bonjour, Au revoir

As many know, this summer, members of Our Ground Up, Susan, Cheyenne, and Cheyenne’s sister McKenna, went on a little adventure to southwest France. It was here that they got to learn secrets to natural cheesemaking. They learned the story that is rarely taught to the public because the health industry deems it unsafe, which is how can that be if it’s been a tradition for centuries?

Today’s milk production is not meant for traditional cheese making. Cheese making is all about bacteria and mold working in harmony to transform and preserve cheese. In today’s world, milk is often considered “clean,” which is why using traditional methods can be unsafe, as there is not enough good bacteria to outcompete the bad bacteria. But what does traditional mean? This means that you are using natural ferments created by milk bacteria to culture the milk and transform it. When milk is transformed into cheese, it becomes naturally digested by bacteria, making it easier for the human body to consume and break down the necessary nutritional elements. Cheese is not only a way to preserve milk, but it is also a fermented living food that is nutritionally beneficial to humans.

On the trip, not only did they get to make and experience new ways of thinking about cheese, but they were also able to go to a medieval farmers market, a fortified city, enjoy the best food they had ever tasted, and got to visit a French dairy farm!