Milk myths

Milk Myths

>Milk is made by happy cows who live on beautiful family farms.

While TV ads depict rolling green fields the reality of the modern dairy farm could not be more different. Every year more and more small family operations go out of business and are replaced by an increasing number of factory farms. Most dairy cows live in fields where every inch is covered by their own fecal matter. These fields support thousands of cows who make A LOT of fecal matter. Most are herded into large milking barns where they are milked by machines. Overproduction is a regular aspect of the modern dairy industry making antibiotics and hormones all necessary for maintaining this unnatural industry.

Perhaps the greatest myth that needs to be debunked is the idea that cows lead a peaceful happy life.

>Milk is good for you.

While milk may contain elements which can be considered healthy they are greatly outweighed by its unhealthy elements.

Not a single nutrient can be found in dairy products that cannot be found in other sources, many that lack the saturated fats and cholesterol of dairy products.

>Cows give milk to us.

Small farms often portray their relationships with dairy cows as pleasant sharing relationships implying that cows “give” their milk to humans. Of course cows never intend to give their milk to anyone but there babies. Through genetic manipulation and intensive production technologies the dairy industry averages 100 pounds of milk a day per cow, which is well beyond the rate they would give to there babies naturally. This causes another dairy industry disease called "Milk Fever." The ailment is caused by calcium deficiency, and it occurs when milk secretion depletes calcium faster than it can be replenished in the blood.

>It’s not like it hurts the cow.

Most dairy products come from large factory farms where the cows are connected to huge milking machines. This is a painful process which often results in infections like Mastitis. In addition to the many diseases caused by dairy production, dairy cows make 20 to 40 times as much waste as humans, they live in most cases in fields covered by there own fecal matter.

>We have to milk the cows or else it will be painful for them.

Often in a vein attempt to justify milk production, dairy defenders claim that it is somehow painful for cows to live without being milked. As already noted it is the over milking and intensive production methods that are painful for cows.

>Milk is needed for strong bones.

No being past two years of development is meant to consume milk or milk by-products. Humans are the only species (besides the ones we feed it to) who do. There is no nutrient in dairy that is needed for strong bones that cannot be found in non-dairy sources.

“Milk is touted for preventing osteoporosis, yet clinical research shows otherwise. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which followed more than 75,000 women for 12 years, showed no protective effect of increased milk consumption on fracture risk. In fact, increased intake of calcium from dairy products was associated with a higher fracture risk. An Australian study showed the same results. Additionally, other studies have also found no protective effect of dairy calcium on bone. You can decrease your risk of osteoporosis by reducing sodium and animal protein intake in the diet, increasing intake of fruits and vegetables,”- PCRM

>Milk is the best source of calcium.

Dairy products are actually a bad source of calcium because it is also loaded with cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, and saturated fats. Milk from bovine mothers also contains a high concentration of toxic chemicals (such as larvacides put directly in cow feed), which are passed on to consumers.

You can ensure adequate calcium intake from plant foods such as leafy green vegetables and beans, as well as calcium-fortified products such as breakfast cereals and juices.

>No Animals are killed or suffer for dairy products.

Many vegetarians who still consume dairy products don’t realize just how much suffering is involved in dairy production. Dairy cows are still slaughtered for meat, most often at four years of age when their bodies are too worn out to produce high milk yields (the natural lifespan of a cow is 25 years). While slaughter for meat is awful dairy cows live lives of protracted misery. Kept in a constant cycle of pregnancy, lactation and milking by machines, approximately half of all dairy cows live with chronic Mastitis.

Milk myths