Not Milk!

March 2000

Milk Wars

Milk wars are all over the news lately. In December 1999, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sued the USDA, charging that the U.S. Dietary Guidelines and federal food programs are racist. They target the dairy recommendations in the Guidelines and the cow's milk requirement in the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs as inappropriate because the majority of people of color in the U.S. are lactose intolerant. In turn, the USDA's draft of the new Dietary Guidelines, released in February, places soymilk on equal footing with cow's milk as a good calcium source by including it in the dairy collective of the Four Food Groups. The National Milk Producers Federation tried immediately to counter soymilk's elevated status by filing a complaint with the Food and Drug Administration claiming that soymilk companies are co-opting "milk's good name and packaging" in direct competition with cow's milk. Most recent is a parody of the "Got Milk?" mustache ads by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which launched a new "Got Beer?" campaign. The ad, which trumps beer as healthier and less cruel than milk, whipped up an instant furor over what many believe is the reckless targeting of minors, particularly college students.

Drink Cow's Milk?

And yet, as these campaigns are waged, a fundamental question has not been addressed: why are humans consuming the nursing secretions of cows, anyway? In particular, why are adult humans consuming any nursing secretions at all? Humans are unique in this practice. We are the only animals that consume the nursing secretions of other types of animals, and we are the only animals that continue this peculiar nursing beyond infancy.

Got Nursing Secretions?

Nursing secretions are intended to go from a mother animal's nipples directly into her infant's mouth, and are designed to be an infant's sole source of nourishment until the newborn is developed enough to digest the regular diet of its species. At that stage, the body naturally stops producing the enzymes to digest nursing secretions. Humans call this lactose intolerance and consider it a deficiency, when, in fact, it is a natural, developmental occurrence experienced by the majority of the world's population. The ability to tolerate lactose beyond weaning is actually abnormal.

Calcium Sources

As for calcium needs, it is abundantly clear that calcium can be obtained from plant-based sources like greens, nuts, seeds, and fortified soymilks and fruit juices. In fact, western nations, like the U.S., with the highest rates of dairy consumption have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Eastern countries, like China, that consume the least dairy have the least incidence of osteoporosis. In addition, protein from plant-based sources is abundant and healthier than animal protein from milk. Cow's milk has been aptly labeled "liquid meat" because it rivals animal flesh in causing chronic diseases. Cow's milk is also the leading cause of children's allergies, including symptoms of asthma, which disproportionately affect African American children. Sadly, black children have the highest rates of asthma and the highest number of preventable deaths from asthma.

USDA & Agribusiness

So why, then, do we stop drinking human nursing secretions after infancy, then start consuming a cow's secretions for the rest of our lives? We are conditioned by the federal government's Dietary Guidelines and milk advertisers to think this custom is normal and essential for our health. In reality, our cow's milk and dairy consumption is a source of profit for U.S. agribusiness, which is subsidized by the government. Indeed, along with setting U.S. dietary health standards through the ubiquitous Dietary Guidelines and Food Guide Pyramid, the USDA's other charge is promoting markets for the country's agricultural industry. Can you say, "Got Conflicts?"

Folks, let's leave a cow's nursing secretions for her calves, shall we?