Kalamazoo Central High school

Dare to Challenge
Dairy
Got Milk? Got Bamboozled?

Garrett Robinson
Ms. Sayre
AP Language & Composition
April 15, 2011

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Currently American citizens are unhealthy due to many factors - one of which is the
direct effect of a poor diet. Dairy has become a staple in Americas diet. What would you
think if I slid a tall glass of ice cold milk in front of you? Would you think, Ah the drink of
strength, of strong bones and a healthy start to my day, the symbol of longevity and
American fortitude. or would you think, Why is it hardwired into Americas mind that if
you do not drink milk regularly your bones will become as brittle as a candy cane? If I do
not drink my milk what on earth will happen to me? Well I am in the minority and chose
the second string of thoughts. Milk has a long track record of being a necessity of health
for centuries. Our parents do not let us leave the table until we finish our milk, and a
carton of milk has become as much a refrigerator staple as ice cubes in the freezer.
There has recently been more research exploring the conflict of the possible dairy
industries statements and qualifiers both literal and subliminal in relation to their
products. The dairy industry has successfully branded (in both meanings of the word)
false premises into people around the world by implementing consistent marketing and
subliminally making us believe if you do not Got Milk you got a problem. Through this
they are making a huge gross profit off of inflating the consumers minds and in the
latter the industry itself into more than it should be, all the while with a smile on their
face. It is time to shed some light on the truth of the Dairy Industry. There is more to milk
than strong bones, and a white mustache. The human dependence and need for dairy
products are in reality a mass-industry-fabricated fallacy - detrimental to human health,
contributing to the acquisition of diseases found in societies who consume dairy
products.

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Some people may have already thrown this paper into the garbage and headed to
the fridge for their daily dose of ice cold milk. They say things like, In actuality milk has
many benefits and where do you get your calcium and protein if you dont drink milk? I
do not disagree with this notion. Milk can reduce acidity in your body, hydrate you, and
contains calcium (www.organicfacts.net). This is all fine and well but, in actuality, milk is
not the heaven-sent we think it is and should not be so high on the necessity list of
Americans. Henceforth the purpose of this paper is not as much to beat up on the dairy
industry but to shed a much needed light on it to remove the certain of falsity that has
been successfully hung in front of Americans eyes for the longest time. It is our right to
know the truth in what we consumer and to not just leave it to the various industries to
define what is and is not beneficial for us to consume on a regular basis. It is not entirely
our fault for giving in eating and drinking up so much dairy. We knew no better.
Thankfully, however, now with the help of recent advances in technology, information
from recent studies and the organized alliteration and analysis of them, the truth can be
discovered.
It is important to know how Americas thirst for dairy first developed and how the
dairy industry began and evolved into what it is today. This will make for a more
comfortable read having knowledge on the background of the topic at hand, and will
allow for a more complete dissection and analysis of dairy. Also knowing the context of
the dairy industry will help you formulate your own notion and stand on the dairy
industry. The history of dairy both in a human and industry spectra is very extensive
but did not begin when time itself began as many people seem to think. In 1939 the
Temporary National Economic Committee (TNEC) stated that, Since the beginning of

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recorded history the food elements contained in milk have placed milk and milk products
among mans most essential and nutritious foods. The only thing that could instill
validity in that statement is if we hold to the premise that they were referring to womens
(their mothers) breast milk. On the contrary cows milk was not consumed in such
quantities such early in human history. In reality it was not until later that northern
Europeans, South Asians and herding populations in the Middle East, Arabian
Peninsula and sub-Saharan Africa started drinking cows milk because of accessibility.
Shortly after these men and women began drinking milk people began to drink more
milk and it evolved into being a normal food staple for people (as well as other dairy biproducts such as butter). As early as 1742, Boston, a city of 16,382 people had only
141 cows for everyone (Manchester 1983). As you can imagine shortly after in the
mid 1800s inferior milk was a problem in cities (Block 2002). The cows were raised in
bad conditions and were far out numbered by the demand for their production of milk. A
solution came about when farms began to generate for the sole purpose of raising cows
for producing and selling milk. This is when the dairy farm industry began to crest on the
horizon and make its move toward where it is today in America. During this time dairy
believe it or not was still seen as a sanitary and clean liquid despite the recent output
of unhealthy milk. Therefore the inhabitance of cities had a high standard of
appreciation for dairy but the cows were gone and the milk took longer to get to them.
The milk man filled this void of service and was the new image of milk. Shortly after,
the industry kicked in high gear with the implications of pasteurization and mass
production of milk. In the 1840s butter and cheese factories started popping up. During
the Great Depression dairy took a national interest. Many other industries fell, however

