There are better fake cheeses these days. It's easier to give it up than it ever was. And tons of pizzerias now offer vegan cheese pizzas.

But honestly giving up beef alone should be commended, just for environmental/climate reasons.

I mean: being vegan in anything but cheese is also already something.

Something is better than nothing. "I could never be a vegetarian/vegan because of bacon" "Ok, then eat vegetarian AND also eat bacon then?"

Especially funny because while there are other things vegetarians will eat that vegans won't (Other dairy, eggs), cheese is actually physically addictive because the same protein that makes it curdle breaks down through digestion into a substance that acts like dopamine. It really is the "one ring" of veganism and often the last / hardest thing to give up when one goes vegan.

*(GASGÛL) They were once men; healthy men. Then Tongue the Deceiver gave to them nine rounds of Cheese. Blinded by their hunger, they took them without question, one by one falling into gassness. Now they are slaves to his will. They are the Gasgûl: Fartwraiths, neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the presence of the Cheese, drawn to the power of the lactose. They will never stop farting. *

Listen, I'm going to cast it into the fire, sure.

But then it's going to get all goopy and crispy and I'm going to pull it back out again to eat it.

Fun fact, cheese is not always vegetarian. It can (quite often) contain animal rennet (from the inside of a young cow stomage, the cow needs to die for this)

Cast it into the fire! Grill it!

I've never tried to convince anyone to take up veganism. Instead I avoid bringing it up at all cost because people get weird about it.

Rennet makes this a much more complicated decision for vegetarians. Like, if I know that the cheese was made with bacteria-derived enzymes, then that's cool, but it's really hard to know and trusting random cheese is just like still eating beef sometimes, so even though I'm vegetarian I end up being so picky about cheese that I hardly eat it anyway.

Dairy is the most challenging thing to give up. There are good alternatives - particularly when they're made of nuts and seeds that have been fermented traditionally - but they're good in their own way, don't expect them to be the same.

The stuff made out of almost pure coconut oil is universally disappointing, and coconut is arguably not vegan given the environmental footprint and resulting animal endangerment.

I actually went about it the other way. After seeing how bad dairy cows have it in the daily (I have in-laws who are dairy farmers) compared to cows raised for their flesh, I tried giving up just cheese, because it's the one thing I told myself I could never do. I remember specifically saying to a lactose intolerant person that I would kill myself if I couldn't eat cheese lol.

I can't imagine eating cheese now, just the smell grossed me out. Like I was cleaning a plastic case that held cheddar (my partner's) and I swear I couldn't get the stink out of my fingers for hours. Even cow milk which I used to think was neural and creamy smells and tastes funky and cheesy.

Anyway, that's all to illustrates how malleable tastes are. I think it must have been so hard to quit, because I remember what I said and did, but not how I felt. It's like the urge just faded away. Like it was a temptation one moment, and then the next I forgot what I ever liked about it.

Anyway from there reducing and eliminating other products was easy, since I'd already fought the animal product boss battle.

Could always source ethical human milk...and other cheeses.

I feel like this creates some sort of hostility between two groups which usually head into the same direction and respect each other

I cut way back on cheese because of the salt, also it's expensive and high in calories. I could easily go through a large block (or even two--8000 calories!) of sharp cheddar in a week, and that was too much.

This is why I gave up red meat, and processed meat:

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-red-meat-bad-for-you

Here’s something you may not realize: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies red meat as a Group 2A carcinogen, which is described as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Carcinogens are substances with cancer-causing potential.

A review of studies on the relationship between red meat and cancer found that eating high levels of red meat is associated with a higher risk of:

Breast cancer
Colorectal cancer
Uterine cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Lung cancer

That’s not all: Processed meats are categorized as level 1 carcinogens. This puts them in the same category as cigarettes and asbestos and means they’re known to increase your risk of cancer.

It was hot when I first bit it, hot as a glede, and my mouth was scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it. Yet even as I write it is cooled, and it seemeth to shrink, though it loseth neither its beauty nor its shape.... But for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of ranching the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.