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How ironic that you use cheese as an example. The incredible richness and diversity of cheeses across Europe is directly due to them being mostly made and consu
by oska 6y ago
How ironic that you use cheese as an example. The incredible richness and diversity of cheeses across Europe is directly due to them being mostly made and consumed locally in historic times. We would certainly not have that richness now if there hadn't been various historical barriers to trade. And indeed, that richness is already dying out as people increasingly buy EU-subsidised 'standardised' cheeses from outside their own countries and overlook their locally made cheeses.
> The infinite variety of French cheeses — one of the finest achievements of French culture — is gradually being eroded and dumbed down. Only one in ten of the cheeses now consumed in France is made with raw-milk or “lait cru” in the authentic manner.
> Search where you like in the finest cheese shops in France, you will no longer find a Bleu de Termignon or a Galette des Monts-d’Or. They are among 50 species of French cheese that have vanished, like rare flowers or butterflies, in the last 40 years. Other varieties, like Vacherin d’Abondance and M. Michelin’s hand-made Mont d’Or have been reduced to a single producer.
https://unherd.com/2020/02/the-slow-death-of-french-cheese/ https://unherd.com/2020/02/the-slow-death-of-french-cheese/
- maest 6y agoOut of all the things to complain about the EU, arguing that it is killing cheese diversity is probably one of the stranger ones I've seen. 1. It's not clear that's happening because of EU action. 2. It's not clear that's a bad thing (varieties are disappearing because people aren't buying thrm, right?) 3. The EU actually often hets criticised for being _too_ protective of foodstuff variations with their DOC laws.
- oska 6y agoYour interpretation that I am 'complaining' about the EU. I was making the point that trade barriers help bring greater regional diversity and more locally produced agricultural products. This was in response to the parent comment complaining about trade barriers, which might make it somewhat harder for them to expand into the UK but, on the other hand, might make it easier for a UK based supplier to get started in their own market. Thus you end up with two businesses (one in the UK, one in Germany), rather than one. But if you do want me to speak about the EU then yes, I would argue that a neoliberal project such as the EU helps bring consolidiation and makes for big winners (both corporations and countries) at the expense of smaller entities (again, corporations and countries). We have seen this with the EU, with Germany and its industrial corporations winning at the expense of Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc and their industrial corporations losing.
- touisteur 6y agoI thought, discussing with little local producers, that the problem was tougher and tougher sanitary regulations ? Yes they're coming from EU mostly, but it seems France and the French people agree it's best to reduce the number of food poisoning cases, or they would have put a stop on this (or wouldn't enforce it...).