Free cheese given out to poor

[paulham]

Free parmesan cheese will be given out to the hungry and poor in Italy, as part of plan by the Italian Government to save the country's cheese industry.

Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said the move was intended to help cheese producers and help feed the needy.

A spokesmen for the cheese producers said: "It's a help. It doesn't resolve the problem, but it is a help. This is a crisis of pricing, not of consumption."

The government will buy 100,000 66-pound wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano and the very similar Grana Padano cheese, in a move that will cost 56.1 million euro (£50 million).

Mr Zaia said 3% of the annual production will be bought at market prices, a plan that will help producers who sought government help in the face of prices that have fallen 25% over the past five years.

More than 85% of the Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano produced is consumed in Italy, primarily in the Po River Valley of northern Italy.

The minister also announced new plans to negotiate sales promotions for cheese producers, as well as launch campaigns to promote Italian Parmesan abroad, where it can command higher prices, to boost the flagging industry.

http://www.fdin.co.uk/news/index.php?type=related&generate=yes&news_article_id=18759380#18759380

Smashing! Would like some ground pepper too? Feeds a family of five for a fortnight.

[bounty hunter]

I think they should do something like that here.  Recently the company I work for organised raffles and jumble sales etc to raise money for impoverished local families at Christmas.  We raised £6,000 and it has made 40 particularly poor families' Christmas that bit more bearable.  The donation was anonymous though and we got no publicity.

[loulou]

Dairylea triangles would be a better gift than parmesan.

[paulham]

Musical triangles would have been better to eat.

[netbuddy]

Chuck them a slice of ham, a bread roll & a butter pack, presto! Continental Breakfast!

[paulham]

Beluga caviar seized by Italian customs officers is to be distributed to poor people in Milan as a Christmas gift.

About 40kg (88lb) of caviar was confiscated in November after two couriers travelling from Poland were stopped with the hidden cargo.

Newspaper Corriere Della Sera says the caviar had an estimated value of $550,000 (£370,000).

Tests showed the caviar to be edible, so it is to be given to canteens, hospices and shelters for the poor.

Beluga caviar is the most expensive variety of the delicacy.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7793477.stm

Cheese, now caviar. The poor will end up with gout at this rate!

[drterror666]

What if you're a vegetarian poor person?

[loulou]

Ah the vegetarians all get cake.