January/february 2007
The Guilded Edge
If you aspire to become a doctor, lawyer or even real estate agent, you can be accepted into a well juried program and eventually graduate with full credentials from one of the many—in fact for some trades, hundreds of 2 year or 4 year institutions in North America.
But if you want to become a master cheese maker?
Well the options are far more limited. In fact, there are only a handful of formal courses offered by 2 year and 4 year institutions. And as many aspiring cheese makers are in rural areas, the place-bound nature of these programs often makes them inaccessible.
So if you want to learn how to make cheese, or gain some edge by improving your skills by learning from others, your best bet is to find and join up with the closest cheese maker’s guild. And fortunately, there are a growing number of cheese guilds across the U.S. and Canada!
What is a Guild?
Guilds have a long, long history in the pre-industrial world and were essentially associations based on a particular craft or trade. In fact the earliest guilds were said to have been formed in India in 2000 B.C. Examples of some well known past and modern day guilds include the Freemasons, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Writer’s Guild. Historians today note that that the craft based guilds from the middle ages served as forerunners to how we define modern trade unions and the structure of modern corporations today. The guild’s ability to wield its power to protect its specialized knowledge was also the precursor to our patent and trademark system.
At their best, the guild system offered confraternity, worked for the advancement of the craft, assured quality workmanship, and ensured that that the skills and knowledge acquired by the masters of the trade were handed down to the next generation. At their worst, they engaged in territorial struggles that hindered competition, stifled innovation, and restricted access to knowledge for fear that this would weaken the value of their craft.
Today’s cheese maker guilds however, are examples of guilds at their best.
Guild’s Today: Keepers of the Light
In the U.S., there are a growing number of artisan cheese guilds. And thanks to the work of Sue Conley and Jennifer Bice, the first meeting of regional guilds was held at the ACS 2006 conference. The goal was to ensure guild organizers could get to know each other, find common ground, and leverage each other’s initiatives for the betterment of the whole.
Seven guilds were represented including the Vermont Cheese Council, the Oregon Cheese Maker’s Guild, Washington State Cheese Maker’s Guild, the New York State Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Maker’s Guild, the California Artisan Cheese Maker’s Guild as well as the Dairy Centre for Innovation from Wisconsin which in large part, performs the role of a guild for its constituents. Also in attendance were two representatives from Canadian guilds, The Societe Fins des Fromage Fins due Quebec and the Ontario Cheese Society.
As the group went around the table to describe their organization and programs, it was clear they had one key goal in common: To help artisan cheese makers make and sell high quality great tasting cheese. All were not for profit organizations. Many of the guilds had associate member categories to remain open to other stakeholders in the success of the craft for example, local retailers, wholesales and enthusiasts. Some were able to obtain grant funding to start up. Others began simply by the sweat equity of its members. Many had newsletters and websites. Some guilds stayed focused on the craft itself, and others sought to in addition wield influence over local policy makers to improve industry conditions. All offered cheese makers opportunities to improve or better their craft by creating cheese maker training events or communication forums for them to learn from each other. The key issue for most was sustainable funding.
Criteria for membership as a cheese maker varied somewhat but most required that a cheese maker member be in the business of making and selling cheese.
The goal of the Guild meeting at the ACS was to bring the guilds in a room together to facilitate cross-guild dialogue, find common ground, leverage each other’s work where possible and also discuss how the ACS could better serve the needs of regional guilds.
Several ideas were discussed including a guild page on the ACS website where members could quickly find all cheese guilds. And in the future, you might even see a regular update column by the Guilds in the ACS newsletter.
But for now, if you are a cheese maker or simply love cheese, make sure to check out and join your local cheese maker guild.
GUILD LIST
California Cheese Guild (http://www.cacheeseguild.org)
Main Cheese Guild http://www.maincheeseguild.org
New England Cheese Council (http://www.newenglandcheese.org)
New York State Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Maker’s Guild (http://www.nyfarmcheese.or)
Oregon Cheese Maker’s Guild (no website yet)
Ohio Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Guild (http://www.ohcheeseguild.com)
Ontario Cheese Society (http://www.ontariocheese.org)
Pacific North West Cheese Project (http://www.pnwcheese.com)
Societe des Fromage Fins du Quebec (http://www.societedesfromages.com)
Southern Cheese Maker’s Guild (http://www.southerncheese.com)
Washington State Cheese Makers (http://www.washingtoncheesemakers.org)
Vermont Cheese Council (http://www.vtcheese.com
This article was published in the American Cheese Society newsletter, Winter 2007
Written by Petra Cooper
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License.
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