Cheese Wars And English Stilton

EDM number 659 in 2015-16, proposed by John Mann on 05/11/2015.
Categorised under the topics of Agriculture, Cultural heritage and Food.

That this House notes the 250th anniversary of the Cheese Wars that led to rioting in Leicestershire and Derbyshire, which forced local militia forces being called-out to protect shipments of cheese that had dramatically risen in prices as a result of the French revolutionary wars; hopes that the Cheese Wars of the 1760s can be avoided in the run up to Christmas by the Government taking decisive action to allow Stilton cheeses, made in the traditional English way using unpasteurised milk, to be officially described for what they are, which is stilton cheese; regrets Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs bureaucracy that means that any cheese made using traditional methods, as used for 4,000 years in England, are currently stopped from being sold as stilton; further notes that the mass production of stilton cheese has taken place in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire ever since the farming methods of Lord Turnip Townsend improved milk yields from cows to allow mass production of cheese; recognises that the traditional method of making stilton cheese sustains an important dairy herd which pays a significant premium of 45p a litre for its milk; and claims that it is the right of the English people to be able to enjoy traditional English stilton at Christmas, as has happened for centuries, without the ignominy of having to call it something else.

This motion has been signed by a total of 1 MPs.