Dairy: More Cons than Pros It’s no secret that some food products out there are unhealthy, bad for the environment, and maybe even unsafe for human consumption. Although people are aware of the negatives behind these foods, they still make the conscious decision to consume them. At least they know what they are getting themselves into. For decades, people have been told that dairy products are not only a healthy food option, but necessary for a healthy life. That’s not entirely true. The dairy industry is killing animals, the planet, and consumers, and none of it would have to happen if people would stop purchasing and consuming dairy products. The dairy industry is a cruel and unhealthy place for the animals in it. After birth, calves …show more content…
There are several factors that go into deciding whether products can be considered safe for consumption. One process in deciding for dair is SCC, or Somatic Cell Count. The SCC is a count of all the white blood cells existing in milk products. If a certain number is reached, the milk is considered infected. An article entitled Somatic Cell Count- Milk Quality Indicator states, “A threshold SCC of 200,000 would determine whether a cow is infected with mastitis… Cows infected with a significant pathogen have an SCC of 300,000 or greater” (“Somatic Cell Count”). It is also stated that in Europe, “milk with an SCC of more that 400,000 is deemed unfit for human consumption” (“Somatic Cell Count”). While 400,000 is considered unsafe in Europe, The United States Department of Agriculture allows for “Grade A milk shipments” to have a maximum SCC of “750,000 cells/mL” (“Determining U.S. Milk Quality”). It’s questionable what actually is safe for consumption. No mammal other than humans consume milk after infancy, and especially not from other mammals. Needed calcium is easily obtained through consumption of various vegetables and nuts. People just aren’t meant to drink milk. Dairy is the most common food allergy out there. A concept easy enough for kids to understand, an article from Kidshealth.org explains to lactose intolerant children, “[Y}our body starts making less lactase when you’re around 2 years old” (“Lactose Intolerance”). Because at 2 years of age, a person is no longer an infant, and therefore the body thinks that a person isn’t going to be drinking milk anymore. Dairy consumption can even lead to cancer. In an article entitled Milk and Prostate Cancer: The Evidence Mounts it is stated that “Major studies suggesting a link between milk and prostate cancer have appeared in medical journals since the 1970s” (“Milk and Prostate Cancer”). One of these studies indicated that “frequent dairy could increase
From a financial and marketing standpoint, the effects have been catastrophic. In some areas, milk production has decreased by an average of two liters daily and calving index (efficiency at which new calves are produced) went down by an average of twenty days (Davies NP). Th...
Over two years ago, both of my sister, upon viewing a documentary depicting how the meat on our plate gets there, decided to give up meat. To accommodate for my sisters since they have become vegetarians my family have made more meals that contain no meat. Finally a year ago, after some persuading, my sister convinced my parents and me to get up red meat. However, I am not sure if I should stop there. Should I become a full blown vegetarian? From what I have heard being a vegetarian has multiple pros including personal health and environment benefits, but I have also heard some negative things about giving up meat. So I wanted to decide for myself if being a vegetarian would be a good decision for me and the rest of my family. I believe that it is a great option for my family, but before making a huge decision like this I wanted to do my research.
In dairy products and in milk, there is a sugar known as lactose. In order to digest this sugar, you need the necessary enzyme. There are several different reasons for the inability to digest lactose: primary lactase deficiency, secondary lactase deficiency, congenital lactase deficiency, and developmental lactase deficiency. Cases dealing with primary lactase deficiency are most common. As babies, there are normally more lactase enzymes produced than needed in order to digest lactose. “Worldwide, most humans lose 90% to 95% of birth lactase levels by early childhood, followed by a continuing decline during the course of a lifetime,” (Thorn). By the time children reach about three years old, the production of lactase significantly drops. In some...
