People have adapted to living in this environment in many ways. For example, farmers living on the sides of mountains use terraces to grow crops. A terrace is a series of flat pieces of land on a slope. Can you imagine trying to plant seeds and water crops on a steep mountainside? It would be quite difficult! Instead, farmers flatten the land into a terrace resembling a staircase. Now there's flat land to grow people's food. Local products are also adapted to the environment. Remember the green lentil from Le Puy-en-Velay? It grows really well in this ancient volcanic soil. It is said that the soil helps give the lentil its unique peppery flavor. There are also unique cheeses that come from this region. Auvergne, the region where you find Le Puy, has the most varieties of protected origin cheeses in France! Cheeses that only comes from this region include Bleu d'Auvergne, Saint-Nectaire, and Cantal.
