Whether for baking, on bread or pizza: We all love cheese. But does it always have to be the version made from animal milk? More and more consumers want to switch and are therefore turning to alternatives without animal products. Supermarket shelves are full of cashew cheese, almond-based cream cheese and the like. But neither cashews nor almonds grow in Germany. And isn't it really difficult to make cheese from nuts or seeds? So how ecological should these alternatives be? Eco-checker Katharina Röben finds out. 0:00 Cheese alternatives in the eco-check 1:18 Cheese alternatives in the taste test 4:25 How to make cheese alternatives yourself 5:59 Insight into production: Vegan cheese 10:01 Which cheese alternative is best for the environment and climate? 13:12 Conclusion CHEESE - A CLIMATE KILLER To produce one kilo of cheese, you need around 10 liters of milk and that causes more than 5 kilos of CO2 equivalents. This puts the animal product in third place among the most environmentally harmful foods, behind beef in second place and butter in first place. By comparison: According to the Federal Environment Agency, the figure for fruit and vegetables is less than a kilo. Quite a number when you consider that 210,000,000 tons of cheese are produced worldwide every year. CHEESE ALTERNATIVES - THE TASTE TEST. How good do the vegan alternatives actually taste and how difficult is it to make such cheese yourself? To test this, the eco-checker sought out backup. Together with vegan cookbook author Chris Washington, she tested the vegan product range. The main ingredient in most vegan cheeses is water. Many manufacturers use cashews, almonds or oats, for example. The taste is created by flavorings and herbs. Starch also provides the cheese-like consistency. Another common ingredient - vegetable fats. Coconut oil can be found in almost every vegan cheese substitute. The conclusion of Chris Washington and the eco-checker: Whether sliced ​​cheese, cream cheese or Camembert: The choice is gigantic and so are the taste differences. In the small sample, all varieties tasted more or less good. The oat-based cream cheese alternative was particularly well received by both. What you have to bear in mind, however, is that very few alternatives come close to the original taste of real cheese, but that doesn't make them any less tasty. MAKE YOUR OWN VEGAN CHEESE - IS THAT POSSIBLE? Of course, says Chris Washington. The ingredients for his vegan processed cheese are: 400 ml soy or oat cream 1/2 - 1 tsp salt 4 tbsp yeast flakes 1 tbsp lemon juice 2 tbsp tapioca starch 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp turmeric powder Preparation: The eco-checker uses oat milk as a base. Add garlic powder, salt, turmeric powder, paprika powder and half a lemon. Let the mixture simmer for a moment. For the cheesy taste, Chris adds yeast flakes. Now it's time to stir. Finally, the cookbook author gradually adds the tapioca starch. Don't forget to stir, otherwise there will be lumps. Done! WHICH VEGAN CHEESE IS THE BEST? That's what eco-checker Katharina wants to know from nutritionist Dr. Markus Keller. According to a recent study, most vegan cheeses perform better than animal products. The most climate-friendly option is oat-based alternatives. They have a clear home advantage. It gets a little more complicated with alternatives made from almonds or cashews. Both trees need a lot of water to grow. Cashews grow in rainy areas and therefore need less artificial irrigation. Overall, however, they need significantly more water than almonds. The expert also advises looking for seals on organic products. Go-to-know: The vegan label says nothing about environmental friendliness. It just says: free from animal products. The EcoVeg seal is an extension of this and highlights the extent to which vegan products are also environmentally friendly. Authors: Karolina Luttig, Tabea Milling Editing: Tabea Milling Editor (solisTV): Sarah Weihsweiler Editor (SWR): Inga Vennemann, Holger Conzelmann SOURCE ► BMEL “Germany, how it eats” (2020), online at: https://bit.ly/326UGBl ► Federal Center for Nutrition “Cheese: From Gouda to Feta” (2018) online at: https://bit.ly/3g2eUEH ► SWR “These foods are the biggest climate killers” (2019) https://bit.ly/3dUYxHf ► Subscribe to Ökochecker on the Marktcheck channel / marktcheck ► Instagram @oekochecker: / oekochecker ► Ökochecker is produced by SWR https://www.swr.de/impressum ► Comments are welcome - but please observe our netiquette: http://www.swr.de/netiquette #Ökochecker #veganerKäse #Nachhaltigkeit