What are we really drinking?

By Kristen

We’ve all heard the benefits of dairy products in our diets. Milk can be a great source of vitamins and minerals such as calcium, vitamin A & B, carbohydrates, phosphorous, magnesium, protein, zinc, and riboflavin. However, depending on where your milk and other dairy products are sourced, we may also be ingesting excess hormones and antibiotics. On top of that, the cows often live in unsanitary conditions that harm the animals and the environment.

Large-scale dairy farms house hundreds of cows in small, confined areas. The cows are forced to stand in filthy pens, are not allowed to graze, and have a much higher rate of contracting and spreading diseases. Growth hormones, such as rBGH and rBST, are injected to increase milk yields but can cause serious health problems for the cows.

Factory farms also create huge amounts of animal waste that is contained in open-air lagoons (ew!) and have been known to overflow or leak (double ew!). This can contaminate your ground water, as well as surrounding rivers, lakes, and streams.

Cows are grazers by nature. They like munching on grass in the fields with their buddies. Why would you want to eat a product made by a creature that is forced to eat grain (and god knows what else) and pumped with hormones and antibiotics? It’s all about knowing where your food is from, and by purchasing dairy products from small-scale dairy farms that practice healthy, eco-friendly methods, you can sleep easier knowing that you, the cows, and the environment are as healthy as all can be!

The links below have oodles of information regarding how truly icky all that factory farming is and how great organic milk can be.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/dairy/#breeding
http://www.mindfully.org/Farm/Antibiotics-Factory-Farming-Facts.htm