« Tradition without modernity is sterile; modernity without tradition is blind. » André Valadier
Aubrac is a mountain region with a harsh climate despite Mediterranean influences. One generation after another has forged its terroir around the specificities of the area and the Aubrac breed of cows.
In the 1950s new farming and breeding models triggered upheavals that rocked the foundations of a terroir which man had taken centuries to build. The inhabitants had to draw upon all their wits, awareness and powers of observation to restore consistency and positive interactions between land and product without getting bogged down into a sterile immobility.
Today products with high added value have breathed new life into the region's dynamism. Laguiole cheese, Aubrac aligot, Aubrac meat and Laguiole knives are a basket of goods with more than just material worth. They have an intangible value stemming from the symbolism they convey.
In less than a century Aubrac successfully made the shift from production necessary for life—subsistence food—to production capable of letting the region live—food products with deep local roots.