We Need to Talk About Cheese

Europe is slowly cutting out meat. Since 2010, per capita meat consumption in Europe has declined by nearly 19%. In 2023, 51% of European meat eaters said they had reduced their annual meat intake, motivated primarily by health concerns, animal welfare, and environmental consequences. 

However, while plant-based eating is becoming more popular, a mere 3.2% of Europe’s population identify as vegan, with most opting for vegetarianism or flexitarian diets (occasional plant-based eating). The latter trends have provided opportunities for the dairy industry to step in, with manufacturers increasingly positioning cheese products as a meat substitute. In France, one in five consumers use cheese as a meat alternative. In fact, vegetarians seem to get most of their daily calories from dairy products, eating almost double the amount of cheese as meat-eaters. 

With the gradual adoption of meatless eating, cheese remains a comforting compromise for many, either as the newer centerpiece of a meal or the trusty old glue that holds it all together. So, it’s worth asking – is cheese the new meat?

The cheese chokehold

To Europe, cheese is certainly not new. Based on a 2024 market analysis, European countries commandeered the world of cheese lovers, securing nine out of the top 10 positions on a list of the world’s “cheesiest nations” across a combined assessment of production data, import rates, and consumer interest. The Netherlands was crowned the cheesiest nation of all. Early into 2026, while the Dutch remain adamant about their broodje-kaas, it’s clear that they are no exception in the continent’s long-drawn, obsessive love affair with cheese.

Europe consistently dominates the global cheese market, accounting for over 48% of its market share last year. France remains a market leader in craft and consumption, protecting their authentic production methods and regions of origin for various cheeses. 

Overall, with a rich history of dairy-infused cuisine, deep-rooted traditions, and internationally acclaimed products, cheese enjoys prestige across the continent. Especially as meat is increasingly left off the table, cheese is a matter of cultural significance for most Europeans: a non-negotiable on the plate. 

You might be thinking: what’s wrong with that?

There are no happy cows

My first introduction to cheese was through some highly-processed spreadable mush, tightly packed into shiny little triangles: a key export product from the Austrian enterprise Woerle that was sold under the brand “Happy Cow”. I remember carefully peeling back the tinfoil covered in their signature yellow and blue packaging. A bright brown cartoon cow featured in the center, grinning back at me. 

Unfortunately, the reality of the dairy industry is a far and agonising cry from “happy”. Harm and cruelty are embedded in every stage of the production of modern dairy. Like all mammals, cows (and goats, sheep, and water buffalos) produce milk for their young. Modern dairy cattle must endure repeated forced insemination and impregnation throughout their short life spans, producing more than 20 times the amount of milk they would naturally. Once born, dairy calves are routinely separated from their mothers, causing (or rather adding onto) severe psychological distress. Male calves are either shot dead or sold to the veal and beef industry, while females are left to repeat the cycle. Once the mothers are physically spent, they too go to the slaughterhouse.

Is your dairy worth the violence it takes to make it? 

While farm sizes, yields, and types of farming vary widely across Europe, so-called “welfare standards” remain consistently inadequate. Health problems related to dairy cows are considered the “second worst animal welfare problem in Europe” after leg disorders in “broiler” chickens, according to Eurogroup for Animals. Improving “animal welfare” within the industry is often in conflict with economic and environmental goals, as it requires accepting lower yields while spending more on resources and larger farms with permanent grassland.

…Nor greener pastures 

Then there’s the climate impact: milk production generates most of the adverse environmental effects related to dairy products, with milk-intensive products like cheese performing the worst. A single glass of cow’s milk requires nine times more land and creates about three times the greenhouse gas emissions of any plant-based alternative. It also poses a much higher risk of polluting our aquatic systems, using up to 20 times more freshwater in the process. 

In total, dairy products account for at least a quarter of the carbon footprint in typical European diets. More importantly, the EU is the world’s largest milk producer and about 70% of all whole milk in dairies is used to produce cheese and butter. Cheese is one of the most resource-intensive outputs of the dairy industry, and is thereby responsible for a bulk of its negative externalities. So even if you opt for oat milk in your lattes but still stock up on the cheddar and parmesan, or can’t say no to a pizza Margherita, it’s plenty of incentive for the industry to keep churning. 

Locked-in by design

With cheese set to be the strongest global dairy export product in 2026, it’s important to remember we didn’t get here by accident. Much like with meat production, the problem remains systemic. When it comes to animal rights, health concerns, and climate action, Europe has a wilful blindspot. 

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) comprises a third of the bloc’s entire budget, and over 80% of it directly funds animal agriculture, entrapping us in a system that insistently pushes meat and dairy consumption by design. Since the abolition of ​​milk production quotas in April 2015, the EU also retains little control over the continent’s production rates, letting suppliers shape the market. The steady oversupply of milk globally explains the ubiquity of milk products in everyday food items, as well as the industry’s increasing shift towards commodities like cheese that bring higher profit margins. On a structural level, the dairy industry is one of the most powerful lobby groups in the history of the EU, exerting immense influence over policy outcomes. 

So, what now?

It’s important to remember that meat and dairy are two sides of the same industrial problem, with lobbying links that reinforce each other. Dairy is not a byproduct, but a co-product of the animal agriculture industry, with the same victims at the center of the process. It goes without saying that policy change is necessary: the CAP needs to shift towards a sustainable, plant-based food system that serves people over industry, without tragic costs to animals and the climate. However, with the looming threat on plant-based product naming, potentially leading to a ban on common terms like “sausage” and “burger” by 2028, current EU policymaking is still backing the wrong corner.

The good news is that plant-based alternatives are already here. Dairy alternatives are estimated to take up the largest share of Europe’s plant-based product market, mainly due to rising demand from a growing lactose intolerant population. Health reasons play a large part in the shift, with a quarter of French consumers eating less cheese and almost four in 10 saying that dairy alternatives are healthier than dairy products.

Whether through boycotts against corporate giants, fast-fashion, or opposing complicity in genocide, consumers have more power than we realise. So, while the EU dances with Big Dairy, maybe it’s time you wrestled with your addiction to cheese.

Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash