by Jack Norris, RD
Director, Vegan Outreach
When I tell people that I do not eat dairy products in order to prevent suffering, they often say, “But it doesn’t hurt the cow to take her milk.” Theoretically, you do not have to hurt an animal even to eat it’s flesh -- you can wait until the animal dies of natural causes. But we know this is not what happens. Similarly, dairy cows living comfortable lives and dying of old age is also not what really happens in most cases.
Dairy cows are housed in different situations. In the Western U.S., they tend to be on feedlots, where they live outside year-round, but are free to walk around the lot. In the Midwestern U.S. where it is cold, cows are usually kept indoors for most, if not the entire year. Some cows are in 'free-stall' barns where they are free to walk around the barn. Other cows are in 'tie-stall' barns as described in Scientific Farm Animal Production (1998), an animal agriculture textbook used at the University of Georgia:
In tie-stall barns, cows are tied in a stanchion and remain there much of the year; feeding and milking are done individually in the stanchion.
Whether they be free-range or factory farmed, dairy cows are no strangers to the slaughterhouse. Scientific Farm Animal Production states:
Some Holstein cows produce extremely large amounts of milk--more than 100 lb/day [over 18 tons a year]. Thus, in Holsteins and other high-milk-producing cows, great stress is placed on udder ligaments, which can break down and no longer support the udder. If an udder breaks down, it is more susceptible to injury and disease, often necessitating culling [i.e., killing] the cow.
Even when the udder doesn’t break down, it is unprofitable to keep cows alive once their milk production declines. Under more natural conditions, dairy cows would live fifteen to twenty years. This is not the case on modern dairy farms, as Scientific Farm Animal Production points out:
The average productive life of a dairy cow is short (approximately 3 - 4 years). Many cows are culled primarily because of reproductive failure, low milk yield, udder breakdown, feet and leg weaknesses, and mastitis.
USDA statistics show that in 1940, cows averaged 2.3 tons of milk per year. Despite large milk surpluses in the U.S., Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) was approved in 1993 to further increase milk production. The 1997 average was 8.4 tons of milk per year. Some BGH treated cows have produced more than 30 tons of milk in a year (Associated Press, 9/20/96). This year, Canada banned the use of BGH, citing concerns for cow and human health; but BGH use continues in the U.S.
Dairy cows are milked for ten months, and then are “dry” for two months. They give birth at the end of the two month dry period, causing them to start producing milk again.
When confronted with a bellowing cow, meat industry consultant and Professor of Animal Sciences, Dr. Temple Grandin noted, “That’s one sad, unhappy, upset cow. She wants her baby. Bellowing for it, hunting for it. It’s like grieving, mourning – not much written about it. People don’t like to allow them thoughts or feelings.”(An Anthropologist on Mars, 1995) Despite the anguish caused by separating the mother from her calf, Scientific Farm Animal Production points out that “Dairy calves rarely nurse their dams [mothers].”
Some bulls and cows who come from high-producing parents are used only for obtaining sperm and eggs in order to fertilize surrogate cows, so that the surrogate cows can give birth and continue milking. If the offspring is a female, she is usually kept for one milking period to determine her milk-producing ability. If it turns out she does not produce well, off to slaughter she goes, often accompanied by her biological parents who are deemed unfit for producing embryos.
Scientific Farm Animal Production says:
Many commercial dairy operators dispose of bull [male] calves shortly after the calves are born. Some bull calves are fed for veal, while others are castrated and fed [i.e., raised] for beef.
If the calf is lucky, he is killed in the few days after he is born (known as "bob" veal). If unlucky, he is raised to become "special fed veal," which is regarded as gourmet cuisine by some. Calves raised for special fed veal are normally kept in individual stalls chained by the neck on a 2 to 3 foot tether for 18 to 20 weeks (USDA, Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, 9/97).
Because they are often very young, or have not been able to walk for most of their lives, calves often have a hard time walking as they are prodded through the chutes leading to the slaughter floor.
Dairy cows are pushed to their physical limits. Some become crippled on the way to the slaughterhouses and they cannot walk off the truck. This can result in being dragged from the trucks by chains (The Down Side of Livestock Marketing video, Farm Sanctuary, footage from 1990).
