Letter writer: Vegan cheese is not just for vegans

Graphic by Lori Deaton

I loved seeing the article on vegan cheese in WNC [“Pizza, Hold the Dairy,” Nov. 9, Xpress]. I hope more restaurants catch on to this and realize they gain more than vegan business as well.

As a lactose-intolerant person, I am thrilled to have these options available for pizza and for many of the local ice cream shops. When I was younger, eating pizza and/or ice cream was out of the question. Now I can enjoy these things just like anyone else. The fact that the vegan options are usually lower-fat is a bonus.

However, I have gotten some funny looks when I order the mighty meaty pizza with vegan cheese.

— Kyle Rhodes
Asheville

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22 thoughts on “Letter writer: Vegan cheese is not just for vegans

  1. boatrocker

    Anybody care to explain what vegan cheese is made from?

    Cheese implies dairy- if no dairy, then is it really cheese or just cheesy?
    If not, maybe call it what it is aka cheese substitute.
    That’s almost as ridiculous as tofu bacon, turkey, jerky, etc. You love the look, taste, texture but not the ingredients.
    How does one have it both ways?

    This from an unapologetic omnivore who can eat vegan, veggie and omnivore food as humans have evolved to be able to eat, digest and use for energy,

    Now cue the wide eyed cultist vegan hate.
    Wait, I’ll get it out of the way to save space on the internet,

    Muuuuuuuurderer! Holllllocaust!
    (insert Peter Singer, the fair weather vegan quote here and ignore the infantcide and pro eugenics beliefs quote here)
    (insert death threat here for eating meat)
    (insert ‘more spiritual than thou’ quote here from a $400 weekend at a silent vegan meditation workshop/forest bathing scam)
    Does that about cover it?

    For real, gimme some ideas for making cheese that isn’t, not for cultist ideology, but more as I love cooking and love to save money.
    I’m still trying to picture Stewart David or ‘think critically’ trying to milk a soybean and I can’t keep a straight face.

    You have my word I’ll try the vegan cheese and even buy it if it tastes like something other than anything from a vegan potluck where they ask you to take your shoes off at the door and they immediately perform a ‘sacred’ smudging ceremony.

    Here’s the cool thing about being an omnivore- I can ‘steal’ vegan, veggie and omnivore recipes and never apologize.
    It is impossible, by the way to steal carnivore recipes as as far as I know no humans are 100% carnivores. As much as I’d love to subsist on bacon and
    steak, that simply does not work.

    • Snowflake (Social Justice Worrier)

      “Anybody care to explain what vegan cheese is made from?”

      Vegan cheese is just a marketing name for soy cheese, which is made from soy curds, the same thing tofu is made from. It’s pretty good. I’ve had ice cream made from tofu that tasted as good as dairy ice cream (but I’m not picky).

      • boatrocker

        Hmmmm then. I did promise to give it a try, but not exactly looking forward to it.

      • think critically

        Actually, Snowflake, the vegan foods that taste similar to cheese and ice cream are made from a variety of plant sources. Almonds, coconuts, soy, hemp, cashews, etc. The early ones weren’t all that great tasting, but the last several years have seen an explosion of new products. Even Ben and Jerry’s now has several vegan “ice cream” products on the market, and they are delicious.

        • boatrocker

          Coconut anything, nah. Like the texture of mushy onions. Coconut oil is cool for cooking with.
          Shredded coconut , (making sick noises).

          Too bad Kyle, the author of said LTE only posts like a smug vegan cultist but doesn’t come back to the comments section to elaborate.
          Typical for vegans. Let’s trade recipes.

          Yay! I made a difference online! Urk.

          I did promise to try some vegan cheese, but only a tiny bit as I don’t desire man boobs for soy products. Own that.
          As a wide eyed vegan cultist, you better hope that soy crops aren’t over run by Monsanto funded GMOs for obvious reasons.
          Mono culture farming is what gave us the Dust Bowl, if you ever read Steinbeck. Hopefully you did.
          If soy tanks as a crop, well… enjoy the ramen.

          My favorite vegan food? Peanuts. Boom. If you don’t have peanuts or peanut butter in the house,
          you ain’t cooking. Thai food, yes. Yes in f@#$%^ deed.

