Vermont’s value added agriculture: First came the cheese, now comes the charcuterie?
WAITSFIELD, Vt. — Nearly 30 years ago, a handful of enterprising Vermonters realized they could do more with milk than just sell it. And with a little help from the state, they became pioneers in what quickly blossomed into the now behemoth artisanal cheese movement.
Now Vermont officials are exploring a new round of value added agriculture. Because why just raise livestock when instead you could be tapping into the burgeoning world of charcuterie?
“You can buy a pig for $3 a pound. You turn it into cuts and you’ll get $4, $5, $6 a pound. Turn it into bacon and you’re getting $8, maybe $9 a pound. Turn it into cured products, the world’s your oyster,” said Robin Morris, founder of the Mad River Food Hub, an incubator for new food businesses that is adding rooms to help producers dry cure meats such as salamis, prosciuttos and sopressatas.
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With the help of the state, cheesemakers banded together to form the Vermont Cheese Council, which helps with promotion and education. Meanwhile, the University of Vermont created a first-in-the-nation program, the Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese, which provides technical assistance to producers and teaches the art and science of cheese.
Now the state hopes to replicate this model for Vermont’s livestock industry, with one avenue being charcuterie. Part of the work is already done; it could build on some of the infrastructure already created by the dairy industry, said Chelsea Lewis, senior agricultural development coordinator with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.
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