I’ve been getting lots of e-mails lately from people who want to be vegan but can’t give up cheese… listen… there are many reasons people make the choice to become vegan; whether it be for heath, the environment, etc but for me the #1 reason is to stop animal cruelty. What goes on behind the scenes in the dairy industry is heinous…
Mercy for Animals recently released some undercover footage of what goes on behind the scenes at a federally-subsidized farm. And this is not just “one disturbed guy” in the video doing this, there are multiple workers (including the boss) all participating.
I won’t post the video as it’s so disturbing it made me burst into tears … but if you’re brave enough My Dear Cheese-eater readers, then click HERE and meet your farmers. You need to know where your food comes from…
For those of you who are sensitive but still interested in reading about what Mercy for Animals uncovered there is an article at The Huffington Post that you can read HERE.
For anyone looking to cut the cheese….http://www.daiyafoods.com/….AMAZING!
just a question sarah, how do you feel about ethical, organic, free range dairy farms?
No such thing ….
I am not a strict Vegan… working towards being more so… that said my Kitchen and every meal I prepare is Vegan. (I also spend a lot of time preparing Vegan food for friends and family as subtle delicious encouragement).
I too thought I would miss yogurt and milk too much to quit em’, but once I switched it was simple. I was really surprised at how easy it was and I DO NOT miss the dairy versions. We create our own reality. Stop telling yourself you will miss cheese and tell yourself how much you love some other little delight! Mmmmmmmm bumps on a log… gosh i love the PB!
I find factory farming absolutely deplorable. You do not even need these extreme displays of, truly unimaginable cruelty to have me convinced that this needs to stop and I need to end my participation in the industry. Just the every day operations as usual are terrifyingly cruel.
Thanks for the post Sarah! It is not ok!
I, too, thought I wouldn’t be able to live without cheese. I was a cheese & cracker snacker! Once I learned what really happened to the cows, it was THAT easy. Thanks for posting this Sarah!
That video is making the rounds — and making lots of omnivores in my workplace cry too.
More than 99% of meat is produced on barbaric factory farms — so-called ethically-produced meat would be wayyyy too expensive for most people and nearly impossible to find. It’s not ethical to me if it involves taking the life of a creature when there is plenty else to eat.
Even in a non-progressive area, I can get reasonable cheese and ice cream alternatives, though I have sort of lost my taste for them and only eat them as treats. I feel very bad that I only went vegan a year ago after 20 years of vegetarianism, now that I see how easy it is.
I couldn’t watch the video, but I cried like a crazy lady when i read the article. I am one of those that would give up dairy for a month, then start eating it again. I am so disturbed (TO SAY THE LEAST), that I will never be able to look at dairy the same way EVER AGAIN.
My question is…what happens to these people once these types of videos/news gets released? Do they get charged? I can tell you what should happen to them, but I don’t want to get reported.
i’ve been a DIEHARD cheese fan for years. i would have married it if i could. it was what threw me off the vegan wagon. so i was veggie (but not vegan). i started cooking exclusively with vegan recipes awhile back, and it has been a yummy transition.
when i *have* to have a milk fix: i suggest coconut. that’s what saved me from dairy. coconut creamer. coconut ice cream. i like me some tofu, but tofu ice cream tastes like *ss to me. oh, and shreeze (though it contains soy) works fine for a firmer cheese (expensive but worth it), veganrella for pizza, and that vegan parm (not the rice one – it ain’t vegan). all of them work fine for me.
Ethical dairy farm? That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.
Quit being a whiny baby excuse-monger and give up the cheese.
Cheese is just like any other “habit”…once you break it, you won’t even want it any more. I was vegetarian for 10 years. I never thought I could give up dairy, and I let myself buy into the whole “they’re not being killed, so it’s okay” mentality. Then, one day, I realized that I was completely bs’ing myself. I gave up dairy and eggs then and there. I thought it would be hard, but after about two weeks, I didn’t even miss it. I rarely even eat the cheese substitutes (although, Daiya is the bee’s knees). I’ve been vegan for a year now, and I’ve never felt better…physically and mentally. If you think you can’t give up dairy, dare yourself to try going without for a week or two. I can almost guarantee that 1) you’ll feel better, and 2) you won’t miss it after awhile.
hey, asia, it was a question. i was just curious because i work at a organic grocery store and many of our dairy products come from local farms which i have been to.
and just for the record i AM a vegan.
I have been a veggie for over 10 years. I too had convinced myself that it wasn’t that bad to buy dairy. I just watched the video. I cannot believe what I seen. I’m broken hearted. What is wrong with our fellow human beings??? I’ve been thinking for a while now about giving up dairy. As of today, I AM done!
It’s just a struggle for me everyday, as I am working my way to fully becoming vegan. My husband will not even consider giving up his “meat and potatoes”. It makes me so sad. What am I to do? Does anyone have any suggestions? Or has anyone ever been in the same situation?
