Should We Trust Industrial Dairies?
January 28th, 2011 | Food Security, Our Food, agriculture, big ag, corporation, Dairy, disease, global, greed, growth, industry, milk, monopoly, raw milk
Are the huge dairy corporations saving or destroying our world? Providing good affordable food for all or breaking up local communities and livelihoods? How nieve are we exactly?
A simple google search of industrial dairies around the world reveals all sorts of dairy industry abuses, some of the main ones being uncontrolled growth and monopoly, disrespect for animals, consumers and traditional farmers, unstable price fluctuations, disease, disgusting environmental conditions, unrealistic government subsidization, overproduction…in short global disarray. Their exponential growth models are unsustainable–clearly not working and definitely not providing the ‘hungry masses’ they claim to be so concerned about with healthy food.
As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
Is this really what we want our world to be? When is it enough? We have alternatives, we just have to choose them. Local, small scale cowshares like OurCows are one of the practical solutions. In many of our ancestral traditions, milk was mankind’s first food. Traditional communities in India have treated cows with respect and reverence for millenia. Perhaps we need to take a page from our past for once, and get back to living like Heidi again 😉
Historical Timeline: A brief history of cow’s milk, from the ancient world to the present
Please click here to help support Vancouver’s small dairy communities.
India:
India is an interesting case, from these articles we can follow how large corporations are destroying more traditional independent cooperatives:
- Dairy Cooperatives Backbone of India
- Women in Dairying
- Dairy industry will see significant new investment from large corporate houses
- Coca-Cola enters dairy segment
- Undercover Investigation Reveals Horrors in India’s Dairy Industry
Poland:
Poland is also an interesting example as it underwent drastic changes in it’s dairy industry when it joined the EU.
Restructuring Polish Countryside
“I don’t think you understand what EU policy is. Our objective is to ensure that farmers receive the same salary parity as white collar workers in the cities. The only way to achieve this is by restructuring and modernising old fashioned Polish farms to enable them to compete with other countries agricultural economies and the global market. To do this it will be necessary to shift around one million farmers off the land and encourage them to take city and service industry jobs to improve their economic position. The remaining farms will be made competitive with their counterparts in western Europe.”
Russia:
Jan 27, 20011: PepsiCo purchase of Russia dairy giant
The head of a prominent Russian dairy has said he will sack employees who have abortions or refuse to be married in Russian Orthodox Church ceremonies.
North America:
Please be warned, the videos in this section are very disturbing.
- Jan 2011 Washington State: Unscrupulous Dairy Boss Threatens to Sue His Farm Workers
- Sept 2010 USA: Costco, Safeway, Target, Wal-Mart, Wild Oats sued for misleading consumers in the marketing of organic milk.
Udders:
Zero grazing conditions – dairy cows
HSUS Exposes More Appalling Abuses of Dairy Cows WARNING disturbing images.
China:
Zhao Lianhai, the Chinese man who support meeting for parents who’s kids were killed or afflicted by the melamine-tainted milk is given a 2 1/2 year sentence in Beijing (at least 6 children killed and 300,000 with severe kidney problems).
South Korea:
Holland:
The Dutch dairy boom of the last decade has gone bust for some local farms.
UK:
England is currently up in arms about the mega-dairy that is being built on the model of the USA dairy industry.
Not in My Cuppa
Dairy cow welfare documentary This video is interesting as it details the health problems that come about from industrial dairy practices, although it doesn’t think to mention how grass-fed cows don’t get these same health issues. One in four cows are lame from having to stand on cement–insanity.
Ireland:
Milk Super Levy A Real Possibility
France:
Problems in the dairy industry
French Deal Creates One of Europe’s Largest Dairy Processors
Germany:
Muller Dairy giant covers up use of GM grain to feed cows in 2005.
New Zealand:
Coalition Against World Dairy Summit (New Zealand) This is a nice kiwi organization that is working against industrial dairy.
Fonterra–Induces cows to give birth early.
The Story of Milk
New Zealand-Uruguay:
NZ Trade Minister shares in Uruguay dairy farming could cost him the job.
Australia:
Australian Government is currently considering a new ‘animal welfare’ standard that would legalise the withholding of food from young dairy calves destined for slaughter for up to 30 hours.
Brazil-Italy 2004:
Parmalat crisis hits Brazil’s dairy industry
Argentina:
Dairy industry ‘very erratic’
Argentine Dairy Farms Tempted By Wheat and Soy
Umm….. no.
Obviously we need to look at alternatives.
Other than doing what most people are choosing.
Which is to drop milk entirely from their diet.
Oh, and good luck folks, with all those soy substitutes!