Many of us have grown up consuming dairy and thus naturally feel a strong connection to it.
Growing up, I loved the taste of meat, dairy and eggs. In fact, as far as I can remember, there was never a day when I didn't have at least one of these, if not all three. I was told that drinking milk would make you strong and healthy – sounds familiar? Many non-vegetarian parents today make sure their kids consume some meat, dairy, and/or eggs daily for growth and overall health. Similarly, the vegetarians parents like to feed their kids generous amount of dairy in the form of milk, butter or ghee to make sure they grow to be strong and healthy.
As a holistic health coach, I consider it my responsibility to spread awareness about the alarming impact of animal based foods (in this case, dairy consumption) on our health, lives of animals and even more importantly, on the future of our entire planet.
We MUST be willing to ask probing questions and hold our long held cultural / religious beliefs accountable for the sake of humanity.
Here are just a few of those questions for us to ponder upon!
When did dairy consumption became a part of our lives?
We are so used to having dairy in our lives that we don't realize the domestication of cattle happened less than 10,000 years ago primarily for meat purposes. It is literally a drop in the bucket when compared to human evolution that started millions of years ago. The dairy consumption is dated at around 7000 years. Around the same time, cattle began to be used in agriculture practices and thus became a valuable property. It was typically taken care of, fed well and treated with dignity. However, those times are now long gone. Most folks do not have life-stock in their home and the dairy is produced in mass scale factory farms (for the most part) where hundreds of cows are kept often in less than humane conditions and their only job is to produce milk and lots of it.
Q. What is the size of global Dairy Industry?
There are 265 Million dairy cows in the world producing 600 million tons of milk every year. This is in additions to billions of cattle that is raised for met every year. Just in USA alone, the dairy Industry is worth $ 350 billion.
Q. When does the cow give milk?
Just like humans, in order for the cows to start giving milk, they need to first deliver a baby - in this case a baby-calf. Even the cow's pregnancy last for 9 months - Just like humans. The milk that is produced by the cow is for the consumption of it's own baby calf.
Q. How are commercial dairy cows impregnated?
Many might not be aware of this fact. Since 1950's, it is no longer commercially viable to use bulls to impregnate cows as it has become expensive for the dairy farmer. An overwhelming majority of dairy cows are now artificially impregnated. This inhumane act is done by literally pushing a long "Artificial Insemination Syringe" that is filled with sperms using the entire length of an arm inside (from the cow's behind). If this inhumane act was done to a human being, we would call it “rape”. I have no doubt, cows being sentient beings feel the immense pain and humiliation – who wouldn't? This fact alone should shake us to our core.
Q. What happens to the calf after delivery?
The dairy milk is for the calf so it can stay with his/her mother for months and become big. But that’s not really what happens. If it's a boy calf, it is taken away usually within the first day and sold of as veal (meat). Imagine how would we feel if our new born is taking away in front of our eyes? If it's a female calf, it stays with the mother just for a few extra days and is then taken away to be raised to be a dairy cow (if she is lucky), going through exactly what her mother went through. A cow desperately going after her calf that is taken away for slaughter is unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence.
Q. How is the milk obtained from the dairy cows?
Since it is not cost effective nor health promoting to milk commercial cows anymore by hands, hand specialized machines, that look like robotic hands, are plugged on cows’ udders to milk the cows. Since it’s a machine, it cannot feel or see if the cow is hurt, if its udders are bruised, or if she is having any other problems. Many a times when cow's udders are bruised, it results in Mastitis (serious disease) and the resultant milk is passed on to the consumers. According to USDA 1 out of 6 dairy cows are found with mastitis and is the biggest reason for their early deaths.
Q. Where are dairy cows kept?
Over 90% of the commercial milk producing cows are kept in confined spaces where they don’t have the luxury to walk around as the nature intended. The pictures of happy cows on milk cartons, grazing on green grasses, are often exceptions or flat out exaggerations. Being milked three times a day, standing most of the time and not being able to exercise causes extreme discomfort, pain, and inflammation in their body. Guess where all that inflammation and hormones end up?
Q. What happens to the dairy cows once they stop giving milk?
Unfortunately, there are NO retirement homes for the cows. As soon as the cow delivers a baby, within 2 short months they are again artificially impregnated so they can continue to give milk. When a cow gives milk during its pregnancy, it’s estrogen levels are very high which are than passed on in the milk. Because of the non stop milk production, they are often famished by the time they are 4-5 years in age. After, that they are sent away to be slaughter houses to be sold as meat (there is nothing humane about it – believe me).
