A Little Bit of Milk Never Hurt Anybody, Right?

Most people think ‘it’s just milk’ but reality is a little more complicated than that. Let’s take a shallow dive into the dairy industry, starting with the most obvious reveal: milk comes from mothers.

A dairy cow, much like a human mother, doesn’t spontaneously produce milk because she yearns to be in service to humans. She produces milk because she’s recently given birth. Like a human mother, her instinct is to protect, love, and breastfeed her infant. Some farms will let her do that…for about an hour. After that, her calf will be taken away, often by force. You may have seen the viral video of a cow chasing a farmer's truck as he speeds away with her calf. If you haven’t, stop reading and look it up, then comment below if your mozza sticks are still morally neutral.

Let's talk about the babies.

Since male calves cannot produce milk, and are therefore deemed useless to a dairy farmer, they are either killed immediately via a gunshot to the head or sold to the veal industry. Once sold, they’re raised for a short amount of time before being slaughtered for their meat. Some are killed as young as 2 weeks old. We’re talking about infants; something you’d buy a stuffie of and give to your child because it’s "so friggin' cute". There is nothing more innocent on this earth than a cow, except for maybe a baby cow. These animals are incredibly gentle and trusting creatures. Imagine the suffering they experience. Imagine him looking up at his killer, perhaps suckling his fingers for comfort, not understanding what's about to happen.

There's also footage filmed by undercover activists of farmers hitting, slamming, and abusing calves that don't "cooperate" or move fast enough. So, if you’re still in the “milk is harmless” camp, you should know that you’re directly supporting these practices and the veal industry (AKA the murder and consumption of literal babies).

But what about the female calves? If our beautiful mama has a girl, her baby will have little to look forward to. Like her mother, she will be subject to years of cramped cages, artificial insemination (r*pe), back-to-back pregnancies, infant loss, painful diseases due to the overproduction of milk, and, the ultimate fuck-you: a trip to the slaughterhouse. In the age of progress, why are we still supporting the exploitation of the female reproductive system? If you consider yourself a feminist, and I hope you do, then it’s time to recognize women outside of your species as worthy of autonomy and safety.

All of this for a substance that isn't meant for human consumption. Don’t get me wrong, I know the history of dairy consumption and humans, and it's a long one! But, we don't live in the 1800's anymore. Most of us don't need dairy to survive long winters or treks through the desert. We have so many other options available to us that are better for animals and the environment. And let us not forget that there is nothing natural about the industrialization of agriculture. Your milk isn't coming from cows grazing happily in a field. Most dairy farms contain long rows of feed troughs, concerete alleys, and freestalls. Not a blade of grass in sight, nor the room to frolic or play, like the happy cows they should be (they're basically big grass puppies).

If any of this is new to you, this is just the shallow end of the animal rights movement. Swim out to the deep end and dive into other common practices in the dairy, meat, and clothing industry. You may just save a life.