Last week, my extra-large jar of peanut butter was my best friend.

Abnormal, you say? Whats really abnormal, Ive decided after a week of trying it out, is veganism. I tried. I really did try. I wanted to better understand the people who choose this lifestyle.

Why wont they drink milk? What does it matter if you wear wool? If you dont shave them, the sheep will overheat, for goodness' sake. Are vegans really healthier? And the biggest question of all, what in the world do these people eat?

I am ashamed to say that in my quest to understand vegans, I answered none of these questions. At the end of seven long days, all I learned was that I, Faith Schweikert, could never become one.

Day 1: Day 1 of anything is always exciting. I was fired up, ready to take on the world with my new title: veganoh, so hip, so trendy. Knowing what I was getting into, I saw no problem at all as my normal diet certainly aligned closely with veganism restrictions. I rarely eat meat anyway so that would be no problem; Ive always regarded cheese as some disgusting form of old milk, so that has always been out too; and besides that, I love fruits and vegetables. In conclusion, it'd be a piece of cake (without butter, milk or eggs, of course).

I also decided Id tackle this challenge using only the food the lovely University of Tennessee could provide me in the residence dining halls and P.O.D. Markets. Simple.

Discovering that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is vegan made me even more confident that this would be a good week.

Day 3: The fantastic photo editor, Hannah, barged into the Beacon office and exclaimed Anybody want some pie? to all four people sitting in the room. A freshly-baked, homemade, lemon chess pieveganism instantly lost its cool.

By then, I was just hungry. All the time. Im halfway through this weeks peanut butter jar as I wonder still, What do vegans eat? How do they even function in society without 'proper' food?

The dining halls were no help with their butter-infused everything. Even the salad bar is tricky because my beloved ranch dressing includes the devil himself, buttermilk, and croutons are often coated in butter to make them taste like something other than stale bread.

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Milk addict goes vegan | Arts & Culture

Kite Hill's "soft-ripened" cheese made from almonds develops a bitter rind like that on Brie cheese. Alastair Bland for NPR hide caption

Kite Hill's "soft-ripened" cheese made from almonds develops a bitter rind like that on Brie cheese.

On the fringes of the cheese world, a quest for non-dairy cheese that tastes like the real thing has been underway for years.

Products made mostly of soy protein or coagulated palm oil, often heavily processed and artificially flavored, have dominated the (very) narrow vegan cheese section of the supermarket. But these products have long underwhelmed the palate with their thin flavor and reluctance to melt on a hot pizza.

Now, as lactose intolerance and environmental and animal welfare concerns about livestock production drive more interest in alternatives to animal products, a new generation of non-dairy cheese makers is doing something novel: They're actually making cheese.

OK, so they're not using milk from mammals. But by culturing the milk or puree from tree nuts with the same bacteria used by dairy cheese makers, and letting it mature, companies like Kite Hill, Treeline Cheese and Punk Rawk Labs have turned the scramble for a decent-tasting vegan cheese replacement into something crafty. And pretty tasty.

At Kite Hill, the cheese-making starts with grinding the nuts with water and then separating out the solids to make almond milk.

"And at that point forward, it's almost exactly the same process as dairy cheese-making," says Kite Hill's CEO Matthew Sade, whose line includes a crusted Brie-like cheese and a smooth chevre-like cheese. Sade cultures the almond milk with Lactobacillus acidophilus, bacteria that has assisted cheese and yogurt makers for ages by turning the sugar in the milk into lactic acid. It's part of the key to giving good cheese its tang.

Once cultured, the milk forms curds, which settle into a molded shape. At this stage, the cheese can be aged for several days or weeks. Kite Hill's "soft-ripened" cheese actually develops a bitter rind very much like that on a piece of Brie. The soft interior is creamy, with a tart cheesy bite and a distinct essence of almond. Kite Hill's fresh cheese is tart, cool and smooth, like mild goat cheese.

Heidi Ho's Ne Chevre live culture cashew cheese. Alastair Bland for NPR hide caption

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Hold The Mammal: Daring To Make Dairy-Free Cheese From Nuts

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Every once in a while, I am alternately stunned and amused by what I see being promoted in the name of good health. I had one of those stunningly amusing episodes when I took an eight-day vacation with my family to an all-vegetarian health and adventure retreat in Costa Rica several months ago. We had joined a group of 125 headed by Dr. John McDougall, an accomplished and well-respected physician who uses a strict vegetarian/vegan lifestyle to address disease states in his patients and (ostensibly) to promote better health among the general population. I wasnt too keen on attending, strict carnivore that I am, but Im always up for an experiment of one and, moreover, I was convinced by my mostly-vegetarian wife and her vegan parents that our extended family would enjoy a nice tropical vacation together. And the food promised to be so yummy so I made the leap with my wife, two kids, the in-laws and some cousins.

