Judging & Competition Online Entry is Open: Enter By May 12!
Regular Entry Period Closes: Friday, May 12, 2017
Late Entry Period Closes:
Friday, May 19, 2017*
*Absolutely no entries will be accepted after May 19.
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Register for ACS 2017,
Cheese with Altitude, Starting Next Thursday
Registration for the
34th Annual ACS Conference in Denver, CO this summer will open May 4! Please join us for several days of unparalleled education and networking: July 26-29, 2017.
Registration rates:
- Early: $499
- Regular: $599
- Late/On-Site: $699
If you plan to volunteer in Denver, our volunteer website is now live. We'd love for you to share some of your time and talents with us!
Sign up to volunteer today!
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Pre-Order Conference T-Shirts for Your Team!
ACS is taking pre-orders on our official Conference tees for those members wishing to purchase quantities of 10 or more.
Simply email us with the style, quantity, and sizes you would like, and a member of our team will follow-up to confirm your order and coordinate payment. Your order will be available to pick up at the ACS Bookstore in Denver!
2017 Logo Tee ($22)
Available in Mens and Ladies.
Color: Maritime Frost (blue)
Cheese Pride
Tee ($25)
Unisex style: see sizing info.
Color: Heathered Charcoal
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Help Build Industry Food Safety Resources
ACS members thrive through sharing information and collaborating on important issues, and no issue is more important today than food safety. ACS is seeking industry-focused food safety plans, forms, and templates from cheesemakers, affineurs, retailers, and distributors that can be used as examples for others: receiving logs, temperature logs, sanitation logs, batch tracking sheets, in-house aging and sanitation SOPS and HACCP, and any other Prerequisite programs.
ACS will collect, compile, and share these documents on
The Safe Cheesemaking Hub. Unless otherwise directed, we will anonymize all materials to remove identifying information. We hope you'll participate to enhance food safety through the sharing of resources. Please
email us with your contributions. Thank you!
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Cheese Industry Scholarships
2017 Sartori Scholar Deadline Extended to May 1
Sartori Cheese and Culture Magazine are sending two cheesemongers to take the ACS CCP® Exam in Denver! The winners will have all expenses paid, including travel, an ACS Conference registration, lodging, and the exam fee. The deadline to apply is May 1!
Apply today.
Apply for the $5,000 Daphne Zepos Teaching Award!
The application season is now open for the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award! If you -- or your business -- are an ACS member, and you've worked in food for three years, you're eligible to win this amazing $5,000 award. Download your application packet at
dzta.org.
All applications are due by May 31.
CACG Scholarship
The California Artisan Cheese
Guild (CACG) is offering a scholarship for a qualified CACG member to take the ACS CCP® Exam in Denver. The deadline to apply is April 30.
Apply today!
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Certification News
The 2017 Exam Application Period is Now Closed
The application period for the
ACS CCP® Exam
this summer in Denver is closed. If you have been accepted to take the Exam, don't forget to pay your Exam fee as soon as possible!
Re-certification for 2014 CCPs
Applications for re-certification for CCPs from the 2014 class will open in conjunction with the 2017 ACS Conference in Denver this summer. Be sure to re-certify by October 31, 2017!
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At a recent industry gathering, I had the opportunity to connect with a number of colleagues. Some of the most memorable moments and conversations were with long-time friends who plan to retire soon. While it was fun to reminisce with these friends about the "good old days" and "my, how much things have changed," I was struck more by the resiliency, dedication, and passion of those who have long served our trade. All have dealt with a multitude of changes by innovating and adapting. "Get educated and get moving," as one old salt likes to say.
This overarching commitment to growth with integrity is a core value that unites our ACS community. It's what has helped shape our legacy as men and women who care about great American cheese. Instead of running from change, we view it simply as "transition with purpose." And we embrace it with pride. So, as always, we move forward with a "what's next" mentality.
Registration for the 2017 ACS Conference in Denver opens on May 4. Please make your plans now to attend. Our Denver-based Leadership Team has a great Conference planned that will inspire, invigorate, and edify you. I'm sure you too will find that the moments connecting with colleagues are some of the most valuable.