An excerpt from a New York Times article (October 22, 1999), Urban Sprawl Benefits Dairies in California, has some interesting statements by dairy farmers:
The farms are operated with machine-like precision and a pure business philosophy. Asked if their cows had names, the farmers here chuckled.
"On a lot of those farms in the Midwest and back East, every cow has a name," Mr. Koopman said. "They're sort of pets. It's not like that here. A cow's a piece of machinery. If it's broke, we try to fix it, and if we can't, it gets replaced.
"Today, every cow has a number and a page on the computer."
Mrs. DeBoer said she had never milked a cow by hand, and never expected to. In the factory that is her barn, the employees, almost entirely Latino, manage the machinery.
"It's just a factory is what it is," she said. "If the cows don't produce milk, they go to beef."
So, it appears that milk does not do a cow’s body good. But what about humans? Like most people, I was taught in school that humans must drink the milk of cows. In fact, my high school health teacher gave a heartfelt, inspirational speech on the requirement of animal products in the human diet. With a choked up voice and a tear in his eye, he told us that people cannot be total vegetarians because humans cannot get calcium from plant foods. Was he correct?
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The dairy industry promotes milk as being the best source of calcium. However, there are many other excellent sources of calcium. The calcium in kale has been shown to be absorbed just as well as that in milk (Am J Clin Nutr 1990;51:656-7). The calcium in broccoli and collard greens is also well absorbed. (Note: the calcium in spinach is not well absorbed.) Many soy and rice milks are now fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B-12. Many varieties of orange juice are also fortified with calcium.
The calcium values for certain foods are listed on the right. Note that 1/2 cup of collard greens, kale, or broccoli is not very much to eat. You can easily eat over one cup in a sitting.
Plant foods that provide calcium offer other things that are good for bones -- vitamin K in leafy greens; and vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium in orange juice. Leafy greens also have folate which is good for the heart.
Some calcium-rich plant foods, like calcium-set tofu and calcium-fortified soymilk, are also rich in isoflavones (found only in soyfoods) which may help to make bones stronger (Perspectives in Nutrition, Gordon Wardlaw, Ohio State University, 1999). So, a serving of calcium-fortified soymilk –- which contains just as much calcium as a glass of cow’s milk –- is an excellent choice.
Many factors affect bone health – including exercise, adequate calcium and vitamin D, high sodium intake, and smoking. Weight-bearing exercise throughout one’s lifetime is one of the most important factors for preventing osteoporosis in women.
There are currently no studies on the calcium needs of vegans, and it is prudent to meet the recommended daily intake for calcium. Because they have not yet determined how much calcium Americans need with certainty, the National Academy of Sciences has not set an RDA for calcium. Rather, they have set an “Adequate Intake by healthy people” (AI):
| age | Ca (mg) |
|---|---|
|
1-3 |
500 |
| 4-8 | 800 |
| 9-18 | 1300 |
| 19-50 | 1000 |
| 50+ | 1200 |
Vitamin D is produced in the human body by the action of ultraviolet (UV) sun rays on bare skin (without sunscreen). Light-skinned people need 15 to 20 minutes of sunshine on their hands, arms, and face, 2 to 3 times a week. People living in cloudy climates need somewhat more than this, and dark-skinned people need up to 6 times this amount of sun. Extra amounts are stored for over the winter. People who do not get this exposure can get vitamin D in fortified soymilk and other foods, and supplements (J OF ADA, 1997).
It is important for people who do not eat any animal products to eat foods fortified with vitamin B-12, or take a vitamin B-12 supplement. There are people who say that vitamin B-12 is available in foods such as tempeh, spirulina (blue green algae), sourdough bread, organic produce, etc. It has generally been determined in the peer reviewed research that these foods are not reliable sources. It is unwise not to fortify your diet with vitamin B-12. B-12 pills are inexpensive, well-absorbed, and can do you no harm.
At health food stores, you can buy Red Star Nutritional Yeast Vegetarian Support formula which has vitamin B-12 -- as well as a cheesy taste. Here is a recipe for Nutritional Yeast Cheese:
Mix dry ingredients in saucepan. Whisk in water. Cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Cook an additional 30 seconds, remove from heat. Stir in margarine and mustard. Note: Cheese will thicken as it cools, or you may add water to thin it.
For more information about removing dairy products from your diet, please see the Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating and Why Vegan, copies of which you can order from our catalog.
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