First off, I must say, I did have a very enjoyable time in Costa Rica with my family, rafting, diving, zip lining and hikingbut after what I witnessed during my stay, I can assure you that I have never been so certain that the Primal Blueprint way of eating which I have embraced for over 30 years now is the best way to achieve and maintain excellent health. Frankly, I was appalled at both the information being disseminated during this event and at what I saw being served at every meal in the name of health food.

I am an omnivore and always have been. Carrie, my wife, was a vegetarian for fifteen years until I convinced her about five years ago to starting adding fish to her diet to get more protein. She still considers herself, in the words of the Outback Steakhouse guy, a semi-veg. My wifes parents have been strict vegans for nearly thirty years and are ardent followers of Dr. McDougall. McDougalls own story involves having had a severe stroke at age 19 from which, at 59, he still limps. He became an MD and eventually realized that diet was an important part of the health equation. Hes a very likable and charming guy. I had a few superficial discussions with him, even attended a few of his nightly lectures. His heart is certainly in the right place, but I fear he is leading people down a wholly inappropriate dietary path. At the risk of oversimplifying, the basis of his program is that almost all starch is good, all fat is bad and meat of any kind is deadly. It is, in his words, a starch-based diet, high in grains and legumes.

The attendees were generally divided into two groups: those who were fairly new to the program many of them had some serious weight to lose and those who had been on the McDougall program for several years. Many of the latter group, I gathered, had come to McDougall originally with one or more chronic diseases and on multiple medications. Each evening, after the adventure activity of the day (all of which were pretty sedate), Dr. McDougall would deliver a lecture intended to inform the group of the evils of traditional medicine and big pharma much of which I generally agree with and to demonize beef, pork, chicken, fish, dairy of all kinds and most forms of soy. I got the general gist after the first evening. Hes not a fan of supplements either. But he does imply that when you eat vegetarian, you can have all you wantand therein lay the source of much amusement for me.

The lecture would adjourn and everyone would line up for the buffet line which would, at virtually every meal, include copious amounts of breads and rolls, rice, potatoes, pasta, beans, some anemic-looking steamed vegetables and a romaine-only lettuce salad. No dressings allowed. The only fat I could see was in the guacamole that served as a spread. The desert table had a variety of fruits and at least two choices of so-called healthy cakes. The drinks were generally overly sweetened fruit drinks.

Now Im not one to judge. Okay, I am, but I usually keep my mouth shut except herein. I watched at every meal as overweight, unhealthy people piled their plates with at least two pounds of bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, desert cake, and a glass of fruit juice. Sometimes they went back for more. By my calculations these people were consuming 200 to 300 or more grams of (mostly simple) carbohydrates at each of three meals. There was no way these folks were going to lose fat on this trip. It was, in my view, a type 2 diabetes epidemic in-the-making.

In fending for myself, I focused mainly on the salads and the black beans mixed with a little rice. As you regular readers know, I dont do breads, potatoes, pasta, desserts or fruit drinks. I think they are unhealthy. Go figure. I have to say, it sure got old after a day or two.

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My Escape from Vegan Island | Mark's Daily Apple

Food- and beer-loving vegans can flock to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on May 16 for the sixth Los Angeles Vegan Beer & Food Festival. There will be vegan grilled cheese, burgers and doughnuts -- and more than 100 vegan beers with unlimited pours, organizers said.

More than 65 breweries are expected to participate, including Golden Road, King Harbor, Angel City, Oskar Blues, Pizza Port, Smog City, St. Archer, Firestone Walker, Ballast Point and Three Weavers.

Doomie's Home Cookin' is to return this year with its vegan "Big Mac" burgers, as are the Grilled Cheese truck with vegan grilled cheese sandwiches and Donut Friend with vegan doughnuts. Other food vendors include Mud Hen Tavern, M Cafe, Broke Hungry Vegan, Ihsan's Falafel, Hugo's Tacos, Mama's Hot Tamales, the Rabbit Hole Cafe and Sage Vegan Bistro.

"For the last six years, this festival has always been about drinking the best craft beer, eating L.A.'s best food and enjoying hanging with friends while taking in the sounds of great music," Nic Adler, co-organizer of the event, said in a news release. "It just happens to be vegan."

Jamestown Revival, the White Buffalo, the Drowning Men, Miner, Petty Cash, Joel Jerome and Lucy & La Mer are scheduled to provide beats while you sip vegan beer and dig into your vegan lunch.

General-admission tickets to the festival are $50 and include 1 p.m. entry to the event and a 4-ounce festival glass with unlimited pours. VIP tickets are $80 and include a noon entry with a 4-ounce festival glass, unlimited pours and access to a VIP lounge.

If your designated driver needs a ticket, a general-admission non-drinking pass is $30 and includes kombucha tastings.

Tickets are on sale at TicketFlyand http://www.veganbeerfest.com.

Can I get my vegan "Big Mac" with extra vegan cheese please? Follow me on Twitter@Jenn_Harris_

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Vegan 'Big Macs,' 100 vegan beers at this year's Vegan Beer & Food Festival