I look forward to seeing you there!
All my best,
Jeff Jirik
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Collective Responsibility: Safety is Everyone's Issue
First and foremost, we must remember the victims. There is no way to adequately express the loss that we feel. What we can do is pull together as an industry to recognize that no single part of the farm-to-table chain is free from risk or responsibility when it comes to ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of food products. Forward progress in enhancing the health and safety of consumers must remain our main focus, and it is the collective responsibility of farmers, producers, distributors, retailers, regulators, inspectors, and anyone else with a role in bringing cheese to consumers' tables. The ACS Universe is made up of a broad collection of passionate and dedicated people who must unite in a concerted effort to ensure safe products for consumers.
Regardless of the size of someone's business or the reach of someone's product, a robust and actively managed food safety program must be a top priority. Every business must create appropriate food safety plans, and then follow them meticulously and consistently. You are not on your own -- ACS will continue to produce and share tools that can help every part of the industry enhance food safety.
I hope that this year's conference in Denver will afford us a chance to continue this conversation and bridge the gap between the many facets of the industry that are each charged with an important piece of the food safety puzzle.
Nora Weiser
Executive Director
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FDA Releases More Details On Recent Listeriosis Outbreak
ACS leadership will be meeting with FDA in Washington, D.C. on May 8. The group will preview FDA's Food Safety Plan Builder, slated to go live this summer, and discuss our current research, agency changes, and FDA's guidance for Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat-Foods, which is currently out for public comment.
Please continue to keep us posted if you are inspected, engage with regulators, or have other pertinent information to share by emailing Nora Weiser
.
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DAIRY PRIDE Act
In January 2017, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the
DAIRY PRIDE Act
. This was followed shortly
by a companion bill in the House of Representatives
sponsored by Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT), Mike Simpson (R-ID), and Sean Duffy (R-WI). The bill requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce the long-standing rule that anything labeled "milk" must come from an animal source. The DAIRY PRIDE Act requires FDA to enforce the label standards by compelling the agency to follow a timeframe for when and how it will take action.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO Jim Mulhern said that "supporting this legislation will be a priority issue for NMPF in the new Congress. We're not asking for new regulations, just the acknowledgement that plant-based foods should not be able to create and use new dairy-friendly terms that are in conflict with existing definitions that clearly define milk as an animal-based substance."
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With ACS based in Denver, our
Management Team
could not be more thrilled to showcase our great city and beautiful state -- welcoming 1,300 of our closest friends (and over 1,800 of our favorite cheeses) to our hometown!
To ensure that you have a fabulous experience, we wanted to share some insider tips for this year's event so that you're ready to click on "Register" on May 4!
- As our Marquee Sponsor, Gourmet Foods International will roll out the welcome mat for attendees, hosting not only our Opening Reception, but also continuing their longstanding support of our annual Awards Ceremony.
- We've got three amazing tours planned on Wednesday, April 26 that we expect will fill up quickly.
- Book your travel first, and you'll be ready to secure your hotel room when reservations open on May 4. Beginning ong May 1, Southwest Airlines is offering discounts of 3-10% off fares for ACS 2017 attendees!
- We've secured some serious lodging discounts at the Sheraton Denver Downtown and Holiday Inn Express Denver Downtown. Booking opens May 4, and you will receive an email that day with all of the details. Follow these tips to make booking rooms as simple as possible for you and your team.
- Please note that this summer's Conference will be held in several downtown locations. All primary Conference activities will take place at the Sheraton Denver Downtown except for:
- Meet the Cheesemaker and the Festival of Cheese/Cheese Sale will be held six blocks away at the Colorado Convention Center.
- Opening Reception will be held three blocks away at the McNichols Civic Center Building.
- Cheese Crawl will take place along Wynkoop Street near beautiful Union Station. The free 16th Street Mall Shuttle can get you there easily, or you can stroll the mile and enjoy our sunny Denver weather.
