I'm a vegetarian and I try to avoid dairy too (altough I'm not always succesful. Since I was a kid I've loved chhese and so qutting cheese has always been my biggest problem. But when I found shocking information about cheese production, I realized that cheese definitely shouldn't be a part of a vegetarian diet.
Vegetarianism can be seemed in two different ways. Vegetarian may be seen as a person who doesn't eat meat because of health or ethical reasons OR a person who doesn' eat any food that contains part of dead animals. Which is a bit tricky because it means not eating meat but also things like gelatin which is derived from collagen from various animal body parts (skins, bones, sinews) obtained from slaughterhouses. Gelatin is used for example in gummybears, some types of alcohol or some ice creams. Also some processed food may contain other non-vegetarian ingredients like "natural" flavors and colorants. So it's always better to eat real fresh food because this way you won't have to care about these things at all :)
Anyway today I'd like to talk about something else - about cheese. Why vegetarians shouldn't eat cheese? There are three main reasons:
Cheese rennent
If you're vegetarian from ethical reasons and you don't want to eat body parts of dead animals, this may be your reason to quit cheese. To make cheese, you need to use soem kind of rennent. Rennents are substances which coagulated milk protein and created the desired consistency. There are three typs of rennent - plant-based, microbial and "animal-based". Plant and microbial rennent are both suitable for vegetarians. The problem is with animal rennent which is made from stomachs of milk fed calves. Fotr that reason, these types of cheese are not suitable for vegetarians. So if you stopped eating meat because of ethical issues, you should think about cutting cheese out of your diet as well. Cheese types which are made with animal rennent are for example:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/vegetarian-cheese-animal-rennet_n_4467430.html
Dairy cows ends up in slaughterhouses
Altough you may think that dairy cows don't suffer and that they're not slaughtered like cows on meat farms ... unfortunatelly it's not true. The life of a dairy cow is perhaps even worse. They're living in horrible conditions and since they become fertile, they're repeatedly artificially inseminated, their calf are taken way within two days after the birth and all of the milk goes not to the calf but to the tetra pak boxes and to our supermarkets. Naturally, cow could live for 15-25 years. On a dairy farm, cows live just for 5 years or so. At that time, they're too ehausted that they can't produce any more milk. So the owners don't need them anymore and they send them to slaughter - like the other cows from meat industry.
Dairy & Veal
Dairy industry is closely connected with veal industry. When dairy cow gives birth to a calf, it's taken away within two days. If the baby is a girl, her life is going to be the same as her mother's. If it's a boy, his life is even worse. Male cows are not needed on a dairy farm - what would the people use a male cow for? So they're sent to another farm, where they spend their short lifes in small cages where they can't even move. That way, the calf won't build natural muscles and so the veal meat will be tender. After one or two years, calves are "ready" for the slaughter. If you think about it ... it's quite understandable. Dairy farmers want to sell as much milk as possible and they want to ear a lot of money. Why should they feed male calves and let them live, if they don't need them?
Basically, by consuming dairy products, we're supporting veal production. And that's something that every vegetarian should think about.
Vegetarianism can be seemed in two different ways. Vegetarian may be seen as a person who doesn't eat meat because of health or ethical reasons OR a person who doesn' eat any food that contains part of dead animals. Which is a bit tricky because it means not eating meat but also things like gelatin which is derived from collagen from various animal body parts (skins, bones, sinews) obtained from slaughterhouses. Gelatin is used for example in gummybears, some types of alcohol or some ice creams. Also some processed food may contain other non-vegetarian ingredients like "natural" flavors and colorants. So it's always better to eat real fresh food because this way you won't have to care about these things at all :)
Anyway today I'd like to talk about something else - about cheese. Why vegetarians shouldn't eat cheese? There are three main reasons:
Cheese rennent
If you're vegetarian from ethical reasons and you don't want to eat body parts of dead animals, this may be your reason to quit cheese. To make cheese, you need to use soem kind of rennent. Rennents are substances which coagulated milk protein and created the desired consistency. There are three typs of rennent - plant-based, microbial and "animal-based". Plant and microbial rennent are both suitable for vegetarians. The problem is with animal rennent which is made from stomachs of milk fed calves. Fotr that reason, these types of cheese are not suitable for vegetarians. So if you stopped eating meat because of ethical issues, you should think about cutting cheese out of your diet as well. Cheese types which are made with animal rennent are for example:
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- Emmentaler
- Grana Padano
- Gorgonzola
Read more here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/vegetarian-cheese-animal-rennet_n_4467430.html
Dairy cows ends up in slaughterhouses
Altough you may think that dairy cows don't suffer and that they're not slaughtered like cows on meat farms ... unfortunatelly it's not true. The life of a dairy cow is perhaps even worse. They're living in horrible conditions and since they become fertile, they're repeatedly artificially inseminated, their calf are taken way within two days after the birth and all of the milk goes not to the calf but to the tetra pak boxes and to our supermarkets. Naturally, cow could live for 15-25 years. On a dairy farm, cows live just for 5 years or so. At that time, they're too ehausted that they can't produce any more milk. So the owners don't need them anymore and they send them to slaughter - like the other cows from meat industry.
Dairy & Veal
Dairy industry is closely connected with veal industry. When dairy cow gives birth to a calf, it's taken away within two days. If the baby is a girl, her life is going to be the same as her mother's. If it's a boy, his life is even worse. Male cows are not needed on a dairy farm - what would the people use a male cow for? So they're sent to another farm, where they spend their short lifes in small cages where they can't even move. That way, the calf won't build natural muscles and so the veal meat will be tender. After one or two years, calves are "ready" for the slaughter. If you think about it ... it's quite understandable. Dairy farmers want to sell as much milk as possible and they want to ear a lot of money. Why should they feed male calves and let them live, if they don't need them?
Basically, by consuming dairy products, we're supporting veal production. And that's something that every vegetarian should think about.
Did you know that some types of cheese are not suitable for vegetarians? Do you follow plant-based lifestyle?
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