The Developing and Controversial Industry of Cow’s Milk

The Developing and Controversial Industry of Cow’s Milk

Often described as “Nature’s Perfect Food”, milk is the foundation of life for all newborn mammals (Velten 10). Milk has played a central role in the American cultural and industrial landscape over the last century, binding farms with urban consumers, placing regulators at odds with producers, and inspiring a constant dance between producers, consolidators, nutritionists and end-users about how it is marketed and sold (Smith-Howard 368). As I have become older I have gained a new yet expected intolerance to lactose. I never used to have a problem when I was little but as food economies are changing, so are our products. By the 1950s, consumers demanded standards for dairy products while also developing a growing concern about health issues caused by dairy fats (Smith-Howard 368). This puts all of us at risk for certain diseases including osteoporosis and heart disease. The females of all mammal species can produce milk but cow milk dominates commercial production. Cow’s milk was initially intended only for baby cows. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Humans are the only species that drink milk after infancy.

Milk is the first food of mammals, providing all the necessary nutrients for survival and initial growth until weaning (Velten 10). It is only a small percentage of the world’s population that actually drinks milk. Most people prefer processed dairy products, such as butter, cheese and yogurt. Cow’s milk is probably the most controversial of foods. Its qualities and associated

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dangers have been debated since civilization began, which has resulted in milk eith...

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...ia-ridden and harmful milk of times past. The history of milk is certainly not dull, and its future is sure to be equally as turbulent.

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Works Cited

DuPuis, E. Melanie. Nature's Perfect Food: How Milk Became America's Drink. New York: New York University Press, 2002. Print.

Knoblauch, Mark. "Milk: A Local and Global History." Booklist 107.21 (2011):13.

"Milk." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 May 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk

Smith-Howard, Kendra. "Pure and Modern Milk: An Environmental History since 1900." Publishers weekly 260.38 (2013):68.

Valenze, Deborah. "Milk: A Local and Global history." Booklist 107.21 (2011):13.

Velten, Hannah. Milk a Global history. London: Reaktion Books, 2010.