As I was watching a show focusing on Cheese Mongers….. each trying to win for who has the best cheese, I was realizing how addicted some of the world is to cheese. That created in my head this blog: Cheese – Your biggest addiction?
I mean, this millennial was talking about his childhood saying that while others spent money on Hot Fudge Sundaes and Candy, he saved all his money for cheese. And it’s not like he lives in Wisconsin… right? lol
Take that and top it with an email I got in this morning from a wildlife advocate telling me the government’s involved: “Each year, and every year for decades past, dairy producers comfortably produce far too much cheese, knowing the government will bail them out and buy the surplus. In 2016 alone, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spent $20 million taxpayer dollars to buy 11 million pounds of cheese that no one wanted”.
Well I can tell you that does not make me happy. Being told that there is a ‘government check off program’ that the US Dept of Agriculture makes all the cheese makers buy into and support makes sense marketing wise, but what’s with supporting the growers to create a surplus and then dumping on us in unexpected ways. Don’t believe that? These are the same people that came up with “Got Milk”. According to the article I read, It’s because of the abundance of cheese that Pizza Hut is adding 25% more cheese to their pizzas. That’s 150 million pounds of extra milk, 300 million pounds of greenhouse gases, millions of acres lost to growing cows and 240 million pounds of poop. If you go full circle, that’s where the 300 million pounds of greenhouse gases come from. Makes sense?
And it gets worse. Many people worry about the global imprint cows and all this cheese has. “Big Dairy already adds nearly 95 billion pounds of greenhouse gases to our planet every year. Cattle also contribute methane, a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period — methane makes up more than half of dairy production’s total emissions. Dairy cattle are responsible for 19 percent of the global water footprint of animal agriculture”.
Aside from that, this is not our grandma’s milk. This is milk and cheese our bodies no longer process. I do understand how addictive cheese is (look at all the recipes and our ‘go to’ plate of cheese, fruit and crackers). I really get it.
Personally, I noticed when I went to the market years ago I was buying at least 3 bricks of different cheese costing between $12 – $20 per brick, depending on the quality (and of course, I always went for things like the St. Andre’s Triple Cream). Yum, but artery clogging and not processing well in our stomach’s. Those were my 2 reasons to stop. Afterwards I saw how cows were being treated because of the intense demand created by the marketing machine at the government level and their willingness to encourage abundance and buy excess from the growers, to make it (in their minds) a win/win. And I realized something was up that I did not want to cooperate with. For me, a win/win means everyone wins. The consumers are not winning here.
These days I eat plant based. So I save $30 – $50 every time I go to the market, just because I am not buying cheese. Occasionally, I will make a Pizza with Follow Your Heart Provolone or Cheddar or Gouda Slices. They’re vegan, and if use properly (less is more) you still get that cheesy flavor but your body can actually process a soy or nut or cashew based cheese.
I write this blog because you might be one of us who is worked by the government and are now addicted to cheese ….. and I would like you to give some serious thought. You can start by cutting back on creamy cheeses like Fontana, Mozzarella and St. Andre. When you want a cheesy flavor, a little grated parmesan or parmesan reggiano, goes a long way. I hope you will consider what you are doing and who is behind it.
Healthy Happy Eating,
