cow cheese
Gaec Mehaberria
See delivery countries
The project
Adopt a cow of our flock "Gaec Mehaberria" in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (France and receive your harvest in the form of cow cheese at home. The Farmer Jean will take care of your adoption and take its picture. Also, you will be able to download the adoption certificate and, if you wish, plan your visit to the farm. As the production coming from one cow is big, the adoption is shared among various people. If you wish to have a bigger share, you may adopt more than once. You do not enter into any long-term commitment: once you receive your harvest and you enjoyed the experience, you may decide to renew and extend the adoption.
What do you adopt?
Adopt a cow from our farm in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (France). We suggest you adopt one of the 2 cows: Maialen or Mirentxu, they are very nice young Prim ’Holstein cows. They are between 3 and 5 years old.
The cows are fed with a lot of pasture, but when they are inside and more particularly in winter they have a supplementary supply in linens and alfalfa clovers and this is how they produce a milk rich in Omega 3 which is guaranteed by the Bleu Blanc Coeur label.
It’s a family farm that was bought by Jean’s parents over 40 years ago. It is a farm that operates in conventional and extensive mode, with control over inputs and maximum food autonomy.
Thanks to this diet which guarantees the Bleu Blanc Coeur label, there is an impact on the release of methane and therefore of global warming! indeed : As a general rule, 1 cow produces 600 l of methane per day, but a Blue White Heart cow produces 15 to 20% less (calculated according to a method recognized by the UN). In terms of milk it is 20 g of co2 per 1 liter of milk produced by a standard cow and for a BBC cow: 15-16 g. We can evaluate in terms of km traveled by a vehicle a gain of 450,000 km for a herd of 50 cows! This is how Jean's production saves 315,000 km per year compared to conventional farming !!!
In addition, the area occupied by raising animals and creating food is 50 ha. The productive life of a cow is around 7-8 years. For as long as you want to keep it and we can continue taking care of it, you can renew your adoption year after year. If your cow dies, we will replace it with no additional cost and assuring the delivery of your production from other animals. After their productive life they are sold in the meat circuit. The female calves are bred for milk production and the males enter the fattening circuit.
Each cow is adopted by 250 CrowdFarmers who receive a box with 2.5 kg of cow cheese.
What will you receive?
Each season we will send you a box with:
1 x__ cow's milk cheese in ripened tomme cheese__ (about 2.5 kg)
The box contains a cheese of 2.5 kg (diameter 17-18 cm, height 10 - 11 cm) in cow's milk in tomme ripened in the cellar for at least 10 weeks with care by brushing the crust. The resulting cheese is a delicate and fragrant soft paste of the Tomme de Pyrénées type. It can be enjoyed at the end of a meal on a cheese platter, but also as an appetizer or in salads in a dice or sticks shape, prepared as a raclette or in Burger preparations. The characteristic of the proposed cheese is that it is made from Bleu Blanc Coeur milk, so guaranteed in Omega 3. It comes in 2.5 kg Basque tomme cheese, aged manually in our cellars for more than 10 weeks.
This cheese being ripened for several months can be kept for several more weeks, it will dry a little bit which will give it more taste but it will still be very good to consume.
When will you receive it?
Please, check the deadline for participating in this project (deadline for adoption) below. As of this date the Farmer will start preparing the orders that are to be shipped.
You may select the delivery date of your box as suggested by the Farmer at check-out.
Why should you adopt?
* Learn who produces your food, how and where. Receive your food in a conscious manner.
* Buy directly from the farmer. Help to generate wealth and better jobs in the rural areas.
* Plan ahead and enable the Farmer to produce on demand. This way we can avoid overproduction and fight food waste.
* Reward Farmers who make an effort to use environmentally-friendly packaging and cultivation techniques.
Plastic-free
Family Farm
How does it work?
Meet the Farmers
Adopt and plan your harvest
Let the Farmer and nature work
Receive your harvest at home
Environmentalist
Experienced Farmer
Cultivation in sparsely populated areas
Plastic-free
Small Farm
Family Farm
Jean Mollon
My name is Jean Mollon, I took over the family farm and the production that was in place: dairy cows. I grew up in the farm, and I was passionate about this life around animals and nature, with the possibility of working outside or inside in some cases.
I took over from my parents because of my love for this job. At the beginning I worked with my parents, it was necessary to produce ... then since 2010, we have decided to change this way of work with the will of bringing the products of the farm "from the farm to the fork"
I was born on the farm and this is my first job. I work with my brother who takes care of the dairy sheep next door, my parents are still active as well, and I have one of my sons who is starting to help me…The integration into CrowdFarming is the result of our first experience, which is the sale of Ossau Iraty cheeses with the Aozteia farm, who are also part of the cooperators.It’s a way to sell directly to consumers and to be in touch with them, and to shorten the distribution chain.
Jean Mollon
“We have built a cheese dairy to enhance the value of our products and take charge of our destiny. CrowdFarmer's approach interests us because it puts us in direct contact with consumers and responds to our motto "from the farm to the fork".”
Gaec Mehaberria
Gaec Mehaberria
The name of the exploitation or the farm is Mehaberria, it is called like that because it is the historical name of the house. It is located in Irissarry. The different crops present on the farm (both planted crops but also the natural environment) are natural meadows, temporary alfalfa and corn crops alternated with meslin.
In the surrounding area there are many sheep breedings. The Mehaberria farm supplies the Dairy Cooperative of the Basque Country where the cheeses are made.
The cooperative also collects milk from 15 other cow milk producers who produce milk of the same quality (Bleu Blanc Coeur) and from 30 sheep milk producers in the Ossau Iraty appellation. This activity generates 28 jobs at the Fromagerie and in the Aldudes valley where it is located. The producers are the leaders of the cooperative. I'm the president. There is a director and a team of employees who ensure the production and sale of the cheeses produced
My parents went to the United States, like many Basques, because there was not enough work there. They returned to the country and bought this farm over 40 years ago in Irissarry. My father worked there on dairy farms and it is for this reason that he developed this production back in the Basque Country. Then I took over from my parents.
The water used on the farm is from a natural origin: rainwater and spring water for animal feeding. There is no artificial watering or drip, everything is natural. It is true that we are in the Basque Country region which is naturally watered by the rain!
It’s a sustainable agriculture. The grass is either grazed by animals or harvested and dried for the winter. To avoid using pesticides in the meadows we have the presence of natural enemies made by reversals and a maximum of possible crop rotations. Weeding is done mechanically. The biodiversity of crops and species is favored by the seed of several grassland species. The fertilizers used are: manure and lime, there is no chemical fertilizer!
The coop was created in 2014, today 28 employees work in the company without counting the 50 producers who supply the cheese dairy. Employees are paid according to the collective agreement on 13 months' wages. The number of employees recognized as disabled is 2.
Milk waste does not exist but we are trying to make the most of the cheeses that do not match the marketing standards by transforming them to avoid losses and food waste. Whey is sent to feed pigs who love it ...
Being in a Natura 2000 area, the waters are also reprocessed before being sent into the river which feeds fish farms downstream.
Technical information
Address
Gaec Mehaberria, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, FR
Altitude
300m
Team
1 man
Size
50ha
Flock size
35
Location