Opinion: Is cheese a food?

After having a casual conversation with Mr. Foreman, I found out that his view on cheese was that it wasn’t a food item. Of course, we both stand on the fact that cheese is an editable item but Mr. Foreman has defined it as a condiment used to enhance food. I for one couldn’t disagree more. So, here is a list I created for why cheese is a food.

  1. Many dishes wouldn’t exist without cheese.

Our favorite comfort foods wouldn't exist without cheese. Grilled cheese and Mac and cheese would just be bread and pasta without cheese. Some people may still see this as cheese being an enhancement but I look at it in a different way. Let's take turkey as an example; turkey is a famous dish especially around Thanksgiving time. It’s safe to call this item a food. However, it can also be used to enhance food like sandwiches. Would turkey be considered a condiment in this case? No, it’s an essential item that makes a sandwich a sandwich (at least a good one). The same goes for cheese; without it, a dish won't live up to its fullest potential.

2. Cheese makes up our childhood snacks.

Crackers and chips aren’t famously considered food (in terms of a meal) but they’re still items you can eat by themselves. This includes snacks like Cheez-its and Goldfish. These are famous afterschool snacks that I personally can eat for hours on end without the assistance of any other food item. Can you guess the main ingredient in both of these snacks? (It starts with C and ends with -heese.) Aside from chips, cheese by itself makes up a lot of after school snacks. From cheese sticks to Babybel, cheese is known to be an enjoyable snack in and of itself. It's hard to strip the satisfying peeling of string cheese from its rightful title as a food item. 

3. Mr. Foreman is just wrong.

During the fall, a poll was conducted on the white board outside of Ms Wilson’s office with the question asking: “Is cheese a food?” All except one person (guess who) were in favor of cheese being a food. Though the board is no longer present, I decided to go up to Mr. Foreman once again, allowing him another chance of redemption. Once again, Mr. Foreman stated his opinion that cheese is not in fact a food.

With many others on my side, I rest my case for why cheese is a food and also why it should be more appreciated. And if you are lactose intolerant… I don’t know what to tell you.

*This article harbors no hate towards Mr. Forman. He just has poor taste in food.*


By Kayla Beasley