Culture Magazine

cashews from Vietnam (as well as Ghana, Ivory Coast, and India), through a company called Red River Foods. He says that although his supplier uses all the right words on their website, the claims are difficult to verify from afar. "It's really hard when you're sourcing things that aren't local," he says. That word, "local," feels indistinguishable from artisan cheese. The twenty-first-century interest in farm-to-table eating has helped small farmers stay afloat by securing additional income from ecotourism while providing transparency to customers. When I asked Schinner about "farmstead" vegan cheese, she said she'd have to move to the rainforest to make that. But she's currently experimenting with US-grown pumpkin and watermelon seeds, so she didn't rule the idea out. THE FUTURE OF FOOD We may not have to worry about the provenance of cashews for long. Just as MorningStar walked so Impossible could run, vegan cheese is making the leap to bioidenticals— cheeses that look, taste, and (perhaps most importantly) stretch like the real thing. The stretch in a cheese pull is created by casein, a protein that scientists have recently discovered how to grow in a lab using a synthetic biology technique called precision fermentation. But will the artisan industry go for lab-grown cheese? Cheese counters often refrain from stocking vegan cheeses— not out of a loyalty to dairy, but because of the processing they undergo. Neither plant-based cheeses nor processed dairy products are allowed to compete at the American The next phase of vegan dairy is bioidenticals—dairy products that cut out the animals by using milk proteins grown in a lab. Whey has so far been easier to replicate at scale, but the much- stretchier casein is responsible for cheese's meltability, making it the bioidentical holy grail. Most of these companies are using precision fermentation, where the gene responsible for milk production is inserted into a microbial host (such as yeast), causing it to produce casein. THE LAB MILK RAT RACE IS ON PERFECT DAY: ISRAEL REAL DEAL MILK: SPAIN DE NOVO DAIRY: SOUTH AFRICA ZERO COW FACTORY: INDIA NEW CULTURE: U.S. (SILICON VALLEY) DAISY LAB: AUSTRALIA FORMO: GERMANY Food and water: ■ Free access to wholesome, nutritious food and clean water ■ Sufficient fiber and access to pasture ■ Colostrum provided to all newborn calves (including bulls) within first six hours of life ■ Weaning done gradually and not performed prior to five weeks of age ■ No rBST, mammalian/ avian protein sources, or antibiotics/steroids used to stimulate growth in feed Environment: ■ Monitoring of chronic physical issues that could indicate environmental problems ■ Indoor temperature monitored and ventilation maintained ■ Shade and/or cooling equipment that can accommodate all animals simultaneously ■ Sufficient room for each cow to lie down, turn around, and groom themselves ■ Clean bedding provided at a minimum depth of three inches ■ Emollients used when teats are dry, chapped, or cracked ■ Euthanasia of healthy dairy bull and heifer calves prohibited Herd Health & Management: ■ Farms audited annually ■ Managers demonstrate competence in handling animals in a positive and compassionate manner ■ Use of electric prods is prohibited; animals may not be pulled or dragged ■ Minimum dry period of 60 days ■ Removal of horns may not be a routine procedure and may only be performed by a vet using sedatives, anesthesia, and anti-inflammatories ■ Tail docking and ear notching prohibited To some vegans, there's no such thing as humane animal husbandry. But for cheese eaters who want to know the cows are OK, Certified Humane is here to help. Beloved cheesemakers like Tulip Tree Creamery, Shelburne Farms, and Redwood Hill Farm carry its stamp of approval, and though its standards run long, we've isolated a few of the requirements that put us at ease: CERTIFIED HUMANE DAIRY

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