very county itself. So if it is, I want to know why? We have an election coming up very soon with new county supervisors trying to gain a seat. If the county is the problem, will they be the solution? I am going to find out.

I have heard many horror stories of how the county of El Dorado has made it difficult for new wineries to open their doors. I know a lot has to do with the "NO Growth" contigent here in the county, but aside from the new casino being built in Shingle Springs, what is going to attract more tourist dollars to this county? The wine industry! But it needs infrastructure such as small hotels, more restaraunts in the wine country and other, local food products that compliment the wine industry - such as cheese! Look to Sonoma County for an example of how these businesses work hand in hand.

Let's do some digging, and hopefully, we can find some cheese!

Cheese Guy Image is from the California Artisan Cheese Guild