[Rhodes22-list] Big Cheese Bailout Editorial

[Bill Effros]

    Forza formaggio!

Published: December 12 2008 19:57 | Last updated: December 12 2008 19:57

Forget about the Big Three. The real bail-out -- in Italy, anyway -- is 
taking place in that other great engine of economic activity: cheese. 
Producers of parmigiano in the Emilia-Romagna region smell the pungent 
whiff of trouble. With many selling their cheese at below cost, 
parmigiano makers are facing the prospect of going out of business -- 
some are even using their cheese as collateral against bank loans they 
are using to pay for workers' salaries. Now Luca Zaia, the big cheese 
for agriculture in the Italian government, has intervened, announcing a 
EUR50m bail-out 
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877565358989333.html> for the 
celebrated /formaggio/.

The move has already grated producers of other cheese varieties. Makers 
of buffalo mozzarella, for instance, fear that without dipping into a 
fondue of government cash they too may fall by the whey-side. The blood 
of some economic observers has curdled at the thought of the Italian 
government rescuing any and every industry facing difficulty. Unlike the 
cheese itself, the case for protecting parmigiano has not been easy for 
some to digest.

As a general rule governments should not save inefficient businesses. 
However, producers of parmigiano have some cause for milking the 
government for help. The 800-year-old tradition of parmigiano-making 
involves a meticulously precise process; wheels of the cheese take up to 
two years to mature. As a result of this strict adherence to custom, 
producers end up being undercut by imitation "Parmesan" cheeses that 
take less time and money to produce. We would be philistines to dismiss 
authentic craftsmanship as poor business practice.

Indeed parmigiano has good claim to be the national cheese of a proud 
culinary power. The argument for helping its producers is not, though, 
one of protecting a "strategic national asset" -- as in the absurd 
attempt by French authorities to defend yoghurt-maker *Danone 
<http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=fr:BN>*. Consider, 
rather, the systemic risk to world culture and cuisine of letting 
parmigiano makers go under. One need not be a /gastronomo/ or 
/buongustaio/ to appreciate the void that would be left if the king of 
cheeses were to disappear. A world without parmigiano would be one in 
which pasta dishes would never be the same, and another beautiful art 
would be lost. /Forza Italia/? Well, not quite. /Forza formaggio/? You bet.

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Times Limited 2008