Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:

> I know, there was a huge assortment. Like 20 of them all made from sheeps
> milk. Does the sheep's milk make it vegan or am I completely misreading
> the thing?


Now I understand your question better.


Normally, vegetarian means someone who does NOT eat meat, poultry, fish
or shellfish. Vegetarians normally DO eat grains, beans, nuts,
vegetables, fruit, milk and eggs.


Normally, vegan means someone who does NOT eat meat, poultry, fish,
shellfish, eggs or milk. Vegans normally DO eat grains, beans, nuts,
vegetables, and fruit.


The problem is that a great many people who call themselves vegetarians
and vegans bend the definitions such that they eat whatever they want
and confound the well-meaning people who are trying to serve them
something that fits their diet. You run into vegans who are sure that
white sugar isn't a vegan food, and I've told the story of the lady who
went on and on about how she'd been vegetarian for 20 years, accepted my
admiration and compliments, then later in the conversation revealed that
she ate turkey on Thanksgiving and other poultry the rest of the time.
She probably thought KFC was a vegetarian restaurant.


What's meant by vegetarian cheese? It should mean that the rennet
(coagulating agent) comes from a non-animal source. The oldest cheeses
use a rennet that's made from some intestinal source of the animal. I'm
not sure of the exact science here, but the rennet is such a small
amount, practically microscopic, that lots of vegetarians wouldn't
consider it meat, but others would. A vegetarian cheese uses a
different rennet. Again, I'm not sure of the chemistry part of the lesson.


Vegan cheese is another question altogether. Since vegans don't eat
milk, it should mean some sort of cheese-like substance made from tofu
or beans or something that's not milk. But I like to make fun of vegans
on this list so I suggest that there are people out there who proclaim
themselves to be vegans, then go out and eat cheese made from regular
milk. We've got a customer like that in the wine and cheese shop, but
that's not the craziest thing about her. I'd be glad if it were.


--Lia