So then when you consider “government cheese”… You’re a poor kid, getting the free/reduced school lunches, which are full of subsidized, leftover government cheese. If you’re African American, there’s this nice high chance that all that government cheese has you in a world of pain/bloating throughout your afternoon classes, which is *exactly* the right state for concentrating on your studies and learning, right? Sure, it’s possible to avoid the dairy parts of a school lunch and get juice instead…if you get a doctor to write a note about your lactose intolerance…which means paying to go to the doctor.

You’re far from alone. I was surprised by Bittman’s stats about just how widespread lactose intolerance is: “as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant, including 90 percent of all Asian-Americans and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Jews.”

I maintained a mostly vegan diet for about a year, when even the little pills were completely ineffective. I knew which restaurants to visit, I had my own set of “quick things to cook for dinner,” and I just plain got used to it. One important thing is to remember that over 90% of East Asians are lactose intolerant. That means their cuisine is safe. Curries, bibimbap, and Japanese food are dietary staples. The little pills are still not super effective, but if I’m out at a gathering with no vegan options, a few hours of bloating and pain (what I get when I take the pills) is better than without.