          Hemp? I’ve eaten it. It has no taste unless there is someone at a house party who knows how to cook.
          So rare for more smug holier than thou pot luck. Own that too.

          Vegans- you want to ‘convert’ us to your way of life? Provide good recipes, such that we don’t have to taste only bean smug.
          Spice matters.

  2. think critically

    Most of the people on the planet are actually lactose intolerant, as noted here:

    http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/what-is-lactose-intolerance

    That’s because we are designed to drink milk until we are weaned.

    Vegans are also cruelty intolerant, which is why they won’t be complicit in a baby cow being stolen from her mother at birth and locked in a veal crate so that humans can drink the milk nature designed for the baby cow.

    • Snowflake (Social Justice Worrier)

      “Most of the people on the planet are actually lactose intolerant”

      Your claims are always suspect because you link to NGOs whose fundings and agendas are suspect. Lactose intolerance varies with ethnicity, which in white Europeans, Americans and Australasians ranges from about 5% to 17%.. But in East Asians it is about 90%. So you make this wild claim based on an average that really doesn’t mean anything relevant.

  3. think critically

    Yes, of course, it varies by ethnicity, which was clearly stated in the page I linked to. Which also noted that, overall, about 75 percent of the world’s population, including 25 percent of those in the U.S., lose their lactase enzymes after weaning. I don’t know why you don’t find that relevant.

    • Snowflake (Social Justice Worrier)

      They don’t lose their lactase enzymes, those enzymes decrease, which makes sense because people grow out of being dependent upon a milk-only diet.

    • Snowflake (Social Justice Worrier)

      And again your statements are misleading because Americans are not one ethnicity. White people don’t seem to have as much problem with lactose intolerance as some other ethnic groups do.

      • boatrocker

        Whitey’s problem with intolerance is not due to lactose. Funny you should reference intolerance after stating (paraphrasing)
        ‘white men are the most discriminated against group in America’.

        • Snowflake (Social Justice Worrier)

          That was dishonest to make it look like what I stated was my opinion rather than the opinion of a HR manager who communicated it to me. But that kind of dishonesty is part and parcel for your kind of politics.

          • boatrocker

            That’s why I used the word ‘paraphrased’.
            As you don’t even know who I voted to, what exactly are ‘my’ kind of politics again?

          • Able Allen

            Please try to be respectful to one another and stay on topic. I don’t mind you to throwing logical fallacies at one another, but let’s keep the personal insults out of it.

  4. think critically

    I really don’t mean to mislead, which is why I provided a link to an article from a group of physicians. I am not a scientist, so I will let them speak to the issue. Here is that link again, for those interested: http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/what-is-lactose-intolerance

    Also, for a look inside a small family farm at why many people say no to dairy, I offer the following short, nongraphic video via the Huffington Post:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-pippus/new-nongraphic-video-show_b_13109506.html

    • The Real World

      Now see, this is a better way for vegans to speak about/encourage that lifestyle. Help make it easier for people to consider it and live it. Thanks for that recipe link. (I happen to love coconut anything.)

      The brow-beating, moralizing behavior so many vegans put forth COMPLETELY works against them. You’d think they’d figure that out given all the pushback. Persuading people, helping them see the benefits and how moving to a vegan life can be accomplished are much better tactics. But, I’m not holding my breath that they will internalize my suggestions as it’s pretty clear that the elitist sermonizing is the aspect they enjoy the more. However, you attract more flies with honey ……….

    • boatrocker

      There you go- I perused some of those recipes, and I might try a few to supplement my omnivorous diet.
      Stuff like ice cream I really don’t eat much of, so I’ll be looking at the lunchy recipes as that is usually my largest meal.

  5. boatrocker

    For the science geeks-

    In perusing the news recently, I came across a piece about the US Navy and how they are beginning to use bio fuels for certain warships.
    You may gripe about how the ‘refurbished’ cooking oils contain animal products, but just the same one has to admit that that’s pretty cool. Now we can look for WMDs, not find them, leave a smaller footprint and make the Straight of Hormuz smell like french fries.

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