Goat Cheese Vs. Cow Cheese
By: Liz Hardeman
Description and Rationale
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Goat cheese is known for its unique, tart flavor. Although it is processed mostly in northern European countries, goats are fairly common in the Philippines, and are therefore very accessible for the Filipino people to use as a milk and cheese source. For various reasons, goat products are not very common in this country, despite the accessibility.
What are the nutrition benefits of goat cheese compared to the nutrition benefits of cow (normal) cheese? Does goat’s milk have nutrients that cow’s milk does not? Is goat’s milk cheese easier to obtain for the Philippine people? How much is it costing the local dairy farms to raise cows and use their milk? Will raising and using goats make for a cheaper alternative to making cheese? Will the taste of goat cheese even be appetizing for Filipinos? Or will it be too different from the mellower and more familiar taste of cheese made from cow’s milk.
Why is goat cheese not common in the Philippines? Is there a lack of goat rearing in this country? Most developing countries recognize the importance of raising goats in providing nutritional and financial sustenance in economically weaker regions. Yet goat milk and the processing of it into cheese are not as widespread as they should be in a developing country like the Philippines. Is there a reason for this disregard, or are Filipinos simply ignorant of the high nutritional value of goat products. If research and investigation does show that goat cheese indeed is healthier for you and costs significantly less, how then can one make the Filipino people aware of the value of goat cheese?
The initial purpose of this project will be to research the nutritional value of goat milk (which is used to make goat cheese) versus that of milk coming from regular cows, through a search of the literature as well as visits to goat rearing farms and interviews with the workers there. These initial findings will help guide the investigational period, where key variables in goat cheese’s value in both cost and nutrition will be further explored.
It is hoped that the discovery of the certain nutritional and economical values of goat products will help improve the health and living of local Filipino people who live out in the provinces where money is a commodity that is difficult to get enough of, by giving them a fuller understanding of an abundant and cheap food resource.
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Biology
Common Names and Synonyms
The Anglo-Nubian is also called the Capra hircus. In America, it is referred to as simply the Nubian goat, as well as in the Philippines. Other synonyms include Shukria (Eritrea), Mzabite (Algeria), and Zaraibi (Egypt). It is also nicknamed the Lop-Eared Goat or Greyhound Goat because of its elongated ears and sleek body.
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia (mammal)
Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)
Family: Bovidae (cloven hoofed)
Genus: Capra (goat)
Species: C. aegagrus (wild goat)
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Morphology and Physical Description
External Anatomy:
Anglo-Nubian females grow to be about 30 inches tall, while males grow to be 35 inches tall. Being one of the tallest and heaviest breed of goat, the average female weighs about 130 pounds, and the male weighs 175 pounds or more.
They are characterized by their long, bell-shaped ears (around 25 cm long) that hang down below their faces, which help them keep cool in hot climates by dispelling heat from blood vessels in the ear. They are also distinguished by a Roman nose. Their hair is short and glossing, and comes in many colors ranging from tan, black, white, and red, with a wide variety of patterns. The males have longer and rougher than females. Some have horns and some are polled (hornless). Their horns are usually light and medium length: simple or partially twisted backwards or divergent sweep in males; usually backward sweeping in females but some diverge. The neck is long and fairly heavy, the chest is deep, and the back is long and straight. Legs are long and proportionate.
Internal Anatomy:
Nubian skeletons generally consist of 7 neck vertebrae, 13 chest vertebrae, 6 or 7 lumbar vertebrae, 4 pelvic vertebrae and between 4 and 8 tail vertebrae. The ribs are elongated, curved bones that form the ribcage. There are 13 pairs of ribs attached to each side of the thoracic vertebrae. Most of them are fixed—that is, they are joined to the sternum (breastbone) at the front of the chest—but the last two pairs are not attached at the front and are called floating ribs. The skull includes all the bones of the head. It consists of a number of flat bones that form immovable joints, most of which disappear with age.
There are two main kinds of joints. Fixed or immovable joints have no joint cavity and are united by fibrous tissue or cartilage. Many of these are temporary joints which become fixed as calcium accumulates in the flexible tissues and turns to bone with age. Movable joints have a joint cavity surrounded by a joint capsule. There are two opposing bone surfaces, which have smooth surfaces of very dense bone. Movable joints have cartilages between the bones to reduce friction and absorb concussion. The inner lining of the joint capsule is the synovial layer, which produces synovial fluid (‘joint fluid’).
