A Message from Ingrid Newkirk

Many people love soft cheeses, but my father wanted his cheese “walking” – yes, so ripe it was maggoty.

If you find the idea of walking cheeses revolting, you might skip a visit to the farm in France where Camembert originates. It gives tours – busloads of them – of the inside of the “factory.” You can browse photos and read about Camembert’s history, and a window allows you to watch the milk swirling about in a giant vat.

I went out back. That’s where I found the cows standing in their own manure. Their urine splashed up their legs onto their teats, the real origin of that cheese. They are slaughtered after a few years of being milked, their only utility in life.

Here’s something else that’s revolting: Cheese contains the very same bacteria (Brevibacterium) found between your toes. It does! And here’s the most revolting fact of all: Cows’ babies are unceremoniously wrenched away from them by their ears or a leg or are tossed into a wheelbarrow, so scared their eyes almost pop out. That should be enough for any kind person to say, “Soy cheese, please!”

Don’t you love Edie Falco? She stars in a new PETA commercial (it went viral!) in which strongmen invade her kitchen and steal away a wedge of cheddar she’s about to use in a pizza. While Edie cries, “Please don’t take my cheese,” the scene cuts to a cow desperately running down the road, chasing an open trailer with her calf in it.

What kind of person would continue supporting the cruel dairy industry simply because they like the taste of cheese?

Try the spreadable vegan cheeses ­from The Laughing Cow, available in two tasty flavors: Original and Garlic & Herb.­