The Following is a report I did for a class called Ecological Anthropology I took this past fall. The assignment was to pick a particular food product and research how it's produced along with the various negative impacts of its production. As a note, I have not yet stopped drinking milk but plan to try switching to drinking soy milk in the next several weeks as the new year begins.
If there’s been one
trend in my dietary decisions as I’ve grown older it’s that, as I’ve become
more conscious of the environmental and ethical costs of food production, I’ve
moved steadily further away from consuming animal products. For several years I was beginning to feel
more and more guilty about eating meat, and finally, about a year and a half
ago, I made the decision to become vegetarian. But I always knew that eating
animal products other than meat still results in many of the same moral
dilemmas, so since then I’ve found myself moving steadily towards becoming a
complete vegan. For now I like the idea
of consuming animal products on occasion, instead of an everyday part of my
diet. But there’s one thing standing in
my way: milk. For as long as I can
remember, I’ve consumed about 3 three glasses of skim milk a day, and cutting
this out would be a major shift in my diet.
So before I make any big decisions, I thought it would be nice to look
into just how much damage I’m doing by continuing this practice, as well as
just how necessary drinking milk is.
I first though it necessary
to gain some background knowledge on exactly how milk is produced. Not too surprisingly, it involves a fairly
straightforward process which begins with the rearing of cows which are kept in
confined, close-quarter compounds, or sometimes allowed to roam grass
fields. The actual milking involves an
automated machine that milks the cows twice a day or more. The raw milk is then transported to
processing factories where it is tested for safety and quality, then processing
begins which includes pasteurization to kill bacteria, homogenization of fat
throughout the rest of the milk, separation of the cream by centrifuge, then
reintroduction to reach the desired fat content (skim milk has 0.05%). Finally the milk is packaged and delivered to
stores to be sold.1 Typically
milk is produced close to where it is sold, due to its short shelf life.2 On the surface, this process doesn’t sound
incredibly unethical, but I was unsurprised to discover that there’s much more
behind the veil.
Like other forms of
animal agriculture, milk production is highly resource intensive and carries
many environmental risks. Raising cows
for milk requires large amounts of land, water, and energy. This is largely in order to grow the feed
necessary to fuel the animals’ high production.3 In the U.S., two-thirds of agricultural land
is used for animal agriculture, including growing feed.4 Climate change inducing greenhouse gas
emissions are also a staple of animal agriculture, resulting from energy
expended from production processes, as well as digestive processes and manure
of animals (although less than 1% of U.S. emissions are attributed to the dairy
industry).5 There are also many environmental risks associated with
milk production, including air pollution such as ammonia and water pollution
from manure and fertilizer runoff.3
Possibly a bigger
concern for me, however, was with the treatment of cows in the milk production
process, and my concerns were more than justified with this as well. There are a whole host of incredible
mistreatments of cows throughout the process.
The normal lifespan of a cow is about 20 years. However, most cows in the dairy industry are kept
in conditions (including cramped compounds where they are forced to stand in
their own feces) that are so stressful and unsanitary that by 4 or 5 years old
they are unable to continue with high levels of production, due to disease or
other factors, and are sent away to be slaughtered. The dairy industry is also intimately
connected with the meat industry, including veal production which the males
born to dairy cows are often used for.4
As an additional
factor, contamination during any part of the milk production process has been
known to cause disease outbreaks on occasion.
Between 1998 and 2014, contaminated pasteurized milk resulted in 9
outbreaks in the U.S. with some total 2,200 illnesses.6
So with all this in
mind, is drinking milk really necessary?
Indeed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends 3 cups a day
of fat-free or low-fat milk. Proponents
argue that milk is an important source of calcium, potassium, and vitamins, and
helps bone health. However, some experts
have shown skepticism, citing it as unnecessary for obtaining many desired
nutrients, its high amount of calories and fat, and even possible connections
with prostate and ovarian cancers. There
seems to be less than a consensus over whether milk is recommended, but it does
seem clear that it’s not necessary
for a healthy diet. The same benefits
from milk can be easily obtained from vegetables and other plant-based foods.7 One big concern I’ve had is with getting the
protein that milk provides, however vegan diets have been shown to easily
provide for this requirement as well.8
With all this
knowledge in mind, my head has become a bit clearer on how to address my milk
dilemma. It’s obvious that there are
many serious costs of drinking milk, including both environmental and
ethical. One solution could be to seek
out organic milk, which may include such benefits as grass fed cows and less
fertilizer use.9 However, as
stated above, milk is most likely not necessary to having a good diet. If I were to cut out milk I could probably
find a way to make up for it by consuming additional plant-based products that
would provide me with the nutrients I may be lacking. Soy milk, for example, which has good amounts
of potassium, vitamins, and nearly as much protein as cow’s milk, could be an
easy substitute.10 I
don’t think I’ll cut out milk entirely just yet, but it seems clear that this
is the direction that I, and anyone concerned with the negative impacts of
drinking milk, should head in.
Sources
1. "How
Milk Gets from the Cow to the Store." ProCon.org. April 4, 2011. http://milk.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000658.
2. Segarra,
Elizabeth. "How Far Does Our Food Travel." Save On Energy. September
4, 2015. https://www.saveonenergy.com/energy-news/how-far-does-food-travel-11404/.
3. "Dairy."
WWF. 2016. http://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/dairy.
4. "Cow's
Milk: A Cruel and Unhealthy Product." People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals. 2016.
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/cows-milk-cruel-unhealthy-product/.
5. Capper
et al.. "The Environmental Impact of Dairy Production: 1944 Compared with
2007." Journal of Animal Science 87, no. 6 (December 5,
2014): 2160-167. doi:10.2527/jas.2009-1781.
6. "Outbreaks
from Foodborne Pathogens in Milk and Cheeses Sold as Pasteurized, United States
1998-present." Real Raw Milk Facts. March 18, 2014. http://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/PDFs/pasteurized-dairy-outbreak-table.pdf.
7. Jaret,
Peter. "The Pros and Cons of Milk and Dairy." WebMD. 2011. http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/dairy-truths.
8. Mangels,
Reed. "Protein in the Vegan Diet." The Vegetarian Resource Group.
2013. http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php.
9. Schwendel
et al.. "Invited Review: Organic and Conventionally Produced Milk—An
Evaluation of Factors Influencing Milk Composition." Journal of
Dairy Science 98, no. 2 (February 2015): 721-46. December 11, 2014.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2014-8389.
10. Krans,
Brian. "Almond Milk vs Cow Milk vs Soy Milk vs Rice Milk."
Healthline. 2014. http://www.healthline.com/health/milk-almond-cow-soy-rice#2.