Milk Sucks!

FOR THE ANIMALS:
Corporate-owned factories where cows are warehoused in huge sheds and treated like milk machines have replaced most small family farms. With genetic manipulation and intensive production technologies, it is common for modern dairy cows to produce 35 litres of milk a day, over three times more than 50 years ago. To keep milk production as high as possible, farmers artificially inseminate cows every year.

Genetic manipulation and unnatural milking schedules cause dairy cows' udders to become painful and so heavy that they sometimes drag on the ground, resulting in frequent infections and overuse of antibiotics.

Cows like all mammals make milk to feed their own babies not humans.

Male calves, the "by-products" of the dairy industry, were exported to the veal crates of Europe to spend 14 to 17 weeks tethered in small stalls before the ban on UK-produced beef. Now unwanted bull calves face the slaughterer's knife when they are only a few days old. Female calves usually replace their old, worn-out mothers, or are slaughtered soon after birth for the rennet in their stomachs (an ingredient of many commercial cheeses). They are often kept separated in small stalls for the first two months of their lives, only to grow up to become "milk machines" like their mothers.

FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:
Cow's milk is an inefficient food source. Cows, like humans, expend the majority of energy from their food intake simply leading their lives. It takes a great deal of grain and other foodstuffs cycled through cows to produce a small amount of milk. And not only is milk a waste of energy and water, the production of milk is also a disastrous source of water pollution. A dairy cow produces 55 kg of waste every day -- equal to that of two dozen people,but with no toilets, sewers or treatment plants.

According to the Environment Agency, "The consequences of slurry entering a water course can be disastrous," as in 1999 when slurry from just one dairy farm in Whatton, Nottinghamshire, polluted an 8 kilometre stretch of the River Smite, causing the deaths of 44,000 fish. Approximately one-quarter of all the agricultural water-pollution incidents recorded by the National Rivers Authority are related to dairy farming.

FOR YOUR HEALTH:
Dairy products are a health hazard. They contain no fibre or complex carbohydrates and are laden with saturated fat and cholesterol. They are contaminated with cow's blood and pus and are frequently contaminated with pesticides and antibiotics. Dairy products are linked to allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it can cause anaemia, allergies and insulin-dependent diabetes and in the long term will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, Britain's number one cause of death.

And dairy products may actually cause osteoporosis, not prevent it, since their high-protein content leaches calcium from the body. Population studies, backed up by a groundbreaking Harvard study of more than 75,000 nurses, suggest that drinking milk can actually cause osteoporosis. Find out more by visiting our links page.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Give the bottle the boot! Instead, try delicious soya or rice milk, soya cheese, Swedish Glace ice cream and soya cream and soft cheese. All are widely available at health food stores and many supermarkets. Click here for information on adopting a dairy-free diet .