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the dairy industry stayed on top and thrived despite minor price cuts (Dairy's Social
History). It is then that a standard for milk in America developed and it became more of
a symbol of health and even patriotism more than just a cloudy white drink that leaves a
crusty reside on your mouth after consumption. Today, machines aid in production and
help milk flow directly from the cow into a refrigerated tank where it is quickly cooled
and held for pickup. In many dairy farms men do nothing but monitor the machines that
milk the cows for all they are worth (literally), until they cannot produce anymore. From
there, it is pumped into insulated tanks to be transported to processing plants
(www.caes.uga.edu) and thereafter to the selling community and to our human bellies.
Now that we have a general understanding of how Americas thirst for dairy first
developed and how the dairy industry began and evolved into what it is today we can
get more specific. Have you ever stopped and actually thought, Why do we drink so
much cows milk when there are so many other mammals? That is a very valid
question. The camel, goat, sheep, water buffalo, and even cat produce milk that over
history humans have drank (www.indiacurry.com). Many of these animals produce milk
that has the same nutritional benefits as cows milk plus some! So why do we drink
cows milk, what makes them so special? Nothing, but the fact is that there is such
availability for cows that can produce milk quickly, hence they give the industry the most
money. And we thought the dairy industry just wanted to offer what is best for us, the
most healthy option no, it always boils down to the mighty dollar. Ever stop to think
why we drink our mothers milk after we are born? Wait, that is a no-brainer, it is
because we are humans and our mother is human! An even better question to ask is
why we stop drinking our mothers milk? This is a natural process most mammals

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follow; we are weaned off of it because we do not need it anymore and are capable of
getting those nutrients from other sources with the help of thing such as our teeth
coming in and the ability to digest more dense foods. Plus we do not need so much fat
anymore as we have attained a stable weight at this time. So why do calves drink cows
milk? This is obviously because they are the cows offspring and it is natural. There is a
reason a calf can gain more than 1,000 lbs in such a short amount of time on its
mothers milk it is because of what is in the milk! So why do humans drink so much
cow milk? Think about it, how much milk you think people would drink if there was never
any advertisement for Got Milk if everyone extinguished the ever present premise
that a lack of milk will cause aliments, especially osteoporosis. It is often over looked
that many other cultures do not drink milk and do not have tremendously high
occurrence of osteoporosis. Many women in the US drink a lot of milk, yet osteoporosis
is still a very prominent problem (Wiley 2004). For prospective purposes think about
how many people would never smoke if they never saw their peers doing it, if they
never saw the stars smoking in the movies. The outside influence of propaganda and
the media and stardoms influence on our choices of what we put into our body are
overwhelming, and it is our duty to weed out what is right and what lies are and if
necessary wean ourselves, as a nation, off of these ailments.
So what if Americas infatuation with dairy and milk really is just a formality funded by
the dairy company sucking up all the money they can out of us and cow milk boasts
things that are not to human benefit? Well, according to Amy Lanou, Ph.D., the nutrition
director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), "Besides
prostate cancer, milk has been linked to asthma, anemia, allergies, juvenile-onset

