Dear EarthTalk: my body doesn't tolerate cheese well. Are there dairy-free cheeses that will be easier on my constitution and better for the environment, too?
With some 30 to 50 million Americans suffering from various degrees of lactose intolerance, and an estimated three million of us now eating animal-free (vegan) diets for humane, environmental and/or health reasons, the production of alternatives to dairy products has started to become big business. But while...

In the kitchen: cook with fresh ingredients for health and pleasure.
Ripe fruits and vegetables just off the vine or pulled from the ground have the best flavor and the most vitamins and minerals possible. Not only that, but you also can be reasonably sure--since you grew and picked them yourself--that they haven't been contaminated by foodborne pathogens. ...

An update on Rennet.
RENNET IS DEFINED AS THE INNER LINING OF THE fourth stomach of calves and other young ruminants or as an extract made from the stomach lining of a ruminant, used in cheesemaking to curdle milk. Rennet also broadly refers to any enzyme used for the coagulation of milk in...

Petaluma: eat (really well), shop, and soak up summer in a Sonoma County town where old meets new.
THE PERFECT SMALL TOWN, Petaluma has managed to retain its old-school rural charm--squint down Petaluma Boulevard, and it could be 1900 while adding the best from the modern world: stylish boutiques, great restaurants, and a few flower-child echoes from the '60s. The town turns 150 this year, and it...

Investigation of the bubble foam separation technique to extract Protein from whey.
INTRODUCTION Foam fractionation is a well-documented protein purification technique, which has potential use in the preliminary stages of the downstream processing of recombinant and other proteins. The advantages of the process include, ease of operation, mechanical simplicity and therefore low cost compared to existing purification methods. Much...

Does milk cause cancer?
Myth: Does drinking bovine milk contribute to cancer? Bovine milk contains lactose and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which some patients believe was the cause of their malignancies. Answer: Humans have had a dietary relationship with milk from ruminant animals for thousands of years. Research shows that cow,...

Smear-ripened sheep milk cheeses have potential.
Brick and limburger are two popular examples of smear-ripened cheeses made from cow's milk. A smear-ripened cheese is one whose surface is smeared with a bacterial broth during the ripening period. When you eat a smear-ripened cheese, the edges near the rind usually taste somewhat moldy, though nothing as...

The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese.
The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese Jeffrey P. Roberts Chelsea Green Publishing Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001 9781922291349 $35.00 www.chelseagreen.com Any general interest lending collection or college-level culinary library strong in cheese history will find this a...

Detect adulterated milk rapidly.
The growing number of goat and sheep herds has raised concerns over the quality of milk from those herds. Processors may be interested in a quick way to determine if goat milk or sheep milk has been adulterated with cow milk. Since the price of raw goat...

Fields of plenty.
In the summer of 2003, farmer-writer-photographer Michael Ableman and his son piled their belongings into an old VW touring wagon and set off from their farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia on a journey to talk with the most cutting-edge vegetable farmers, orchardists, grain growers, dairy farmers,...