Initiatives and projects to promote the Mediterranean local cheeses and their relations to the development of livestock systems and activities

Abstract

This article is a presentation of the local Mediterranean cheese sector and of the several types of projects and initiatives to promote the Mediterranean local cheeses: promotional campaigns, workshops, networks and meetings, regional events (cheeses shows, processing demonstrations, thematic routes, cheese contests, …). The small-scale and farm-made cheeses, mostly with sheep or goat milk, are generally considered a possible vehicle of economic and social development for the less favored rural areas; mountainous areas are seen as holders of local know-how. To support this development, several initiatives and often public supported projects have aimed to promote and improve the valorization of these local small-scale Mediterranean cheeses and their heritage value. The analysis is based mainly on a comparison of projects and initiative in which the authors were involved through several European projects of cooperation. The different situations in the northern and southern areas are considered separately. For each initiative, we particularly focus on the type of organization or institution that has led it: Regional Public Extension, National Park Administration, Universities or Research Centers, Public Organizations, Professional Associations …. We cross them with simple indicators to characterize each regional sector. The initiatives are characterized regarding the coherence and impact of these projects. In several cases, the promotion of local cheeses is not related to a sustainable and coherent strategy of development of production. The interrelations between institutional public projects of regional rural development and the local cheese and animal production systems were studied. This article underlines that such initiatives have to integrate the components of a coherent appropriation of the Mediterranean Cheese heritage and the tensions between technical and cultural approaches.