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Columnist and Environment

Why I can once again eat cheese with a clear conscience

I thought there was no way around cheese being an environmental and ethical disaster, but a new approach to dairy farming has proved me wrong, says Graham Lawton

By Graham Lawton

31 May 2023

Cheese Store at The Ethical Dairy

Ian Findlay

A FEW years ago, I wrote a feature story that has become, at least in New Scientist circles, the quintessential example of my role as the harbinger of doom. It was about the shocking environmental impact of cheese, especially its colossal methane and carbon hoofprint. The reactions from my colleagues were variations on “I don’t want to know”.

I am now ready to become a harbinger of good news. Earlier this month, I went to a conference organised by Compassion in World Farming, and others, where I met a farmer called David Finlay. He runs a creamery in Galloway,…

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