Since the beginning of time, people have been drinking milk. Even today you will find a gallon of milk in almost every refrigerator in America. Milk is, and has always been, a staple of our diet. Because it contains essential proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins, milk is considered one of nature's perfect foods. Unfortunately, throughout the last century milk has been subjected to many forms of modern processing practices, which deprive milk from many of its natural qualities and benefits. Therefore many essential vitamins and enzymes are lost. Processing milk has altered one of nature’s perfect foods and changed it into something nature did not intend. Because of the abundant health benefits in raw milk, this report will explain why it should be made legal for consumers to buy throughout the United States.
The idea of pasteurizing milk bagan in the 1920s, and later became an aspect of everyday life in the 1950s. Milk that has undergone this process is normally prefered since it is sterilized, therefore lowering the chance of human illness. However, it’s not the 1950s anymore, and the idea of pasteurizing milk has lost its luster for the people that now prefer raw milk. Unlike the milk that most Americans consume, raw milk has not been pasteurized, or quickly heated to a high temperature to kill harmful bacteria. In raw milk, these bacterias haven’t been removed, leaving people at risk. E. Coli, salmonella, and listeria are only some of the bacteria that raw milk carries, all of which can cause sickness, or even death. Common affects of consuming raw milk are diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting, but it's the rare ones: kidney failure,paralysis, and death that causes raw milk to be illegal in half of the states and illegal to carry over state lines in its final form. Nevertheless, people still actively seek out and consume raw milk because they believe its nutritional values to be greater. Controversies surround this topic on whether organic food
Many people nowadays try to be conscious of their impacts on the environment, but what if one of the main contributors of environmental destruction was something that the vast majority of people contribute to everyday, without even realizing the detrimental effects it has on the environment? In conversations about lessening one’s personal environmental impacts, some common points are using renewable energy, recycling, taking shorter showers, and not littering. While these are great steps to take, one subject rarely thoroughly discussed is one’s consumption of animal products. Switching to more sustainable meat is suggested by numerous environmental organizations, but
With the ever-growing population of animal lovers on earth, a more viable, humane solution for food consumption needs to be made, but why make a solution when there has already been one? Meat consumption has been proven time and time again to be unnecessary, but that doesn’t stop the average person from eating a double cheese burger with bacon. Unfortunately, many people are apathetic to what happens to animals in farm factories and continue to support them by buying their products, however, consumers should consider switching to a vegetarian diet because it’s more humane to animals, less farm factories being built can save the planet from deforestation, and with a proper balanced vegetarian diet anyone can maintain a healthy life without the
Animals trapped in factory farms are severely abused and tortured from birth to death. Chickens sometimes will be starved for up to 2 weeks and given no water to shock their bodies into moulting, chickens and hens will have their beaks removed to prevent fighting between other animals. Pigs will get their tails cut off to stop other pigs biting them off. These cruel procedures are done to minimise as few of animals dying as possible so more product can be created by the farmer. Within factory farms, animals are abused with overuse of antibiotics to prevent disease and maximise their body growth to create a higher yield of product. According to Animal Rights Action, 2 out of 3 farms are now factory farmed worldwide and factory farming is only increasing this is leading to more animals being raised for slaughter, abused and tortured, mentally and physically. This is not fair. How would you feel losing your child minutes after it's born? As within factory farms, female cows get their calves are taken away from them within minutes they are born never to be seen again. This leaves these poor female cows depressed which causes them to lose weight and because of this are slaughtered as farmers want to maximise their yield of
Factory farming began in the 1920s soon after the discovery of vitamins A and D. Shirley Leung said, when these vitamins are added to feed, animals no longer require exercise and sunlight for growth (B2). This allowed large numbers of animals to be raised indoors year-round. The greatest problem that was faced in raising these animals indoors was the spread of disease, which was fought against in the 1940s with the development of antibiotics. Farmers found they could increase productivity and reduce the operating costs by using machines and assembly-line techniques. Unfortunately, this trend of mass production has resulted in incredible pain and suffering for the animals. Animals today raised on factory farms have had their genes manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals to encourage high productivity. In the fast food industry, animals are not considered animals at all; “they are food producing machines” (BBC). They are confined to small cages with metal bars, ammonia-filled air and artificial lighting or no lighting at all. They are subjected to horrible mutilations: beak searing, tail docking, ear cutting and castration. The worst thing is that ...
