One of the main reasons many people avoid going vegan is because they love cheese. I know this because it was my reason for many months when I was debating going vegan. Looking back I hate how much cheese I used to cover my food with, I loved it on pasta, pizza and sandwiches and probably ate it every week. It was a staple of my diet so the thought of giving it up seemed impossible. However there came a point when I could no longer ignore the ethical, environmental and health reasons in going vegan and I decided that giving up cheese was a small price to pay for living a cruelty free life. I wasn't looking forward to giving it up but I did it anyway.
Now after over a year of being vegan I don't miss cheese and my taste has changed to the point where I don't really eat vegan cheese much but it is something I occasionally buy. I am so impressed with the choice of vegan cheese, it is so realistic that anyone thinking they couldn't give up cheese should try the alternatives as you can still have the flavour without supporting the cruel and unhealthy dairy industry.
The picture above is my pasta meal topped with grated Violife cheese. This is one of the most popular brands of vegan cheese as they have a range of flavours. This cheddar style block has a mild flavour and looks and tastes just like mild cheddar cheese. Try it and see if you notice a difference but I imagine anyone just looking at the picture would be surprised to know it is vegan, it doesn't look any different and can be used in the same ways. I always say that everything has a vegan alternative, the vegan food industry is very creative and is making alternatives to everything so why choose the cruel option when you can have any flavour of food you like without any animal products?
It's also good to remember that your taste does change once you start eating healthier, I am now eating foods I had never tried before as going vegan makes you try new foods. Your taste also changes and things you thought you couldn't live without become the same foods you can't believe you ever ate. Don't be put off because you 'love' something because one day you will look back and wonder why you ever ate it in the first place.
So it's Cow appreciation day. I didn't realise this was a thing but there is a day for everything these days. So I thought today would be a good time to write about the reasons to avoid dairy:
- Cows are artificially inseminated and their calf is removed from them so they can be milked. There is nothing natural about this process and it is repeated many times in a cows life. These animals are essentially hooked up to machines for their whole life. Dairy farms are prisons.
- Cows have strong emotions, they experience distress when separated from their young or their friends, supporting the dairy industry is as cruel as supporting the meat industry.
- Cows are gentle creatures who form lifelong friendships, if you think animals are stupid and have no feelings think again.
- Cows milk is designed to make a calf grow very quickly in the beginning of it's life. Milk is essentially a fat fluid to help a baby cow weighing 65 pounds become a 400 pound cow. Cows stop drinking milk after they have grown, yet humans drink what is essentially cows breast milk throughout their life, it is unnatural.
- Avoiding dairy will help you loose weight, this tends to happen when you stop drinking fat.
- Milk is full of hormones such as oestrogen, and does anyone really enjoy a glass of hormones?
- There are other, better, sources of calcium which do not have the downsides of dairy. Dark leafy greens such as Kale and Spinach contain calcium but this isn't well known as we are led to believe in that drinking milk is the only way to have healthy, strong bones.
- Cows milk contains up to 59 hormones, allergens, fat, cholesterol and not to mention any pesticides used on their feed or hormones they are given to make them grow faster.
- The dairy and meat industries are linked, the cows who have spent their lives being milked will be sent to be killed for meat along with the baby cows who are unnaturally bred. If you avoid meat it is a good idea to avoid dairy too or you are supporting cruelty.
- The growth hormone in milk has been linked to cancer. Need I say more? If you care about your health give up dairy.
- It takes 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese. No wonder cheese is a fatty food.
- There are so many healthier non-dairy milks and cheeses on the market, avoiding dairy is easy.
- Cows get their calcium from plants. Cut out the middle man (or Cow) and get your calcium the healthy way.
- Also getting calcium from milk is a myth, because of the high protein content it can actually take calcium from the body. Studies have shown that countries with high dairy consumption have higher rates of osteoporosis. So much for milk being a great source of calcium! Stick to the leafy greens instead.
- If you still want a glass Cow's breast milk after all this information, the fact that milk is allowed to have faeces in it might put you off- it is then pasteurised to make it fit to drink but at room temperature the bacteria will double which is why when you forget to put your milk back in the fridge it goes off very quickly. A glass of bacteria isn't appealing.
These are just a few of the many, scientifically researched, reasons to avoid milk. Basically cows milk is for cows and human milk is for humans. Drinking the secretions of an animals is strange and no other species does it. You don't see apes drinking rat milk? Dairy, for humans, is unnatural and on Cow Appreciation Day I think it's time to stop using these beautiful, intelligent creatures for a liquid which we don't even need. Wake up and smell the unnecessary bovine secretion.
