Roquefort tariff for importation into the US

300% duty increase on Roquefort

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012804071.html

300% duty increase on Roquefort

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012804071.html

Outbleepingrageous. Is there no crony they would not aid?

Outbleepingrageous. Is there no crony they would not aid?

Nope. This sort of thing has been going on as long as I've been alive. The particular cronies change from time to time, but it's always the same old same old.

If the French would let US beef back in, the tariffs would go away. Simple.

If the French would let US beef back in, the tariffs would go away. Simple.

If the US would raise the cattle naturally and stop bulking them up with steroids the European community would welcome the trade.

That's their problem.

Seriously, I think it stinks too, and not just the cheese.

Joseph, they don't have to buy it. But the idea that they don't even get a choice and that we can't export no matter what adjustments we make to their market is every bit as bad as any stupid protectionism we have here.

Joseph, they don't have to buy it. But the idea that they don't even get a choice and that we can't export no matter what adjustments we make to their market is every bit as bad as any stupid protectionism we have here.

You have a point, Stuart. I must say, though, that I find the European Community a lot more responsible in terms of food safety - and quality - than the FDA and USDA.

As in peanut butter? What's a little salmonella? You can't even see the critters without a microscope. Then, again, the U.S. might be protecting us against mold.

I must say, though, that I find the European Community a lot more responsible in terms of food safety - and quality - than the FDA and USDA.

Fashionable safety perhaps. like irrational fright over GMO. But real safety? Nah. They think that WE are so obsessed with safety and hygiene that we've cleaned all the flavor out of our food. The raw milk cheese thing, for example.

If you think that Europeans are more cautious about food/beverage safety than us, I invite you to measure the copper levels in German screw-cap finished wine and compare the numbers to legal limits in the US. Then do the same for American screw-capped wines.

Go back into the kitchen of a restaurant in Slovakia and compare it to any place you've run.

[David M. Bueker]

Stuart - do you actually have the copper numbers for German vs. American screw capped wines?

Yes, I do; you'll see some publication from a pretty excellent wine writer in the next several months. Copper is being extensively used to overcome the known reduction issues from screw-cap finishing, and the levels are scandalously high.

Aussies are even worse.

[David M. Bueker]

Yes, I do; you'll see some publication from a pretty excellent wine writer in the next several months. Copper is being extensively used to overcome the known reduction issues from screw-cap finishing, and the levels are scandalously high.

Aussies are even worse.

I have heard the Aussies were worse, but I find a more reduction in their wines than anything from Germany.

And if the writer is Schildknecht it may not be months but years. It takes him forever to finish anything since he works on too many things at once. (The man needs a lean operating system. )

They think that WE are so obsessed with safety and hygiene that we've cleaned all the flavor out of our food. The raw milk cheese thing, for example.

We are. Or have vacuumed and processed the flavor and nutrition out of food. Both the FDA and USDA are lame and understaffed. Sanitation and fresh, natural -unprocessed - local, foodstuffs are not mutually exclusive.

I think any restaurant anywhere on the planet run by a professional chef, - and by that I mean one who understands both sanitation and nutrition as well as cooking - would be clean enough for me to dine in. As to a restaurant on a side street in Slovakia, perhaps not. Although, I admit, have been poisoned in several ethnic restaurants in this country. But I know the risk I'm taking when I eat in one.