cows, cheese

In the 1960's, the Aubrac, like almost all the mountain areas of Europe, entered a period of profound social and productive crisis...The few who remained (to raise cattle and produce cheese)...were persuaded by zootechnical experts to switch from local breeds of cattle (the Fleur d'Aubrac or Rouge d'Aubrac, pictured above) to Holsteins, the famous dappled black-and-white creatures that invaded the world milk market in the late 1970s. They are the most productive of all cows...They produce almost twice as much milk per day as "normal" cows.

The Aubrac farmers could hardly believe it when they were shown those production figures. Within a few years, Holsteins had replaced the Aubrac cows almost to the point of rendering them extinct. Problems, however, soon began to arise...their milk, which contains much less fat and also less protein than that produced by the indigenous cows (as well as being less tasty), is virtually useless for making Laguiole cheese, whose traditional production method requires milk with very different characteristics. So, along with the indigenous cows, the traditional cheese was also disappearing.
-Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Nation

(all that just to post a picture of a cow)

(oh, and things have begun to change for those picturesque cows. they are making a fine comeback. as is the cheese)