What a week or two it has been for the American Cheese Society and our industry! Unless you have been traveling off the grid or have been living under a rock, then you are well aware of the issue that has been dominating water cooler chat, media attention, and our staff's bandwidth. Naturally, I am speaking of the potential threat to one of cheesemaking's time-honored traditional practices: aging on wood boards.

Last summer when we all met at our 30th Anniversary Conference in Madison, we talked about change in our industry and what it means for our organization and its emerging role not only as cheerleader, but also as advocate. Well, we got our first solid test on that front, and I sure am proud of the American Cheese Society's staff, board, volunteer committees, and individual members who have worked tirelessly on behalf of our organization in solidarity with cheesemakers the world over. We are also grateful to our allied industry partners, guilds, legislators. and the general public for lending their vocal yet constructive and professionally-delivered support.

This collective energy could not be ignored. Not by the media, which has shone a bright light on the issues, nor by our elected officials -- but more importantly, not by our regulatory authorities, with whom we have endeavored to collaborate for some time. We are heartened that FDA reached out to ACS to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the best ways to age cheese on wood boards and we look forward to this being the beginning of ongoing meetings with our regulatory partners. That said, we also know that this issue is not yet resolved and it is but one of several threats to traditional cheesemaking methods in America. 

For this reason, we sent a letter last week to FDA along with many of the aforementioned stakeholder parties, confirming the American Cheese Society's full intention to partner with them to help address the safest ways to continue upholding the highest standards in traditional cheesemaking.

Will this process be easy? It will not. Do we have guarantees that our regulatory partners will follow through on their intention to collaborate with us? We do not. But we must start here in good faith and take the seat at the table that we have asked for. To us, this "seat" includes being included in Peer Review and the early and exploratory phases of processes that partner organizations typically experience. Our membership brings much to the table, so we will be very ably represented wherever we have a "seat." We will keep you informed and do our best to manage your expectations.

Please be patient and also remember that we all represent the American Cheese Society in our words and our actions. So be mindful of this when speaking about these issues and about our regulatory partners and other stakeholders. We are all ambassadors for the organization and we need to keep the discourse composed, constructive, and respectful. Another thing we can all do is to continue working our hardest to produce and sell cheese in the safest, highest quality manner possible. ACS is devising new tools to help everyone do this, which is very exciting and will provide even more unique membership benefits.

Of course, all of this is even more reason to join us in Sacramento for our 31st anniversary conference this summer. We can continue last year's discussions, expand our knowledge (have you seen this year's educational program?), and also reinforce our strong sense of community. In the meantime, please continue to lend your voice and to stay actively involved in this organization that I am personally most proud to be able to serve.

Thanks for all you have done and will do for the American Cheese Society. Onward and upward.

Best,