Consumers are misled into thinking cows in the dairy industry are well treated when, in fact, most of California's dairy cows live anything but easy lives.
Date: 9/28/2007 9:15:03 AM ( 17 y ago)
Cows produce milk only to feed their baby calf. So, factory farmers (which have all but replaced the small farmer) artificially inseminate them every year which causes them to produce 100 pounds of milk a day, 10 times more than they would in nature. Then, they take their calf from them at only a day or two old. The female calves are slaughtered for the rennet in their stomachs (an ingredient of most commercial cheeses) or used for dairy cows.
The males are put in veal crates where they cannot turn around or see daylight for 16 weeks, until they are slaughtered. Unnatural milking schedules and growth hormones cause the cows udders to become sore and sometimes drag on the ground, causing frequent infections, resulting in the overuse of antibiotics. Cows are also fed grain which is not natural to them, resulting in abcesses in their stomachs, and causing a need for more antibiotics. All farmers remove the baby calves from their mothers, then slaughter the mother eventually when she cannot produce enough milk. And, organic farms such as Horizon do not have better conditions for their cows and are part of a big corporate farming. click here for info.
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:
C
ow's milk is an inefficient food source. Cows, like humans, expend the majority of 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 120 pounds of waste every day -- equal to that of two dozen people, but with no toilets, sewers, or treatment plants.
In Lancaster County, Pa., manure from dairy cows is destroying the Chesapeake Bay, and in California, which produces one-fifth of the country's total supply of milk, the manure from dairy farms has poisoned vast expanses of underground water, rivers, and streams. In the Central Valley of California, the cows produce as much excrement as a city of 21 million people, and even a smallish farm of 200 cows will produce as much nitrogen as in the sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people, according to a U.S. Senate report on animal waste.
FOR YOUR HEALTH:
Dairy products are a health hazard. They contain no fiber 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, hormones, and antibiotics. Dairy products are linked to allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.
The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies, and insulin-dependent diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, America'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 the links page.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes more than 550 pounds of dairy products annually, which is 40 percent of the bulk of the food we eat. Click here to see an illustration of the "Food Pyramid" which is representative of actual American eating habits.
Give the bottle the boot! Instead, try delicious soy or rice milk, soy cheese, Tofutti ice cream, and tofu sour cream and cream cheese. All are widely available at health food stores and many supermarkets. Click here for information on adopting a dairy-free diet.
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