Cheese Paradox - Why Do Vegetarians Continue Eating Cheese And Dairy?

This study examines vegetarians’ rationale behind consuming non-meat animal products (NMAPs). The authors point out that NMAPS share many of the same ethical concerns as meat — for example, NMAPs come from violent industries that harm and kill animals after they are no longer profitable.

According to the authors, most studies on vegetarians ask questions about why they choose not to eat meat, not why they choose to eat NMAPs. To begin to fill this gap in the research, they formed three research questions:

• Do vegetarians view eggs and dairy as an ethical issue? 
• Why do vegetarians include NMAPs in their diet? 
• Is cognitive dissonance involved in vegetarians’ NMAP consumption, and if so, how do they overcome it? 

[---]

Like many meat-eaters, the authors found that participants tended to justify their NMAP consumption using three of the “4Ns” — that it’s nice, normal, and necessary, but not natural. The authors identified four themes in the data: “acknowledging harm,” “personal benefits,” “social norms,” and “neutralizing dissonance.”

Regarding the “acknowledging harm” theme, participants cited different reasons for becoming vegetarian, but all of them had ethical concerns about animals in the dairy and egg industries. Despite eating NMAPs, they acknowledged that animals used for eggs and dairy may live in gruesome conditions and are killed after they’re done being used. Some people also noted the links between the meat and the NMAP industry. Therefore, in response to the first research question, respondents were generally aware of the ethical harms of eggs and dairy. 

[---]

The authors believe that the “cheese paradox” is an important finding because it puts a spotlight on a major barrier to turning vegetarians into vegans. If advocates can better understand why cheese is so difficult to give up, it may be easier to address this barrier more effectively. 

This research can be used to inform NMAP-reduction strategies. One idea for advocates is to publicize how cheese is connected to the cows it comes from, to increase empathy toward cows. Because of the limited convenience sample, the authors suggest recreating the study with a larger sample to include more perspectives, along with a quantitative study of the cheese paradox. They believe that we can also learn from vegans who were vegetarian in the past to find out why they eventually gave up NMAPs. Finally, they advocate for plant-based nutrition to receive more attention in education and other institutions to help people overcome both personal and social barriers to change.

- More Here