Here is what independent wikipedia has to say about dairy industry:
"Dairy farmers usually begin breeding or artificially inseminating heifers (female calves) around 13 months of age. A cow's gestation period is approximately nine months. Newborn calves are removed from their mothers quickly, usually within three days, as the mother/calf bond intensifies over time and delayed separation can cause extreme stress on both cow and calf.
Domestic cows can live to 20 years; however, those raised for dairy rarely live that long, as the average cow is removed from the dairy herd around age four and marketed for beef. In 2014, approximately 9.5% of the cattle slaughtered in the U.S. were culled dairy cows: cows that can no longer be seen as an economic asset to the dairy farm. These animals may be sold due to reproductive problems or common diseases of milk cows such as mastitis and lameness."
What about the Animal sanctuaries?
Yes, there are few sanctuaries around the world but they’re literally less than a drop in the bucket. They are expensive to keep and take a lot of space. Isn't it better not to require these sanctuaries in the first place?
Can you guess which are the top 2 largest exporters of beef in the world?.
Q. What happens to the environment because of dairy farming?
Commercial animal farming has a HUGE impact on environment, far more than we can even fathom. According to latest scientific data, much more than petroleum, livestock farming (meat and dairy) is impacting global warming due to its release of methane gases in the atmosphere. In fact, their impact on global warming is far more than the effect of all the transportation combined in the world (trucks, airplane, trains, cars etc.) This is HUGE! There are over 265 million dairy cows in the world at this time. This is in addition to billions of cattle raised for meat. These numbers are continuing to rise due to extremely high demand of dairy products.
Every year, massive amount of pristine land such as rain forests are cleared (gone forever) because of humans' insatiable appetite for meat and dairy. It is reported that just 2,500 dairy cows produce waste equal to 411,000 people. Add to that approximately 1000 gallons of water to produce just ONE gallon of milk.
I urge you to watch the following two documentaries to educate yourself on the magnitude of the harmful effects of raising animals for meat and dairy consumption.
1. Earthlings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuFUUfAeAM
2. Cowspiracy: Available on Netflix
Q. Is dairy linked with lack of human health?
The life cycle of a cow is much faster than humans. A baby calf can become a full grown cow/bull (over 500 pounds) within just 18 months. Such is the power of growth hormones naturally found in cow's milk. A human’s growth cycle is completely different from a cow or buffalo. We are supposed to take a minimum of 16-18 years to be fully developed. When we consume dairy (in any form), the growth hormones inherently present in it speeds up our own growth, and not in the ways that we would like it to. This is one of the main reasons why many of the children (both boys & girls) growing up today are reaching puberty age much faster than earlier generations.
The growth hormones and proteins present naturally in dairy are now linked with the growth of many types of diseases including autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis (ironic but true), prostate cancer, breast and colon cancer, and type 1 diabetes.
The following two documentaries on Netflix will help you better understand the impact of animal based foods on human health.
1. Forks Over Knives
2. What the Health
What about a2 Milk?
There is a growing trend towards consuming a2 milk instead of regular milk. Many people who find it difficult to digest regular milk are able to digest the a2 milk. However, the a2 Milk cows are also part of the commercial dairy farms who have a business to run just like non a2 dairy cow farms. I had contacted the leading organic a2 milk producer in California. Guess what I found out? The poor a-2 cows follow the same life cycle as of non a-2 cows i.e. getting milked with machines, calves taken away, and sent for slaughter (for meat) after just few years of producing milk. It is all about money - Don't let it fool you!
Personally, the question for me is not how I can better digest a2 milk vs non a2 milk. The bigger question for me is this: do I really need the milk so bad as to put a sentient being through daily humiliation, robbing the baby calf of mother’s love (and milk) and ultimately sentencing the poor animal to slaughterhouses? That's exactly what these poor animals face in their daily lives. In addition, by changing the milk choices from a1 protein to a2 protein, doesn’t take out the inherent growth hormones (I-GF1) that are present in the milk by nature and which has been linked to many illnesses. Even if one choose not to believe in the harmful effects of dairy on human health, it is NOT essential or necessary for achieving human health and well-being.