The goat’s udder is in the groin. It has two glands, one on either side of the midline. Each gland has a single teat and each teat has a single orifice (opening). The glands are separate units. They are also ruminants, which means their stomach has four chambers, which allows them to chew food quickly.
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Getting Food
All goats are herbivores, and have a reputation of eating almost anything organic that can be broken down and used as nutrients. Their curious nature leads them to nibble on anything from wood to buttons, but they limit their diet mostly to shrubs (anything from plants to and flowers) and grass. When not in the wild, most goat owners feed them hay and grain. New born kids drink their mother’s milk.
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Reproduction
Nubians reproduce sexually, and are able to breed almost any time of the year. During mating, sperm is released into the females’ cervix by the male, where it is the fertilized in her uterus. The gestation period is around 150 days. Twins and triplets are as common as single births. Once born, Nubians have an average life cycle of 10 to 14 years.
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Environmental Factors
Nubians thrive best in tropical climates, and hate cold climates. They prefer dry temperatures and live along rivers when they can.
They can be easily used as a host for many different disease organisms. These include parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc) and skin flukes (flatworm parasites). Goats also get infected with Blackleg, which is caused by bacteria, and Listeriosis (also caused by bacteria), and an incurable infection called Johne’s disease. They are also capable to getting phenomena and being inhabited by lice.
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Origin and Distribution
The Nubian goat is originally from Nubia, in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan. The goats were bred in England from the African goats along with Indian and British breeds. Because of their quality dairy production, they have been introduced to many other countries for dairy use, including the Philippines. They are able to survive and thrive in warmer, arid temperatures, and like living along rivers.
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Importance to People
A goat is important both when it is alive and when it is dead. While alive it provides both milk and fiber, and when dead, it provides meat and hide. Anglo-Nubians are dairy goats, so they produce much better milk than meat, but they are still edible.
They are cheaper and easier to manage than cattle, and are therefore a help to developing countries that don’t necessarily have the money to raise cows. The Nubian breed leads the way for the dairy breeds in butterfat production: it produces on average, 5% or more butterfat content. Goat milk is also very nutritious. If you are allergic to cow milk, then goat milk can replace it.
Here in the Philippines, we need a cheaper, easier solution for dairy products to help the economy. The Nubian goat provides all the necessary products and is easier to breed than cattle, although it is not the cheapest breed of goat in the Philippines. The Philippine common goat does not produce quality milk that can be made into good tasting cheese. The Nubian is easily accessible and produces the best quality milk while living in a hot climate like the Philippines. They adapt easily to different climates, and even have physical features that help them in that area.
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Survivability and Endangered Status
Anglo-Nubians are pretty resilient, but are better adapted to hot climates. They are common and thriving, mostly as a result of their quality dairy production. People use them more for dairy instead of meat, which saves them many times from being used as food. As dairy goats, they compete with Saanens, LaManchas, Alpines, Oberhaslis, and Togenburgs for the best milk. Although they don’t often die from human hands, they suffer from parasites and diseases, which keeps their population from getting out of hand.
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Potential Solutions
How can Filipinos learn about the value of using goats for milk? It is known to many that goats are both common and easily accessible here in the Philippines. Most goat breeds adapt without difficulty to tropical climates and the cost of raising a goat is vastly cheaper than the cost of raising a cow. So why are Filipinos neglecting to use them? Our country uses a very small percent of the milk it produces, and depends largely on exported milk, which is expensive. The use of goat products has the potential to benefit the Philippines both financially and nutritionally. They need to maximize the resources they have locally, and using goat products such as milk and cheese would be a fundamental step.
Possibility 1 - Teach Kids about Goats and their Benefits
Goat milk and goat cheese both have many good qualities that many people aren’t aware of. I could set up a time to teach squatter kids about goats and the nutritional and financial benefits that they offer. I could write a lesson plan involving how to make cheese from goat milk and how to raise goats.
