Cow's Milk

The Issue: Dairy 

“Dairy” is the common industry term for cows’ breast milk, and it is the term we will be using in this entry.




The Other Side 

“I can’t give up cheese, etc.”  

Do you think it is harder for you to give up dairy products or do you think it is harder for the animals who are suffering at the hands of this industry? What do you value more, taste or life?  If you were in their position, wouldn’t you want someone to be a voice for you?


“Cows naturally produce milk —it doesn’t hurt to take it.”  

Let people know that the process of dairy farming does hurt mother cows on an emotional and physical level, saying something like, “Cows only produce milk if they’re pregnant or have a baby. There are a host of plant-based milks including oat, almond, soy, coconut, rice, hemp, pea, hazelnut, etc. Would you be open to trying those instead?”


“Soy has estrogen.”  

The estrogen in soy is a phytoestrogen, which provides health benefits to the human body. In any case, almost all soy grown in America is fed to livestock.1 Estrogen found in Cow’s milk can cause increased disease risk in humans. Think about the hormones that are raging inside a pregnant cow when she’s giving milk.  If you  cannot consume soy due to an allergy, there are many other plant-based dairy alternatives to choose from.2,3


“I make sure to get ethical milk.”  

There is nothing ethical about what we do to cows when we selectively breed them, forcibly impregnate them, take their babies away from them, mutilate them, exploit them for their breastmilk, then send them to slaughter. The most basic practices done on any dairy farm are exploitative to the cows and therefore unethical. 


“There would be an overpopulation of cows if we didn’t eat them.”  

Dairy cows are bred into existence, so with fewer people supporting the dairy industry, the number of dairy cows on the planet will automatically decrease. This will be a gradual process as humanity shifts towards veganism, whereby the number of people boycotting animal products would increase slowly over time, meaning that farm animals would be bred less and less due to a decreased demand. 


“I need milk for calcium.”  

The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends 400-500 mg of calcium a day, and yet the Dairy Association in America recommends 1,200 mg daily. Moreover, calcium from plants is better absorbed than calcium from cow’s milk.  Dark green leafy vegetables like kale, broccoli, and bok choy, are relatively rich in calcium, which is absorbed about twice as well as the calcium in milk. Furthermore, they also contain fiber, folate, iron, and antioxidants, some of the very nutrients lacking in dairy.4 



The Facts


Animal Cruelty


Environment


Health


The Lingo




The Resources

  1. https://ourworldindata.org/soy#:~:text=More%20than%20three%2Dquarters%20(77,%2C%20edamame%20beans%2C%20and%20tempeh.
  2. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-soy-healthy-for-breast-cancer-survivors/
  3. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/who-shouldnt-eat-soy/
  4. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/calcium/
  5. https://www.peta.org/blog/reasons-why-almond-milk-is-better-than-dairy-milk/
  6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_cattle
  7. https://freefromharm.org/dairyfacts/
  8. https://youtu.be/UcN7SGGoCNI
  9. https://watchdocumentaries.com/what-the-health/
  10. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/calcium/
  11. https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-information/health-concerns-about-dairy
  12. https://asbmr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jbmr.279
  13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24247817/
  14. www.youtube.com/watch?v=roIWg4ntj9k

  15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4243668/

Additional Resources



Dairy Dates


Revision #2
Created 13 October 2022 19:05:47 by Penimah
Updated 13 October 2022 19:35:55 by Penimah