Vegetarianism and Cheese: The Evils of the Food Industry

So many things that 'seem' vegetarian are not. They could easily be, but the food industry favors the use of animal products and derivatives. Why is this still common practice?

I wanted to be vegan. That didn't work out so well. I did everything you're supposed to do. I ate tofu and soy milk. Nuts and beans. Leafy greens and fruits. I undoubtedly got more vitamins and better nutrition from my vegan diet than I had ever gotten from my prior meat and potatoes habit.

Unfortunately my body had other designs. For reasons I still don't understand lack of cow's milk rendered my digestive system incapable of processing almost all fruits as well as a lot of raw vegetables and anything which contained citric acid or vitamin c permutations (sodium ascorbate, ascorbic acid, others).

So, broken-hearted and feeling helpless, I began consuming milk and cheese again. Which in and of itself, sounds harmlessly vegetarian. Yet, to my dismay, I discovered cheese is not as innocent as the dairy council would like people to believe.

I researched on google and contacted various companies. Many cheeses are decidely not vegetarian. It was especially upsetting to learn, as someone who hasn't intentionally eaten pork or veal for over 20 years that many cheeses contain pork and calf stomach enzymes. I thought I wasn't eating pig or calf, yet I was all along. With no heads up from the package labeling.

Examples: provolone, parmasean, romano, american, asiago, fontina. Pretty much all companies admit these cheeses are not animal-free. Ricotta and mozzarella can go either way. Cheddar is really the only safe bet. Possibly colby and jacks. But only if they come from certain companies like cabot, great lakes, sargento and crystal farms to name a few.

The FDA, for all it's nutritional labeling has failed not only vegetarians, but also, kosher Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and anyone else who does not wish to consume pork, veal or animal products.

While some companies readily reveal the sources of their cheese enzymes, others still do not. Kraft, most notably, offers no info on the origins of their cheese making enzymes.

This is made ever-more frustrating by the fact that wheat, milk and soy ingredients must be clearly stated in bold no less at the bottom of ingredients lists. Why such concern for those with allergies to those products, but none for people opposed to eating animal byproducts. The word conspiracy is overused and often laughed at for good reason, but in this case I think we have to consider it.

With such thorough ingredient and nutritional labeling, how is it that animal products and animal derived ingredients need not be mentioned at all. People like to say big oil runs the united states government and that may be true, but they have a partner. The meat industry.

The sad part is, animal-free enzymes are readily available and can be used to make any cheese one wishes to make. So why do so many cheese makers choose the stuff of slaughtered calves and swine as their cheese ingredients, when alternatives are cheaper and kinder?

There's that word conspiracy again. Sounding a lot more rational than I ever thought it would.