brewster wrote:

I completely understand your POV, but this is "belief" territory, whether religious or dietary doesn't matter. Hindus don't eat meat products, Observant Jews don't eat rennet cheese, and non-vegan vegetarians just don't want a by-product of slaughter in their food. Everyone chooses where to draw the line in the sand, some at milk, some at fish, some at fowl, all the way to those who will eat free range beef but not feedlot beef. You could argue any of them to death, but so what?

Frank_M wrote:
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brewster wrote:
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Frank_M wrote
Unless you can demonstrate why it?s not an absurdly disproportionate concern, I cannot help but roll my eyes at a rennet boycott.

Other than the fact that rennet is obtained at slaughter while milk is not, Kosher keepers also are interested in whether rennet is used. My observation, and advice at a serious organic cheese counter, is almost all domestic non-artisanal cheeses are rennet free, even if they don't have a kosher hechscher.

I get that, but calves are not slaughtered with the primary intent of obtaining rennet from their stomachs?they are slaughtered for more valuable reasons?just as dairy cattle experience the same lives no matter how we obtain the necessary enzymes for cheese making. An individual?s concern for animals would therefore be much better demonstrated, and literally be more effective, through boycotting milk and cheese products, not rennet. What happens to dairy cattle once they stop producing unnaturally large quantities of milk? More importantly, what conditions to the majority of dairy cattle experience while alive? Where is the greater suffering?

It strikes me that an aversion to rennet, but not cheese, is like worrying about lead poisoning after being shot.

And yes, I also realize there are irrational/religious reasons, but little of that has anything to do with a concern for animal welfare. Edicts drafted by ancient male chauvinists, whose bones have long since turned to dust, are rarely helpful for anything other than establishing obedience.

I enjoy dairy products very much, but I don?t kid myself about the painful reality that my choices are responsible for, or that I could make it go away through boycotting a product that isn't responsible for the situation.

brewster wrote:
Quote:

Frank_M wrote
Unless you can demonstrate why it?s not an absurdly disproportionate concern, I cannot help but roll my eyes at a rennet boycott.

Other than the fact that rennet is obtained at slaughter while milk is not, Kosher keepers also are interested in whether rennet is used. My observation, and advice at a serious organic cheese counter, is almost all domestic non-artisanal cheeses are rennet free, even if they don't have a kosher hechscher.

Frank_M wrote
Unless you can demonstrate why it?s not an absurdly disproportionate concern, I cannot help but roll my eyes at a rennet boycott.

Asif wrote:
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Unless you abstain from dairy products altogether, the source of cheese-making enzymes should only be important if you care more about precious arbitrary values than the lives of animals. It?s a wildly disproportionate concern. In this case, the unpleasant reality of milk production is the five-hundred pound gorilla in the room, not a milliliter of rennet.

Wow Frank! Assume much? Judgmental much?

Milk Skim, Macaroni Blanched Product ( Water, Semolina, Egg(s) Whites ), Cheese Cheddar ( Milk Cultured, Salt, Enzyme(s), Annatto ) Added for Color, Cheese Cheddar Club Cheese ( Cheese Cheddar (Milk Cultured, Salt, Enzyme(s)), Water, Salt, Annatto ) Added for Color, Wheat Flour Bleached, Margarine (Soybean(s) Oil Liquid, Soybean(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Water, Salt, Soybean(s) Oil Hydrogenated, Vegetable(s) Mono and Diglycerides, Flavor(s) Natural, Soy Lecithin, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Palmitate), Soybean(s) Oil, Salt, Xanthan Gum

I'll be what spins 4thandjerz's wheels is the addition of MALTODEXTRIN, an umami (glutamate) source similar to MSG.

Unless you abstain from dairy products altogether, the source of cheese-making enzymes should only be important if you care more about precious arbitrary values than the lives of animals. It?s a wildly disproportionate concern. In this case, the unpleasant reality of milk production is the five-hundred pound gorilla in the room, not a milliliter of rennet.

TJs has stuff that isn't great for you either. If you buy their frozen meals, it's not any better than the stuff you get at the supermarket IMO.

Asif wrote:
Bobblehead is that the list for Stouffers Mac and Cheese? When, i spoke with their rep....they said they dnt list the exact type of enzymes. So, it might not be on the box at my local supermarket. Sheesh!

Asif wrote:
Bobblehead is that the list for Stouffers Mac and Cheese? When, i spoke with their rep....they said they dnt list the exact type of enzymes. So, it might not be on the box at my local supermarket. Sheesh!

Bobblehead wrote:
4thandjerz, fly your Stouffer's freak flag high! Fly it proud! If you have a thing for it, that's your bag.

Quote:

Ingredients
WATER, COOKED MACARONI PASTA (WATER, SEMOLINA WHEAT FLOUR, WHEAT GLUTEN), CHEDDAR AND COLD PACK CHEDDAR CHEESES ([MILK INGREDIENTS, BACTERIAL CULTURES, SALT, MICROBIAL ENZYMES, COLOUR], WATER, SALT, COLOUR), MODIFIED MILK INGREDIENTS, SOY OIL, WHEAT FLOUR, SALT, FLAVOUR (CORN MALTODEXTRIN, FLAVOURS, MILK INGREDIENTS), XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE.

It has a few more ingredients than I would like, but not horrible.

TJ's does an awful lot of work putting together their packaged foods. It is what they do best--offer a healthier, better-tasting alternative. I am addicted to their masala burgers. I am going to try making my own, though, as I've made the trip twice recently only to have them not be in stock.

http://www.dailygarnish.com/2011/01/h ... table-masala-burgers.html

4thandjerz wrote:
-Breyer's Slow Churned ice cream

A lot of the same folks still work there, and the new ones they've brought in are super nice.

(FWIW, if we're voting on what new store to get, I love Trader Joe's and I love Jersey City and I love everyone but I'd like a fish market -- good fresh fish is the one thing I feel I can't get within walking distance)

Ingredients
WATER, COOKED MACARONI PASTA (WATER, SEMOLINA WHEAT FLOUR, WHEAT GLUTEN), CHEDDAR AND COLD PACK CHEDDAR CHEESES ([MILK INGREDIENTS, BACTERIAL CULTURES, SALT, MICROBIAL ENZYMES, COLOUR], WATER, SALT, COLOUR), MODIFIED MILK INGREDIENTS, SOY OIL, WHEAT FLOUR, SALT, FLAVOUR (CORN MALTODEXTRIN, FLAVOURS, MILK INGREDIENTS), XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE.

brewster wrote:

I don't think you're being mocked for lovin the mac/cheese, it's the idea of buying it frozen rather than getting some elbows & quality cheddar and making it fresh & better yourself in 15 minutes for a fraction the price. Frozen mac & cheese is almost as sad as those frozen PB&J's.

Personally, my frozen addiction is Ling Ling potstickers, but they're easily available and I've tried to make them better myself and can't.

4thandjerz wrote: Quote:

owlie wrote: Woo hoo! "-Stouffer's frozen mac and cheese, both large and small sizes" (you have got to be kidding)

Jeez, is there nothing one can say on this board without being flamed? I happen to like my Stouffer's. And until Key Foods took over from C-Town, it was surprisingly hard to find around here. Mock if you will. I can't hear you, because I'm up to my ears in cheesy deliciousness.

owlie wrote: Woo hoo! "-Stouffer's frozen mac and cheese, both large and small sizes" (you have got to be kidding)