Amena Farm

“The production of cheese also serves to create work for society, especially for the young people who, today, only know how to do this," says Jan Anema, exemplifying, with his thumbs, the movements made in the mobile phone. "They do not have calluses on their hands. Only at the tips of the fingers," he adds with a laugh. “investment and care that are then harvested," says our host.
To distort this reality, he founded the Viva School, a program of visits destined "to young people who only live in the virtual world". This inscription is on Quinta da Anema's website, a property located in Courela da Ponte-Velha, near the banks of the river Lavre, parish of the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, where the main focus lies in the biological production of Gouda’s type of cheese.
We speak of Jan and Elisabeth Anema, the Dutch couple who, "fed up with making cheese every day" decided in 1987 to come to Portugal, with the aim of dedicating themselves to a social action project. It started with a dairy, in Lavre, in the county of Montemor-o-Novo, Alentejo. The purchase was followed by the fifth. The focus was on milk production at this time. "We have had 80 cows." The milk crisis led both to resume the Dutch trade in 2010: agriculture and cheese production in a biological way.
Instead of opting for "fast-food" cows, that is, of intensive production - "because these cows are like high-level sportsmen, any little thing they go down; they can’t handle it, they have to be pampered all day, they are in intensive care and so they respond well, but it is not compatible with our cheese production "- they chose "slow food cows with fodder-based feed." The race is called Blaarkop and are, at the moment, 15.
Jan Anema only takes advantage of the milk of these animals. It is used in the production of Gouda type cheese, the most common in the home country of the owner couple of Quinta da Anema. The manufacturing, which uses traditional equipment, is done in a biological way. The process is fully legalized - it has the certification of Organic Agriculture and the stamp of the CSS. Although it is physically demanding and requires great care with production, Jan Anema wants to give priority to cheese production through sustainable practices and with the consequent respect for the rural heritage.