Wagner, C. L., Anderson, D. M., & Pittard III, W. B. (June 1996). Special properties of human milk. Clinical Pediatrics , p 283.
Dairy Cows have been used by humans for thousands of years for their milk and meat, they were domesticated around 8,500 years ago and were introduced into New Zealand in around 1814. Since then cows have made a massive impact of the economy and meat & Dairy production. Today there are around 1.3 Billion cows worldwide. Left to live naturally, they live to between 15—20 years old. To live and produce good milk, Dairy cows require fresh grass and air. They function best living in open areas in small packs, as it allows them to be relaxed and stay reasonably fit. “Dairy cattle at all stages of their lives require food which is adequate to maintain their health, vigour,satisfactory growth, production and reproduction...The provision of an adequate supply of water is critical for maintaining dairy cattle health and welfare. The way in which daily water requirements are supplied varies between farms. Different classes of dairy cattle have wide variations for water needs during the year which, if not adequately fulfilled, can lead to rapid deterioration of animal health and welfare.”- Code of dairy cattle welfare issued under the animal welfare act 2010. Over time cows were used both for meat and milk, however, farmers found that specialising them and growing larger udders would be more of a benefit in milk production than trying to maintain their health to produce both. In 2006 New Zealand’s dairy cows produced 15,000 tonnes of milk. In the same year, we drank 90.0 Litres of Milk, 7.1 kgs of Cheese and 6.3 kgs of Cheese (per person, average). Overtime New Zealand diary cows have thrived in the climate and now the New Zealand owned dairy company, Fontera is one of the worlds largest companies. One of the main welfare issues with dairy c...
A majority of dairy farmers disbud their cattle to prevent injury to herd mates and workers so it has become a common occurrence and a necessity on almost all dairy facilities. Methods are chosen based handler health, calf pain, analgesics, and safe handling practices. Dairy cattle are disbudded because it prevents financial losses, requires less feed bunk space, and decreases overall aggressiveness of cattle (Sutherland et al., 2014). Disbudding is regulated by law but for some methods, like caustic paste, little is known about how it affects the calf. In most dairy facilities, disbudding is commonly done between 1 to 32 weeks of age because the techniques are easier for the operator and it is less stressful on newborn calves (Gottardo et al., 2011). It is important to consider all the research when determining which method of disbudding is the most appropriate because disbudding is commonly put under
Calving season is the time when the rubber hits the road in the cow business. After all, without a live and thrifty calf, all the anticipated payoff of expenditures in genetics, cow health, facilities, feed, labor, etc., are just wasted dollars. This section offers practical advice on genetic selection, passive immunity, calving issues, calf health, weaning, and
Cows go through a cycle of impregnation, birth and milking. 9.3 million cows are used to produce milk while they're impregnated. "Cows spend their lives indoors, typically on hard, abrasive concrete floors, frequently connected to a milking apparatus" (Farm Sanctuary). Cows are slaughtered for beef in the United States. These cows used for human consumption live for an average of 5 years because they are exhausted after all the intense torturing. "Young calves endure a long and stressful journey to a feedlot, where they are fattened on an unnatural diet until they reach "market weight" and are sent to slaughter" (Farm Sanctuary). Animal abuse in the food industry has allowed the companies to get more money because of the food they
Cows are naturally very gentle and calm creatures. These smart and sweet natured animals have been known to go to great lengths to escape slaughterhouses. More than forty-one million of these sensitive animals suffer and die a painful death each year in the United States. When cows are still very young they are burned with hot irons, there testicles are torn or cut off, all without painkillers. Most beef cattle are born in one state, live in another, and are slaughtered in another. The cows who survive the gruesome transportation process are shot in the head with a bolt gun, hung upside down by there legs, and taken onto the killing floor where there throats