“You’re done when the work is done.”
The Menken family farm lies in the Green Heart of Holland, just outside Alphen aan den Rijn. Here, twin brothers Marcel and Ben continue their family’s long-standing tradition of cheesemaking — sharing not only the daily challenges, but above all, a deep love and passion for farm life.
the cooperative
The Menken family has been farming for seven generations — and as far as they know, cheesemaking has been part of that story just as long. For the past sixty years, they’ve been making cheese on their current farm, and since joining Coöperatie De Producent in 1971, they’ve been delivering their cheeses to the cooperative. Before that, the family sold their cheeses directly at local markets.
The farm is home to one hundred thirty red-and-white dairy cows. Three to four days a week, Marcel and Ben — together with their mother — turn about half of their milk into Boerenkaas. They make the cheese in a cheesemaking facility built in the former stable, just next to the farmhouse kitchen. The other half of the milk is sent to the factory.
Their cheeses, often flavoured with herbs, are made in moulds of 5, 8, and 12 kilograms.
Farm life
Making Boerenkaas and running a farm is no small task. Not only must the milk be of the highest quality — since it’s processed raw — but strict hygiene standards also apply. After all, you’re producing food.
From early morning to late at night, there’s always work that simply can’t wait. The animals need to be happy and healthy to give good milk, and that care goes far beyond milking twice a day. The barns must be kept clean, the cows fed, the fields mown. You live day by day, closely tied to nature — spontaneously closing the farm for an afternoon just isn’t an option.
And yet, it’s exactly this way of life that speaks to the Menken family. It’s what they love about farming — and what they hope to keep doing with the same passion and dedication for years to come.