I could not watch the video. It makes me so sick. I am a new vegan and well after reading a few books lately I realized that it is time to make the switch from vegetarian to vegan.
This kind of cruelty, it seems the mass population is so oblivious to. Makes me sick! If you eat and drink it, unfortunately you contribute to it!
Carolyn… Congrats on your decision! It totally get’s easy by week 3 or 4, so just hang in until then. If it gets tough, think of the cows.
As for your husband, you can only do what’s right for yourself. And then maybe one day he’ll follow suit. I was the only veggie member of my house for 7 yrs. Never asked my husband to give up meat, respected his dietary wishes, and asked him to respect mine. Then one day HE decided to go vegan – for health reasons. That’s when I decided to do it, too (if he could give up everything, I could give up cheese). Best choice I’ve ever made.
As long as folks continue to disassociate the food they eat with where it comes from, it’s easy for them to miss cheese. That said, once you really understand where it comes from and what these animals must endure on a regular basis for us to be able to indulge in that cheese (or ice cream or whatever), I believe the change becomes easier. Problem is, many don’t want to face the reality, which is also why more folks don’t change to a meat-free diet. I watched Earthlings recently and for me now there’s no going back. It’s a pretty gross reality to try and ignore anymore. No thanks.
Try Nutritional Yeast! It is a great “cheese substitute” and super healthy. I love the Wolfie’s Nutritional Yeast Sauce in La’ Dolce Vegan and have made a few different variations of this to put on the ol’ beans and rice or steamed veggies 🙂 (Also is nice on vegan pizza which I made with Vegan rotis yum!)
Hey Carolyn,
My partner refuses to give up meat, even though becoming vegan was his idea! The problem for him is that I cook, and I just make what I want for dinner and tell him if he wants meat he can buy it, cook it, and wash up his mess. So in a way, he is vegan – by default, though.
I love this quote I just found in “Eating Animals” I haven’t had a chance to use it with my meat eating friends yet though…
“Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else? If contributing to the suffering of billions of animals that live miserable lives and (quite often) die in horrific ways isn’t motivating, what would be? If being the number one contributor to the most serious threat facing the planet (global warming) isn’t enough, what is? And if you are tempted to put off these questions of conscience, to say not now, then when?†(Eating Animals, page 243)
I have been a Vegan for 11 years now. Once you get a full understanding of where your food comes from, it’s easy. I saw the video of the dairy farm and I sent the link to challenged my meat and dairy eating friend to watch it. Not one of them could. They never made it past the opening. I personally feel is you want to eat meat, dairy and egss, learn were the hell it comes from, learn about your food, you are what you eat after all.
(A note about the dairy farm video.
I think what bothered me most about that video is knowing that it will continue on…….and I bet it was even more hellish for those cows after the video got out, that is what really sickened me.)
I watched the video from start to finish. I’m a veteran of these animal abuse videos, even though each one I watch really, really upsets me. And this one was not only no exception, it upset me more than just about any other one I’ve ever watched. I tell myself I keep watching these videos so I know what I’m up against and to remind myself of why I went vegan. But now that I’m so solidly vegan, I feel the same way as Sarah. I often cry or, at the very least, my eyes get moist. The videos upset me. I don’t ever “cheat” or stray away from my vegan diet. So maybe I’ll stop watching. They are deeply upsetting. And this one gets a blue ribbon for being uber-upsetting.
Yeah, I was in the library at uni and I started to get so upset I knew I was about to start crying and I had to stop watching.
Sarah –
I don’t think shock videos of this kind are effective tools for turning anyone vegan. It’s the equivalent of the right wing anti-abortionists hailing videos of cut up fetuses in everyone’s face. For many, this video will disgust (then possibly lead to a dapple in veganism) and will – ultimately – bring them back to meat/dairy-eating within a few months. Don’t you think books such at “Eating Animals” or “Diet for a New America” give more intelligent, well-rounded arguments for veganism? Shock value will only make veg-curious readers shy away from you (just like I shy away from the anti-abortionists with signs).
Apparently one on the main abusers in this video who has been arrested for 12 counts of animal cruelty was training to be a police officer!Looks like it’s not going to happen 🙂
please check out this link on Digital Journal.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/292779
There is a lump in my throat after watching that. It only reaffirms my belief that I am doing the right thing. I cried. I swore. I didn’t understand. I just know that dairy is not in the picture for me. Cheese for me was hard because it was the only vegetarian food that there seemed to be in the fridge when living with someone else. I had oatmeal or I had cheese. For those who buy their own food and still feel the need to buy cheese, it isn’t worth it.
I clicked the link and I finished for today. 🙁 I am a new vegan, struggling with not eating cheese sometimes, but I can resist my craving.
If I had only three wishes free (in German we say “to have three wishes free”, I dont know whether you know this idiom or not, I hope you understand me…), I would love to imprison every single one of these b’stards a shed and a pitchfork to every cow and every calf. And last, but not least I would wish, they could deal with this pitchforks.
I am at a loss of words…