Cheese is perhaps humanity’s finest excuse to shun a diet. It’s so good that the fact that it contains some protein is enough reason for us to convince ourselves we can keep eating it on a diet.
The addition of cheese can turn simple, dull tubular noodles into the magnificence that is macaroni and cheese. Unfortunately, one of the most incredible substances the human race has created thus far is being slowly ruined by climate change.
You know the study that found this out is legit because it comes to us from a team of researchers at the Université Clermont Auvergne in France—France, of course, being one of the handful of places on Earth synonymous with cheese. (Along with Wisconsin, Switzerland, Italy, and whatever toxic chemical plant makes those delicious Kraft Singles.)
According to their findings, published in the Journal of Dairy Science, the team has been closely monitoring how changing climates and cow diets are turning cheese into a shell of its former self.
Cheese Is Going to Taste Like Crap Because of Climate Change
In a 2021 study, they pitted two groups of cows against each other: one grazed freely on grass, and the other chomped on a diet that was a mixture of corn and some other filler stuff to simulate a world where climate change leads to drought, which leads to less grass for cows to eat.
The corn-fed cows did pump out the same amount of milk and even produced less methane which is nice since methane is one of several big contributors to climate change. But their milk lacked the savory depth and rich omega-3 goodness of their grass-fed counterparts. The researchers could quite literally taste the difference; something akin to swapping out your high-end charcuterie plate with a Lunchables.
This matters because cows are walking fermentation tanks. A lot of the work of making good cheese is happening inside the cow. Their diet, stress level, and even how hot they feel can alter their milk on a chemical level.
When it’s hot, like, rising-global-temperatures-due-to-climate-change kind of hot, cows eat less to avoid overheating. Less eating means less milk and weaker immune systems, which means more sick cows, which leads to cheese that tastes a little… off. Like it’s lacking some oomph.
While you or someone you know may not believe climate change is a real thing, there are plenty of people, like cheesemakers from France to Brazil, people within industries directly affected by the delicate balance of the Earth being thrown off, who are already facing the harsh practical realities of a hotter world—and they’re scrambling to figure out how to maintain their livelihoods.
Meghie Rodrigues of ScienceNews spoke to a Brazilian dairy farmer named Gustavo Abijaodi, who noticed that during heat waves, his cows produce milk with less fat and protein. “If we can stabilize heat effects, the cattle will respond with better and more nutritious milk.”
Now all you have to do is convince the industrialized nations of the world to care just a little bit less about corporate profits and more about protecting the planet we live on, because climate change isn’t just going to melt a few glaciers and kick your energy bill up a few bucks. It’s going to make our cheese suck. If that doesn’t motivate you, then nothing will.
English (US) ·