By Dr. Francesco Tiezzi, Department of Animal Science at NC State & Ashley See, CFSA Communications Coordinator | Thursday, July 18, 2019 –
Last September, NC State animal science research and native Tuscan, Dr. Francesco Tiezzi took a tour group of people who have worked in food and agriculture around the world, with students, faculty, and staff from NC State, plus CFSA’s Executive Director, Roland McReynolds, and several CFSA members on a tour of farm and food businesses in southern and central Italy.
If you want to read more about the trip from Roland’s perspective, don’t miss his article here.
The tour explored many farm and food manufacturing enterprises that help small- and mid-scale family farms in Italy to thrive and protect the environment. For the sake of this blog post series, we’ll share seven of the stops.
In the first part of this two-part series, we’re looking at three very different dairies using three very different milks–sheep, water buffalo, and cow–to make cheese. Here’s the lineup:
- Caseificio Cugusi – a 57-year-old sheep dairy making pecorino cheeses
- La Maremmana – a water buffalo dairy specializing in making true mozzarella
- Pessolani – a cow dairy making a traditional Podolican cheese that’s at risk of extinction
Read on to learn about the unique ways that these cheesemakers and farmers are modernizing the craft of some of the most beloved traditional foods throughout Italy.