Tyne Chease (artisan vegan cheese from the North)
Tyne Chease (based just outside Newcastle) makes organic cashew cheeses (they don’t melt, more for cheeseboards, with fruit and wine).
All have a tangy taste (apple-smoked, pink peppercorn, pickled onion, Ethiopian spice and cream cheeses in glass jars, plus a creamy nacho dip. It even makes vegan camembert!
Keep these cheeses away from children and pets, due to salt, spices and macadamia nuts. Read more on food safety for people & pets.
Due to the chilled nature of these foods, arrange for parcels to be sent to a local Service Point (or collected by a neighbour or safe space) if you are going to be out. Keep dry ice away from children and pets.
If you go beyond coconut oil cheeses in supermarkets, you’ll find ‘proper vegan cheese’, that is made the same way (usually from nuts) and sold in sustainable packaging).
If you don’t buy online, then try in local indie health shops, or even farm shops. Once you taste ‘real vegan cheese’, you’ll see that it is just as good, perfect for a vegan cheeseboard, with grapes and apples, and perhaps a glass of wine!
Why Are People Giving Up Dairy?
The dairy industry is huge. No-one denies that a small organic dairy farmer treats his cows well. But the big dairy industry (from where most dairy milk is produced – especially for all the by-products used in ready-meals etc) has huge welfare concerns.
It’s still the case in the UK that most male calves (of no financial use to the dairy industry, which is separate from the beef industry) are shot dead soon after birth.
Many cows spend their entire lives in factory farms, being inseminated and giving birth, then having their calves ripped from them soon after birth. Cows and calves have incredibly strong relationships, and will cry out loudly for weeks, if separated.
Some organisations are helping dairy farmers to transfarm over to growing more profitable oats, giving seeds and training. Remaining animals are then left to live out their lives in peace, akin to farm sanctuaries.