Advantages:
1. This would raise awareness and show the next generation how useful goats are.
2. The kids could tell their parents what they learned, therefore informing the adults about the importance of goats.
Disadvantages:
1. The children may forget what they learned.
2. They may not know how to apply what they learned to their life.
3. They may not comprehend what they learned.
4. They may not tell their parents about what they learned.
5. If they have heard about the strong taste of goat milk, they might not want to even try it.
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Possibility 2 - Field Trip to Goat Farm
Goat farms are not uncommon in the Philippines, and are great for interactive learning. I could take children to a goat farm and they could learn about goats and how they are useful from the tour. A hands-on experience would help the children remember what they learned and get them excited about the possibility of working with goats or at least trying goat products such as milk or cheese.
Advantages:
1. The people could interact with the goats, forming an appreciation and affection for them.
2. They could be informed of the advantages of goats in a fun, interesting way.
3. Mr. Musen has a goat farm and could give us a tour.
Disadvantages:
1. His goat farm is far away, so there may not be a way to get there.
2. This would be costly, and they might not have the time or permission to go.
3. The children might wander off at the farm or be too distracted by the goats themselves to learn anything about them.
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Possibility 3 - Use Goat Cheese to Replace Goat Cheese (Action Step)
Goats are cheaper to take care of and buy equipment for. The use of goats is not as common in this country as it should be. Filipinos are for the most part ignorant of what goat cheese even tastes like, and many are under the impression that it has a strong taste. My action step was done with a fellow student, Caroline Proctor, who did her project on the processing of goat milk. Together, we arranged to meet with 10 Filipino children outside of the Faith Academy Campus gate. They arrived with a pastor who could help translate what we had to say to the children. I provided a taste test involving both cow cheese (Keson Puti) and store bought goat cheese. I prepared the samples by placing a slice of each of the cheeses between pandesal bread. There were 10 samples of cow cheese with pandesal and 10 samples of goat cheese with pandesal.
I presented a brochure to the children, explaining the benefits of goat milk and goat cheese versus that of cow milk and cow cheese. I talked about my project and about how goat cheese is nutritious, and has a good, mild taste, and that goats are easy and cheap to take care of. In order to inform the adults in their community about the benefits of goats, I asked them to give the brochures to their parents. I also gave a brochure to the pastor, in case a parent might have any questions about what it says. After educating them briefly, I handed out the samples. I then had them raise their hands if they liked the goat cheese better. Out of the ten children I surveyed, five like the goat cheese with pandesal more than the cow cheese with pandesal.
Advantages:
1. Using goat cheese provides a cheaper and very nutritious substitute for cow cheese.
2. Goat milk and cheese have particles big enough for lactose intolerant people to digest, so they would be able to eat goat cheese.
3. This would give Filipinos an idea of what cheese really tastes like, and if they like it, they will be able to save money buying it instead of cow cheese.
4. Goats are easier to care for, so the Filipinos will not have to work as hard taking care of them, and the equipment they use is less expensive.
5. The brochure I give them will be for their parents to read, so they will be learning about goat cheese as well.
Disadvantages:
1. People might not like the taste of goat cheese, and presume they won’t like goat milk either.
2. Goat cheese is hard to find in this country.
3. Cheese is hard to make, so they may be thrown off by that if they cannot find goat cheese in stores.
4. The Filipinos might just decide that the taste of cow cheese is better and not care too much about the cost.
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Bibliography
“Anatomy and Physiology of the Goat.” AGFACTS. 12 April 2009.
<http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/data/assets/pdf_file/0010/178336/goat-anatomy.pdf>
“Anglo-Nubian.” Goat Breeds. 9 November1998. 12 April 2009.
<http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/>
“Anglo-Nubian.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 7 April 2009.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Nubian>
“Diseases Symptoms and Possible Treatments.” Jack and Anita Maudlin’s
Boer Goats. 03/31/09. 12 April 2009. <http://www.jackmauldin.com/diseases.htm>
“Goats.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 25 April 2009. 26 April 2009.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_goat>
Musen, Steven. Personal Interview. 3 April 2009.
“Nubian.” Part Two Small Ruminant Goats. 12 April 2009.
<http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/t0376e/T0376E06.htm>
“Nubian Goat.” Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. 7 April 2009.
<http://www.lazoo.org/animals/mammals/nubiangoat/index.html>
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