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Thread: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

  1. #1
    Eric_S
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    Question What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    For the first time since eating vegan, I have been presented with a eating situation that I was not able to make a quick, confident decision about.

    My best friend has just begun making his own cheese. He gets the milk for his cheese from a friend and neighbor nearby who has a couple cows. I have not been able to see the conditions that the cows live in yet, but from what my friend says they graze on grass and are happy and healthy. Also, my friend assures me that the process he uses results in lactose free cheese. It is also worth mentioning that my friend is a chef and food is one of his greatest passions.

    I haven't put an enormous amount of time or research into this particular type of situation and how it effects the planet. I am curious to see the input from the vegan community on this type of situation.

    So, what would you do? Would you eat your best friends homemade cheese from local, grass-fed cows living on a small farm? What other aspects would you take into consideration?

    Excited to read replies, thank you

  2. #2
    deniselynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    If the cows are giving milk, where are the calves? Animals are not ours to use, "happy" or not. Also, is he using rennet to make the cheese? That is derived from calves.

  3. #3
    Draíochta Blueberries's Avatar
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    Quote Eric_S
    So, what would you do? Would you eat your best friends homemade cheese from local, grass-fed cows living on a small farm?
    Absolutely not. I am a vegan because I believe that animals are here for their own purposes, they are self-contained beings and are not just objects that we can use. It doesn't matter to me how 'well' they're treated, its still unecessary and unethical.
    Houmous atá ann!

  4. #4

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    Default Re: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    Not only the question about the calves is pertinent. What about how the cows got pregnant? Where they artificially inseminated without their consent? Where they introduced to a bull that was selected for them by humans?

    Keeping these cows captive isn't right to begin with, even a "golden" cage is still just a cage. Some trusted black slaves working as servants at the manor had better living quarters than the ones working the fields, would you argue / ask if it would be OK to benefit form the work of these "better treated" slaves? It just doesn't make sense.

    Also where does this lactose part of the story come into play? You're asking an ethical question right? Lactose would be a dietary one...


    What other aspects would you take into consideration?
    Vegans don't eat cheese made from secretions of other species. End of story. It is that simple. If anyone claims different then clearly they aren't vegans, and not even vegetarian for that matter.

    You say "since eating vegan"... are you only doing a vegan diet? There is no difference in not eating vegan and not living vegan from an ethical point of view. Is the difference between the diet out of health aspects and actual being vegan for ethical reasons clear to you or is that something you need to research more?

  5. #5
    ShadowVegan
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    Default Re: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    Cows produce milk for their calves. Cows are not meant to be kept in fenced-in pastures. Would you have any hesitation to condemn someone who puts humans in the same situation? If I breed humans, keep them in fenced-in enclosures their entire lives, milk the females and make cheese with their milk, will you eat that cheese?

  6. #6
    RiseAgainst's Avatar
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    Blueberries summed up my thoughts and response to this perfectly so "Blueberries +1"

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    Draíochta Blueberries's Avatar
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    Quote RiseAgainst
    Blueberries summed up my thoughts and response to this perfectly so "Blueberries +1"
    Thank you
    Houmous atá ann!

  8. #8
    LouiseAbel's Avatar
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    Default Re: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    Why do you eat vegan? Is it just the farming methods you disagree with or the use of animals for our pleasure?

    I used to say I'd drink milk again and eat eggs if I had my own cow and chickens and knew they were well cared for, but since being vegan and putting a lot more thought into it, I know that it's the simple act of taking something that belongs to the animal which is wrong; the horrific industry was just what got my attention in the first place.

    To eat that cheese would make you sound more like one of those "ethical omnivores", which I think would be extremely difficult to keep up. Once you start eating cheese again, aren't you going to redevelop a taste for it? I think what I like about veganism is that there ARE "strict" guidelines and you can't make excuses for yourself, which therefore allow you to slip back into bad habits without really noticing. You know what you "can" and "can't" eat, and that's that.

    I know I've simplified it and there are plenty of questions involved in veganism, too, but I just don't buy the whole ethical omnivore crap. It's completely impractical and I've yet to meet anyone who can stick to it.

  9. #9
    Draíochta Blueberries's Avatar
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    Just noticed that the original poster hasn't taken part in this discussion which automatically sets off the troll alert...
    Houmous atá ann!

  10. #10
    LouiseAbel's Avatar
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    Default Re: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    Quote Blueberries View Post
    Just noticed that the original poster hasn't taken part in this discussion which automatically sets off the troll alert...
    Oh well, that doesn't void any of the points made above. Maybe the troll has gone off to become a vegan.

  11. #11
    Draíochta Blueberries's Avatar
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    Quote LouiseAbel
    Maybe the troll has gone off to become a vegan.
    That's a very positive attitude to trolling, I love it!
    Houmous atá ann!

  12. #12
    TheHRchannel's Avatar
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    Default Re: What would you do? Ethical question about homemade cheese

    You're supposed to get your milk from your own mother, not from species like cows.

    Quote Blueberries View Post
    Just noticed that the original poster hasn't taken part in this discussion which automatically sets off the troll alert...
    He probably chose to ignore these facts because he doesn't want to give up dairy products. If he was to know the truth then he'd realize he has no excuse to be consuming them. I see this happen many times.
    Last edited by TheHRchannel; May 30th, 2012 at 05:17 PM.

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