There is nothing special in dairy that one can't find in the plant kingdom, especially when it can helps save millions of innocent animal lives. As human's we can thrive on a "Whole Foods Plant Based" diet and lifestyle changes such as incorporating daily exercise (breathing exercise, yoga, meditation, brisk walks and going to gym etc.)
What about protein & calcium?
With deep pockets, the meat and dairy industry have successfully scared everyone in believing the mythical case of lack of protein and calcium in the diet through mass media campaigns. 9 out of 10 doctors won't be able to tell you what protein deficiency is called, let alone pronounce it. By the way, it is called " Kwashiorkor " and it's an extremely rare condition. So rare that you will not find anyone in your family, friends or their friends circle. It is mostly found in sub -Saharan Africa where there is extreme malnutrition due to starvation. However, the animal products based industries (both meat & dairy) will have you believe otherwise. They have huge marketing budgets and often blanket the media with ads like “Got Milk” with celebrities and famous sports stars.
One doesn't have to be a genius to look around in nature and see where do elephants, buffaloes, hippos, giraffes, bulls and gorillas (genetically similar yet lot stronger than us) get their calcium and proteins from? They all primarily get it from plant foods and we can do the same. It has been demonstrated in many peer reviewed studies that the calcium from plant sources help strengthen the bones while the calcium from milk sources weakens it (leaches calcium out of bones resulting in weak and brittle bones ). Also, calcium absorption is depended on the availability of Vitamin D in our body. One can drink gallons of milk but if they are deficient in Vitamin D, it won’t matter at all.
Read the following articles from on plant based calcium and proteins. You can also look online and study the growing research on the immense health benefits of consuming calcium and protein from 'Whole Foods Plant Based" sources as opposed to animal sources.
https://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vsk/vegetarian-starter-kit-calcium
https://www.forksoverknives.com/meeting-protein-needs-simply-by-eating/#gs.87Fhi9I
If we can save a life would we choose to do it ?
We know animals (including dairy animals) are capable of feeling pain, love and affection. A cow is also a loving mother and a daughter just like many of us. Have you ever seen the tears flowing from a cow's eyes when their baby calf is taken away? The crying sounds that it makes? I have! it will be hard to touch dairy after one has witnessed this heart breaking scene. After learning about the inhumane treatment of the cows, most people find it difficult to take a sip of tea with milk, a drink of coffee with cream, eat paneer or a slice of cheese pizza, a teaspoon of ghee, or a piece of cake having butter.
Personally, for me, it is not just about the positive or negative impact of consuming milk on our health anymore. It is more about not exploiting and saving the lives of fellow sentient beings who have not done anything wrong to us. By choosing to avoid animal based foods, we can save so many innocent lives.
It is my belief that, many of us after knowing the larger impact the dairy consumption has on the planet and more specifically on animal lives, we might give a pause on its consumption and look for alternatives.
Is being a vegetarian enough today?
If you are a vegetarian for the sake of not hurting animals, but consume dairy derived products, know that unknowingly you have been also playing a serious role in their inhumane treatment. Increase in dairy consumption means the more dairy cows are raised and inhumane treatment continues. You can make a huge difference in the lives of these poor animals who have done us no harm by choosing to let go of dairy products.
Can we be perfect?
I understand that none of us can be perfect all the time and we cannot avoid each and everything or situation that we may find wrong in this life. Personally, I would love to have my loved ones never touch any animal based products ever, but that is probably not going to happen, and I have slowly learned to make my peace with it. But with so many choices available today, case for sticking with dairy is not strong any more. In fact, moving away from dairy is not as hard as we might think. There are so many good alternatives available these days. One just have to search and experiment with what works for us.
Milk - Plant based milk (Almond milk, Soy milk, Coconut milk, Rice milk, Oats milk etc.)
Butter - Plant based butters or Nut butters
Cheese - Plant based cheese
Paneer - Tofu
Yogurt - Plant based yogurt
Cream - Coconut cream, Cashew cream
Conclusion:
Sometimes, it becomes necessary to change cultural norms and generational habits that have lost their applicability due to time for the greater good of the world. By standing up for those beings who can't speak our language but feel the physical and emotions pain just like us, you will be setting up a great example for your kids and their kids. Though change is never easy, it is the only constant in life. Be brave! take what is true today and leave the rest as a part of history, the coming generations will be thankful to us.
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