I used to think this too, but I learned that milk-producing cows are artificially inseminated every year to keep them producing milk. They only live 4-6 years because of the immense strain this puts on their bodies, after which they're eaten. Cows naturally live 15-20 years. Even the process of getting them pregnant involves shoving your whole arm up their rectum--it's really horrible to watch.

All dairy farms are inhumane. Some are worse than others. No cow gets a normal, full life.

Hindus and Jainists probably are the only groups I can think of that have figured out the economics of murder-free dairy.

Look up "spółdzielnie mleczarskie" in Poland. https://pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sp%C3%B3%C5%82dzielnia_mleczarska

Milk cooperative? Is this how it translates?

Sorry for not translating the whole Wikipedia article, but TLDR this is how high quality dairy is produced in Poland, where everyone from smallest to larger farms can cooperate and coexist.

30 years ago there was even this now non-existent elaborate network of milk collection and delivery (we have shops now :p) - every morning there was a transport organized through every small or large village where everyone farmer even with only one cow could sell the milk. As the number of such farmers went rapidly down this has stopped being done.

Of course you can still find big corp dairy products in the stores (Nestle? Danone?) but they have a hard time competing and I am not sure but they still might buy their supplies from polish cooperatives.

😏

Big Milk got me thirsty

When I was in school, every child who purchased a school lunch from the cafeteria was legally required to be given the choice of milk, chocolate milk, or soy milk.

We even had a "local" farm who had a contract with the school district to have milk vending machines that sold 20 ounce bottles of strawberry, mocha, etc milks. That lasted until the district signed a contract with Pepsi, who was then granted the right to have their beverages be the only drinks to be sold in vending machines.

It's really sad the way so many Americans even still hold so many goofy ideas about nutrition.

The number of people that believe there is some kind of protein (and fat) deficiency going on in America, I tell ya....it's to the point where even some menus now tell you how many grams of protein are in this or that, as if protein is some kind of superfood. All it makes me think of is all the tools saying "it's got electrolytes!" in Idiocracy.

And when it comes to things like milk (and steak. or hamburgers, etc.) things get positively ridiculous. I bet it gets a whole lot dumber for as long as Republicans have any semblance of power in any state in this country. Two states have banned vat grown meat, because of "wokeness" <- well, that is what they tell their dumbass supporters, but it's probably due to lobbyist money. Some people want to regulate what is called "milk", giving the same kind of reasons (stick it to the "soy boys").

I have no patience for lactose, and I won't stand for it.

For some reasons my wife became lactose intolerant, so we started to buy regular milk and lactose free milk. Then, we learned about oat milk and went all in on it, never bought cow milk again. Before I knew, I became lactose intolerant too.

As more and more people wake up to the effects of Big Ag and start asking questions about things like (real) nutrition as well as climate change and fossil fuel usage, and as things like vat grown meat come online, more people pick up veg*nism, I fully expect more ridiculous "culture war" stuff being ratcheted up by the unhinged far right. They've already tie up so much of their identity in things like eating way, way, way too much meat and consuming way too much dairy.

I expect their behavior to only get worse. And of course, it will be well-funded. The average wanna-be-macho magabrain idiot won't know that they are just pawns on the chessboard. The magabrain men especially think that they'll become women if they stop eating meat.

Hard disagree.