[thechat] Chicken feed

[Madhu Menon]

And here's another one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/19/wcheese19.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/09/19/ixworld.html

Farmer bypasses EU rules by selling cheese as 'animal feed'
By Michael Leidig in Pohorska Ves
(Filed: 19/09/2004)

A Czech organic farmer whose family has made goat's cheese for six 
generations is evading new European Union food regulations by selling his 
produce as "animal feed".

Petr Hajek, 40, from Pohorska Ves in the southern Czech Republic, earns 
just 4,500 Czech crowns (£97) a week from his business, making cheese in 
his kitchen and leaving it to ripen in the cellar.

The cost of buying equipment to meet the new hygiene regulations imposed 
since the country joined the EU in May, however, would be almost three 
million crowns (£64,000) - way beyond his means.

"I told the food hygiene inspectors that it was not worth all that 
investment as I only make three to four kilos of cheese a day," said Mr 
Hajek, who has 30 goats.

"I charge 20 crowns for 150 grams of either plain, olive-filled or 
spice-covered cheese. I asked them what I should do with my cheese, and 
they told me to feed it to the chickens. So that's exactly what I'm doing - 
selling it to people for their chickens, horses and pigs, all classified as 
animal fodder."

The rules demand that he builds a changing room, bathroom and lavatory, a 
cheese production room, a cellar in which to store the cheese as it ripens, 
and a packing room.

Mr Hajek said he is not responsible for what his customers do with the 
cheese, and has put up a sign outside his farm in southern Bohemia to that 
effect.

"Goat's cheese made from non-pasteurised milk. Hand kneaded. Recipe kept 
for six generations," it reads.

"Absolutely failing to meet EU norms, therefore designated for animal 
feeding purposes. Tested on people." Mr Hajek's farmhouse is crumbling and 
his wooden fence is falling apart. It falls to his wife, Jana, 34, a 
teacher, to keep Mr Hajek and their 13-year-old son Vojtech financially afloat.

Armies of health inspectors have taken to standing outside the farm, 
interviewing customers about what they plan to do with the cheese. One 
customer, a pensioner living in a one-bedroom flat whose only pet was a 
goldfish, denied eating it himself, saying it was for a neighbour's dog.

Mr Hajek said: "I know they have been asking my customers about the cheese. 
I don't know how many, but they couldn't find a single person who would 
admit to eating it. They all said it was for their animals."

Unable to close the legal loophole, Czech officials now claim that it is 
unfit for animal consumption because it is mixed with herbs and spices. Mr 
Hajek faces being closed down, or a million-crown fine.

<<<   *   >>>
Madhu Menon
Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine
Indiranagar, Bangalore
http://www.shiokfood.com

Chef's Notes: http://www.shiokfood.com/notes/