Over the last decade, a smear campaign has been building against a delicious, smelly, aged, sometimes artisanal, often industrial, food: cheese. Why? Anti-cheesers say that cheese makes us fat, flares up allergies, produces unwanted mucus, and is unfriendly to the human digestive system.
Though not as forceful as the one against gluten, the anti-cheese crusade is the type where it’s no longer just yogis, vegans, or Brooklyn trendsetters as the driving force behind the uproar; instead, it’s the suburban, 30-something, CrossFit-attending, paleo-Jane’s and Joe’s.
Persuaded heavily by the anti-dairy industry and the plant-based, vegetarian and vegan milk movement (that filtered water mixed with a handful of pulverized nuts); books like the China Study, which suggests that casein protein in milk causes cancer; or viral YouTube videos suggesting how casein is addictive, this sect of anti-fromagers blames cheese as the major culprit for a culture of upset stomachs, skin rashes, low energy-levels, and obesity.