All about Milk

A few months ago a friend called me and told me that her friend’s day care center had given her baby the wrong mother’s breast milk. Her friend went to pick up her baby after work as well as the milk bottles she had supplied them with – only one problem, the milk bottles were still full. So either her baby hadn’t had any milk that day or she drank someone else’s milk. The woman working there looked into what could have happened and, low and behold, she drank someone else’s breast milk. Disgusting!!! Can you imagine the precious little light of your life drinking some unknown mother’s breast milk? How freaking gross! Who’s milk was it? What medication is she on? What germs or diseases does she have?? Are they communicable? What kind of lifestyle does she live? Drug user? What can be passed on to my baby?! So the mother, full of rage and disgust, pulled her baby out of that day care (and actually out of day care permanently) and demanded back the money she had paid up front for the entire year. Does that seem like an appropriate response to you? I bet most of you moms and dads out there would have had a very similar reaction if it was your little nugget who downed some stranger’s milk.

Well guess what, you drink and feed your family another mother’s milk every single time you pour them a glass of cow’s milk. But it’s okay cause it’s cow’s milk right? Let’s think about why that’s so okay but drinking another human mother’s breast milk isn’t. Chances are that the human mom had taken a nice long shower that morning. Hell, she probably even spritzed some nice perfume on herself before walking out the door. She might have even had a good healthy breakfast. She’d probably been to the doctor and even the dentist within the last year. So hey, she’s looking better and better. Maybe we should all be drinking some of her milk? Nope, still gross. Even in this best case scenario of an average healthy mom the thought is still pretty disgusting right? If you think about it, aside from cow’s milk or goat’s milk, is there any other milk that you would find acceptable to drink? How about gorilla’s milk? Does that sound yummy? Pour that over some cornflakes maybe? How about elephant’s milk or seal’s milk or even horse’s milk. Any of those tickle your fancy? Probably not. The thought of slugging down a cold glass of chocolate flavored gorilla’s milk probably just doesn’t sit well with you. So why is cow’s milk okay? Have we been brainwashed or is there just something different about a cow or a goat that makes their milk yummy and acceptable?

Let’s go back to our example and compare this average human mom to the average dairy cow. I bet you that human mom doesn’t live covered in her own feces and urine and mud every single day of her life. Probably not. Well the diary cow at a factory farm does. I bet you that human mom wasn’t genetically manipulated and pumped up with bovine growth hormone (BHG) (a hormone allowed in the US but banned in Europe and Canada) so that she can produce 10 times more milk than she would naturally. The dairy cow is. I bet you that mom’s breasts aren’t hooked up to machines every day that tear her skin and cause painful pussing soars. The dairy cow’s is. I bet you that mom gets daily exercise and isn’t confined to a tiny stall all day. I bet you that mom isn’t impregnated over and over again to force her to keep producing milk. I bet you that mom hasn’t been repeatedly ripped of her babies right after they’re born. I bet you that mom’s body isn’t so thoroughly exhausted and abused that she can likely hardly walk by the time she’s shipped off to slaughter. The dairy cow suffers from all of this and more. Read the rest of this entry »