Did you know that simply scrapping animal-based food from your diet can significantly help our planet? Take dairy as an example. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that the dairy production industry may contribute to the world’s water pollution and soil degradation problems, especially when operations are poorly managed. It also affects forest lands, which are often converted to dairy cow pastures and their respective feed crop production areas.
“Dairy production has a considerable effect on climate change due to emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. In the United States, the greatest sources of these emissions in milk production include feed production, enteric fermentation and manure management,” writes WWF in its website.
This is part of the reason that vegans exclude dairy from their diets, and we’re glad to see that more and more alternatives to the usual dairy products are now commercially available. Adding another source for plant-based food options is Go! Salads’ recently-launched artisanal vegan cheese brand called Plant Creamery.
Giving customers more options, Plant Creamery offers not just one, but various assortments of cheese that are plant-based and dairy-free. “Artisanal cheese is handmade in small batches that are given plenty of care and attention. As a result, artisan cheese typically has more complex and greater variety of flavors,” the brand says about its products.
Offered at affordable prices ranging from P190 to P350, Plant Creamery’s cheese products use cashews and coconut in lieu of dairy, like the mozzarella cheese which you can use to make vegan pizza.
The shop also has vegan butter, which is actually made from cultured coconut milk and oil. Bakers might want to get their hands on Plant Creamery’s vegan cream cheese, while its American cheddar cheese is perfect for those who want to make plant-based burgers and sandwiches.
The shop also carries cashew-based parmesan cheese in block and powdered form, which you can use for snacking or as pasta topping. Another cashew-based item in its menu is the vegan feta cheese, which is brined in olive oil and Mediterranean herbs and spices.
You can order these vegan cheese products online through Go! Salads’ website, Viber community, or telephone and mobile hotlines at 87-SALADS (8772-5237) and 0919-0676600. Plant Creamery also has various resellers in Metro Manila, Iloilo and Cebu.