- Fun events including several after-hours parties, and the Cheeseletes 5K run, will also take place at off-site venues to be announced soon.
- This map will help you find your bearings!
- When you register, remember that tasting session tickets are available on a first-come-first-served basis, and you may select up to three. In addition, if you arrive more than 10 minutes late for a Tasting Session, your seat will be given away to allow someone else the opportunity to attend.
- We are expecting a big turnout for this year's Conference, and we are working hard to make your registration, reservations, and onsite experience as smooth as possible!
Looking for tips from locals? We'll be sharing our own favorites leading up to Conference. The first comes from Steve Binns, ACS Meeting & Events Manager!
ACS 2017 is presented with Marquee Sponsor Gourmet Foods International:
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Using The Safe Cheesemaking Hub: A Free Webinar
Wednesday, May 17
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM MDT
FREE for ACS Members
Take a guided tour of the
Safe Cheesemaking Hub,
the compendium of food safety resources selected and organized to help cheesemakers, and retailers, easily find the information they need to make sure cheese gets safely into consumers' hands. Sarah
Spira,
ACS Content Manager, will walk members through the variety of resources available on the site, with tips and tricks for finding information. This webinar will also cover the retailers' toolkit, and study materials for the
ACS CCP® Exam
. Come prepared with questions and suggestions for this new site!
Register now for this free member webinar.
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How DO You Sell Your Cheese? A Cheesemaker Roundtable
In this recent member webinar, cheesemaker Jodi Ohlsen Read of Shepherd's Way Farms joined fellow cheesemakers Keith Adams of Wm. Cofield Cheese and Alemar Cheese, and Sarah Hoffmann of Green Dirt Farm, in lively discussion on sales and distribution. Hear their insights into working with distributors, packing and shipping, connecting with end customers, and common pitfalls.
Watch the recording of this webinar, with password acsmember.
ACS webinars are made possible by the nonprofit American Cheese Education Foundation. Support the ACE Foundation's work with a tax-deductible donation.
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By Jane Bauer, Education & Outreach Manager
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| Photo: American Cheese Society |
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Next week is Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), a Mexican holiday that is celebrated not only in Mexico but also in Colorado, which was part of Mexico in the 1800's. Quite often, Cinco de Mayo is mistaken as Mexican Independence Day, but it is actually a regional holiday celebrated in Puebla, Mexico commemorating the Mexican Army's victory over the French Army during the 1862 Battle of Puebla.
When members of ACS descend on Denver for "Cheese with Altitude" they will experience the Mexican/Spanish influences on this city. Spanish street names like Tejon and Galapago abound, and there are numerous Mexican restaurants throughout the city and state. Conference attendees can enjoy a traditional Colorado breakfast burrito just steps from the conference at the
Asada Rico food cart on the 16
th Street Mall.
If you want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and prepare for your trip to Colorado, you can make this Colorado spin on Chile Rellenos, stuffed with chicken and fresh goat cheese from Avalanche Cheese Company.
Make this great recipe, and many more, from
The Cultured Kitchen!
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Southwest Airlines Offers Discount Fares to ACS Members
Beginning on May 1, "Cheese with Altitude" Conference attendees will receive a discount and bonus Rapid Reward points from Southwest Airlines through their SWABIZ® account. Southwest Airlines is offering a 10% discount off Anytime & Business Select® fares and a 3% discount off select Wanna Get Away® fares for travel to and from the 2017 ACS Conference!
Book your travel between May 1 and July 6 to take advantage of the discounted rates. (Discounts are available for travel from July 20, 2017 through July 31, 2017.)
Click here to take advantage of the discounted rates and book starting May 1!
By flying Southwest Airlines, as an American Cheese Society traveler, you will also receive the following benefits:
- 50% bonus Rapid Reward points for your travel to & from the convention with Rapid Rewards # added to your reservation. To enroll in the Rapid Rewards program, visit www.southwest.com/corporaterapidrewards
- No baggage fees (first two bags)
- No change or cancellation fees
- No peak travel or fuel surcharges
- Consistently ranked the "Best in Customer Service" by DOT
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