The Uga Livestock Fair celebrates its sixteenth edition, a trajectory that cannot be understood without the figure of the livestock breeder and master cheesemaker Tito González Medina (R.I.P.).
“He was one of the great precursors of the show and a tireless defender of the primary sector of Lanzarote”, as recalled by the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, in the heartfelt tribute that the municipality of Yaiza and the Uga Fair paid him this Friday at the opening ceremony of the island's livestock meeting in the presence of representatives of the Yaiza City Council, the Cabildo of Lanzarote and livestock breeders of the Island who stand out for their youth and good work.
Tito González Medina worked with his family on the Los Ajaches livestock and cheese farm in Playa Blanca until his death in 2015. Ten years after his departure, the primary sector does not forget who was a counselor of the Uga Fair and the main promoter of the cheese contest and tasting that it hosts, also helping to promote the twinning between livestock breeders from Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Tito's commitment was not limited to the Uga Fair, his responsibility was with the primary sector of Lanzarote at field level and in his role as president of the Association of Artisan Cheese Factories of Lanzarote, which led to his election as vice president of the Spanish Network of Rural and Artisan Cheeses, integrated into the European organization.
His daughter, Lila González, in front of an important representation of livestock breeders from Yaiza and Lanzarote, thanked the posthumous tribute to her father, inviting the youngest livestock breeders “to continue working for the evolution of the sector. I know firsthand that it is a very sacrificial activity, but my father taught us and showed us that you can live with dignity from it”. On behalf of the Yaiza City Council, the mayor, Óscar Noda, and the councilor for the Primary Sector, Silvia Santana, presented a detail in memory of Tito González Medina.
A visionary entrepreneur, for many years, Tito advocated for improving the quality of cheese and expanding the variety to continue conquering the palate of consumers, while in the European sphere he fought to adapt the regulations to the reality of small cheese factories in order to not be treated as large dairy industries, of course, without concessions in hygiene and health measures.