France has temporarily relaxed rules for making some of its best-known cheeses after the summer drought drastically reduced the amount of grass available to feed milk herds.
Government decrees to grant dispensations to manufacturers of Abondance, Beaufort and Comté cheeses – which come from mountains in eastern France – appeared on Wednesday.
Several other cheeses are expected to receive similar waivers, allowing farmers to feed livestock with grass and hay brought in from outside their strict geographical zone.
These include Cantal, Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert, Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, Reblochon and the goats cheese Rocamadour.
The National Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO), which regulates France’s labels of origin, has also approved temporary changes to the rules for other protected produce because of the effects of the summer heat.
Products that will benefit include some types of Calvados and cider from Normandy, Crémant d’Alsace fizzy wine, lamb from Poitou-Charentes, and Reine-Claude plums.
Certificates of origin allow farmers to sell at a premium, but they come with strict regulations governing the location and method of production.
The aim is to preserve the unique identity of cheeses, wines and other foodstuffs, supposedly linked to their particular terroir – a French concept that links locality and tradition.
Because of a 2026 drought – which the INAO now describes as “historic” – farmers are being allowed to bend the rules for a short period.
Credit: bbc.com
