Foodie thoughts

THIN END OF WEDGE FOR CHEESEMAKERS

You might have seen Jamie Oliver’s impassioned plea for us to support British cheesemakers in an Instagram broadcast.“Some of our best cheesemakers are at risk of losing their businesses, their livelihoods, their futures – this is a massive deal. As restaurants and pubs have locked down, a lot of small, artisan businesses are folding. It’s not just about food, it’s about culture. There are around 25 makers currently at risk, and here are three of them.”

On the table in front of him he has a chunk of Nottinghamshire Stichelton, a Suffolk Baron Bigod and a piece of Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire. “These guys have surplus and no customers. If we lose them it will be a huge part of our food culture – gone.”

Farmhouse and artisan cheesemakers are being forced to pour thousands of litres of milk down the drain and give away cheese free after many lost up to 90 per cent of their business overnight. The result is that small producers have been left with maturing rooms full of cheeses, which by their nature have limited shelf lives. At the same time, cows, sheep and goats are now out at pasture, and continue to produce milk every day that must be used or thrown away.

Graham Kirkham, who makes the last farmhouse Lancashire cheese in the world, says: “We normally sell 120 to 130, 10kg cheeses a week. That first week we sold nine.” Andy Swinscoe, from the Courtyard Dairy in Settle, concurs. “We would normally have around a thousand retail customers a week, but we’re now seeing about

40. That’s a heck of a hit.” He’s closed his cafe, but has kept the shop open, increased the volume of mail order sales and is offering click and collect and local delivery.

Food writer Jenny Linford has written a useful directory of British cheeses and how to get hold of them. Access it here: https://jennylinford. co.uk/british-cheese-crisis