Hello Everyone! again. I am going to be talking about cow’s milk. Although milk has several health benefits, its processing has an impact on the environment.
The milk we buy in stores generally comes from cows on dairy farms that are treated with growth hormones. In order for cows to continue to produce milk, they must be bred. The female offspring is separated from its mother a few days after birth. This way the bond between the mother and calf will not be as strong and therefore be less stress on the calf. This also reduces risk of disease and makes milking the mother easier and sooner. The calves are fed a whole milk substitute based on dried milk powder. This formula is less cost effective than whole milk. The calves are either bred or artificially inseminated when they are over a year old thus, starting the cycle over again.
The milking of cows, processing of the milk, and bottling requires a lot of energy. There is a lot of electricity used not only for milking and processing, but also for refrigeration afterwards. Next is the issue of packaging and the effect is has on the environment. Most milk is packaged in plastic bottles which are not always recycled by the consumers which can have a negative effect on the environment. In the earlier days, milk came in glass bottles which were highly recyclable compared to the plastic bottles of today. The transport of milk across the country requires fuel which adds milk production’s carbon footprint.
Milk is known for the great source of vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. Milk is important for bone health. Many nutritionist have recommend milk a part of a healthy balance diet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/07/milk-environmental-impact
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/807900/the-health-benefits-of-drinking-milk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/07/milk-environmental-impact
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/07/milk-environmental-impact
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/807900/the-health-benefits-of-drinking-milk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/07/milk-environmental-impact
Good examples of packaging, recycling and other environmental impacts. A major contributing factor to the "Milk Wars" (Soy vs. Almond vs. Coconut,etc)is the use of antibiotics, I think some examples of common antibitics used in dairy cows would have really demonstrated the health effects. According to a study done in 2008 on dairy cows the following antibiotics were found in 788 cows:
ReplyDeleteAmikacin 1
Ampicillin 8
Ceftiofur 69
Dihydrostreptimycin 3
Flunixin 269
Gentamicin 57
Neomycin 25
Oxytetracyclin 46
Penicillin 350
Phenylbutazone 3
Sulfadimethozine 193
Sulfamethozine 34
Tetracycline 21
Tilmycosin 6
Tylosin 1
http://www.animalwelfareapproved.org/2010/09/27/dairy-cattle-antibiotic-residue-review/
It's funny, they say, "milk, it does a body good," but they don't say anything about the harm it causes to the environment. From what I gather from your post, milk may do more harm than good on a large scale. When you think about it, staples like milk, bread and butter are item found in almost every home in America. The amount of negative effect that comes, not from its production, but from its processing, packaging and shipment are overwhelming. It is a great, healthy food, so we should continue to indulge, but maybe green technology can work on finding a more environmentally friendly way to process or ship it. Thank you for examining the effects of milk production. This was quite informative.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post! It made for a very interesting read. I found it intriguing how you mentioned the life and stress of the cows, I feel as if that's very overlooked. I never thought of how the life of the cow is so planed out and handled as if its just a piece of money, just as animals are treated in many other companies. Besides that, I found your environmental impact section to be interesting, I never knew the glass shipment method was more eco-friendly than the current one. I just wonder how milk can be bad for humans, as I always hear of how too much milk can be a bad thing, though you post does illuminate the health benefits of milk.
ReplyDelete