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For more information contact mark.a.kinders@uwrf.edu or brenda.k.bredahl@uwrf.edu.

Falcon Foods Offers Holiday Treats

DEC. 15, 2006--More than 600 different varieties, types and styles of cheese are available in Wisconsin, and the average American eats more than 31 pounds of cheese each year and will consume about one ton of cheese during a lifetime, according to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

During the holidays, people probably consume a fair share of those 31 pounds. The UW-River Falls Falcon Food Store, located in room 149 of the Food Science Addition in the Agriculture Science has a wide array of fresh cheese but also meats and ice cream perfect for holiday parties and gift-giving.

For the holiday season Falcon Foods has cheese gift boxes available with 16 varieties of cheese.Varieties include cheddars. smokey, Colby, dinn, cojack, cheese curds Monterey Jack, pepper cheese, cajun spice, and Swiss. Selections of cheese are available in either 8 oz. or 1 lb. blocks. Cheese varieties can be combined to form a 2 lb. or 4 lb. gift box. A stick of Wisconsin's finest summer sausage is also available. Cheese box orders are accepted through Dec. 22.

The smokey cheese has been smoked using hickory wood chips in a smoke house to give it a true smoked flavor, according to plant manager Ranee May.

Other specialty items include a Queso Shiraz cheese, five-year old cheddar cheese crumbles, and Swiss Shiraz with almonds and smokey bacon country crocks, which are available individually and not as part of gift boxes. A limited supply of a new variety developed by UWRF is CheddarStone Red, a fresh white cheddar cheese combined with Shiraz wine. Cheese and sausage trays are also available and orders must be placed in advance.

Ice cream is also available in a wide range of sizes including seasonal flavors of Nutty Coffee, Mint Chip, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cookies & Cream, Peppermint Stick, as well as Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry, which area also available throughout the year.

Meat products include summer sausage, snack sticks, hot dogs, lean hamburger, brats, pork links, bacon, and pork chops.

All Falcon Foods products are produced by UW-River Falls students in the university plant, which has been in operation since 1983. Students work under the direction of a full-time plant manager and produce a variety of products.

The Falcon Foods store offers students the unique opportunity to work in a commercial plant setting. The dairy plant uses raw milk from the University Dairy Farm and is primarily self-supporting. The meat plant gets some of its animals from the University Lab Farms.

The primary goal of the plant is to provide a valuable learning experience that the students can take with them and put to use on the job. They are involved in all aspects of production, sanitation and quality control.

Falcon Foods is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.; 715-425-3702. For more information, contact Ranee May at 715-425-3704 or ranee.j.may@uwrf.edu.

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