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diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and ovarian and breast cancer.
(http://www.alternet.org/story/13557/) Robert Crooks writes, Young girls are beginning
to menstruate earlier, as early as the age of twelve. It is scientifically proven that girls
who menstruate early are more prone to attract breast cancer and breast cancer
frequency has now increased to one in eight in the USA (226 Our Sexuality). There is a
hormone called Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) that is linked to this phenomenon. This
hormone is found in cows milk and has shown to have an effect on other hormone
levels resulting in many problems such as the stated onset of early menstruation in
young girls.
So if we do cut down on our dairy consumption where on Earth else will we get our
nutrition- our beloved calcium? Do not fret my health conscious audience; the truth is
that there are plenty of other sources of calcium and protein. Protein can be attained
from nuts and legumes such as almonds, soybeans and black beans. Calcium can be
attained from vegetables and from whole grains. Almonds, broccoli, collard greens,
rhubarb, spinach, leavening agents (such as baking powder), and sesame seeds
definitively contain a substantially more amount of calcium than milk in a direct ratio
comparison (www.associatedcontent.com). The simple fact is that time has blown milk
out of proportion and it is a good idea to see what is really behind the celebrity with the
milk mustache saying, Drink it!
Have you ever heard of Casein? The protein that comes from animal sources, including
dairy products, is called Casein. Casein is tied to all sorts of disease of affluence. By
that I mean diseases that are typical for wealthy countries such as the United States.

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Once societies are affluent enough to afford to eat meat and drink milk from animals,
moving away from an agrarian diet of fruits, nuts and vegetables, diseases such as
Alzheimers, cancer of all sorts, heart disease and stroke start to emerge. Dr. T. Colin
Campbell writes If people would steer clear of the Casein protein and get that nutrient,
as well as calcium, from nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables, our country would be
much healthier, saving millions of dollars in health care costs, oh yeah and lives (68
The China Study)! Over all the option of reverting back to how we used to live, altering
our staple foods for the better would be a better way to eat and a better way to live!
Are you still saying that milk is more beneficial than not for humans? Even if you still
agree with this illogical premise, are you an animal lover? You might say, Yes and I
think it is great that cows are able to give us so much milk to drink. Well it turns out that
the life expectancy of the average cow in natural conditions is about 25-30 years. Not
bad right? Well on the typical factory farm, where well over half of U.S. milk cows
reside, they live only four to five years (www.alternet.org). So ask yourself what is the
cost of giving into this propaganda of the dairy industry? Is it the cost of your or your
childrens health? Is it dead cows? Why are we still drinking it? I ask you not to hide
yourself from the emerging facts just because history tells you not to tamper with what is
in effect. So next time someone asks you, Got Milk? Ask them, At what cost?

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Works Cited
"5 Foods with More Calcium Than Milk - Associated Content from Yahoo! associatedcontent.com." Associated Content from Yahoo! associatedcontent.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5659218/5_foods_with_more_calciu
m_than_milk.html?cat=68>.
Campbell, T. Colin . The China Study . Dallas, TX: BenBella Books Inc., 2006. Print.
"Commodity Facts | Georgia Agricultural Resources | Agriculture & Natural Resources |
UGA Cooperative Extension at CAES." The College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr.
2011.
<http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/anr/gaagres/commodities/dairy.html>.
Crooks, Robert, and Karla Baur. Our sexuality . 11th ed. Redwood City, Calif.: Benjamin
Cummings Pub. Co., 2008. Print.
"Dairy's Social History." St. Olaf CollegeA private liberal arts college of the Lutheran
church in Minnesota. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/environmental-studies/courses/es399%20home/es-399-05/Projects/dairy%20research/socialhistory.html>.
Green, Che. "Not Milk: The USDA, Monsanto, and the U.S. Dairy Industry." alternet.org.
N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <www.alternet.org/story/13557/>.
"Health Benefits of Milk." Welcome to Organic Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/animal-product/health-benefits-ofmilk.html>.
"Indian Foods Cooking Health | IndiaCurry.com." Indian Foods Cooking Health |
IndiaCurry.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.indiacurry.com>.
"The NOTMILK Homepage! (MILK is a bad-news substance!)." The NOTMILK
Homepage! (MILK is a bad-news substance!). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.notmilk.com/>.