It's that time of the week!

Please note that this content is not intended to belittle anybody or make other people out to look better than others - and likewise - I ask that the same occurs in the comments. For those interested in further discussion, or have questions or concerns about pursuing a dairy-free lifestyle, PM me! It's all love here - love for animals, the environment, the planet's resources and of course, your health

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1. Cows need to be impregnated to produce milk
2. This is done by a farmer placing one hand into the rectum of a cow direct the syringe and injecting semen with the other hand.
3. The cow will then have a calf (if female, she will become a dairy cow, if it's a male, he will go to the veal industry. Calves of dairy cows are generally separated from their mothers within the first 24 hours after birth.
4. After a few pregancies, the cow is “spent” and sent to slaughterhouse
5. A cow can live 20 years in ideal conditions - most cows are “culled” at around 4-5 years old.
6. Cows go through dehorning - done with a knife or acid paste. Both are very painful.
7. Half of dairy cows go through tail docking. More than 90% do so without anaesthetic.
8. A consequence of the milking process is mastitis - a painful infection of the teats that 35%~ of cows will get per year.
9. The majority of dairy farms in the US still house lactating cows in tie-stalls.
10. International nutritionists have long been paid out by the dairy industry to spread false information about the health of their products.
11. Even companies like Ben & Jerry’s now produce great non-dairy food!
12. Dairy farrmers, producers and big-wigs the world over have ditched dairy - even John Robbins (as in ‘Baskin-Robbins’) is now an environmental and vegan activist.
13. There’s millions of other dairy alternatives for cheeses, creams, ice creams, desserts and milks
14. The dairy and meat industry literally indoctrinate kids at schools from as young as 2nd grade
15. Almost half of drought-affected California’s water footprint comes from meat and dairy production
16. The “humane” dairy industry of NZ has been found to do things like this
17. The UK government halved it’s dairy RDI last month - and the dairy industry body will spend $3.5m in the next 5 years to get it back
18. The dairy industry worldwide has been paying out politicans for decades. They even appeared in the Watergate tapes - when Nixon, having been paid $3M by the industry the day before went into cabinet and made a decision that boosted the industry by $300M+.
19. The industry lobbied to have a huge spot on the 20th century food pyramid - which was created by The Department of Agriculture to protect the interests of US agriculture. Why not have agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, or the National Insitute of Health or the Institue of Medicine plan and distribute it?
20. Dairy Management - a subsidiary of the Deparment of Agriculture - literally agreed to pay all of Domino’s adverdising costs if they put 40% more cheese on each of their pizzas.
21. The creator of a study that a dairy company then printed all over their products, as it appeared to promote the food, asked them to withdraw the packaging as the info printed was “innacurate”.
22. Members of the dairy industry intimidated, beat up and in one case bombed those who opposed their pricing wishes in the 1930s.
23. Amy Lanou, Ph.D., the nutrition director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), "Besides prostate cancer, milk has been linked to asthma, anemia, allergies, juvenile-onset diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and ovarian and breast cancer.”
24. In 1999, the PCRM filed suit against the US Department of Agriculture for unfairly promoting and protecting the interests of the dairy industry - and found that six of the eleven members assigned to creating US dietary guidleines had finanial ties with the industry.
25. The US government spends $38 billion a year to subsidise meat and dairy production, but only 0.04% of that to subsidise fruit and vegetables.
26. A British dairy spokesperson literally admitted in an interview that they purposely allow the public to hold unrealistic views of dairy farming practices.
27. A recent undercover investigation into a dairy farm found workers kicking, beating and stabbing cows - as well as dragging animals with ropes.
28. Rather than working to improve these conditions, under pressure from the dairy industry - many laws are now being passed to prevent whistleblowers conducting and sharing undercover investigations.
29. A recent meta-analysis concluded that getting calcium from dairy sources does NOT in fact, result in stronger bones and fewer fractures.
30. Dairy workers are beginning to receive prison sentences for animal cruelty
31. 1 dairy cow is slaughtered every 11 seconds - in the US alone!
32. This is how big government helps sell dairy milk
33. A farmer recently reports that the noises of mother cows crying and calling out for their stolen calves are part of completely normal practices
34. On many farms, this is where calves separated from their mother remain - in order to ensure narrow muscle to the taste of people who choose to eat them (veal).
35. No other species besides us drink milk beyond infancy
36. No other species besides us naturally drink the (breast)milk of another species
37. Dairy products are loaded with fat and cholesterol
38. Cows filter blood through their udder each day and uses dead white blood cells (somatic cells) to manufacture their milk. These dead cells are also called pus cells. When cows are infected with amstitis, the udders bleed then discharge pus, including bacteria, into the milk. This is allowed in milk products - at a rate of 1,000,000 somatic cells per ml in the US.
39. Even in cultures that try to respect cows, horrors still exist in the industry across the board.
40. The dairy industry last year teamed up with The Onion to produce satirical posts aimed at making dairy critics look like uninformed hipsters.
41. Harvard professor of nutrition David Lugweg, in a medical journal editorial for JAMA Paediatrics recently denounced all dairy products.
42. Milk consumption doesn’t protect against fracture in adults, he states - citing a recent meta-analysis.
43. He points out that people don’t need dairy in the diet for calcium - cooked kale has more calcium than milk, and nuts, seeds, beans and green leafy vegetables are all great sources of calcium.
44. Director of Austin UltraHealth Amy Myers says dairy is highly inflammatory, acid-forming and often full of hormones and antibiotics.
45. The dairy industry has turned to producing widely disliked and rebutted ‘udder truth’ videos - riddled with lies and falsehoods.
46. Organic milk isn’t the answer - it’s still chock-full of hormones that are harmful to humans.
47. Cows don’t need to be milked “anyway” - they nurse for their young. The sad truth is, whether your milk is organic, local, or full of rBST, it is the result of baby calves bein torn from their mothers so you can drink the milk instead.
48. You could save 50,033 GALLONS OF WATER a year simply by not consuming dairy.
49. Given the fact that female cows are abused, forced to reproduce, and have their babies taken from them - it is difficult to be a feminist and also a consumer, and proponent, of dairy production.
50. Dairy production requires a helluva lot of land.
51. Cows milk is intended to turn a 65lb calf into a 400lb cow - it is baby calf growth food. If you’re after a slim figure, it’s probably time to ditch it for good.
52. Urine, faeces and fertilisers from farms run off into our fresh water sources - reducing it’s quality.
53. Fecal matter in water creates significant health risks - such as salmonella.
54. 75% of us are lactose intolerant anyway.
55. The waste from a ram of 2,500 dairy cows is equal to that of a city of 411,000 people (Miami, Oakland, Minneapolis, Raleigh)
56. Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of amazon destruction.
57. Livestock is responsible for 65% of nitrous oxide emissions.
58. The meat and dairy industry use 1/3 of the earth’s entire fresh water source.
59. Livestock produce 7 million pounds of excrement every minute.
60. Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions - compared to 13% that all transport accounts for.
61. Livestock account for at least 32,000 million tons of C02 per year.
62. Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day.
63. Fracking uses 70-140 billion gallons of water annually - animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 TRILLION gallons annually.
64. 900 gallons of water are needed for 1lb of ceese.
65. 1,000 of gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.
66. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution and habitat destruction.
67. Livestock operations on land have created more than 500 nitrogen flooded deadzones around the world in our oceans.
68. 2-5 acres of land are used per cow.
69. 80% of antibiotics sold in the US are for livestock.
70. 414 billions dollars in externalised cost is used from animal agriculture.
71. Worldwide, cows drink 45 billions gallons of water and eat 135 billion pounds of crops for food each day - we are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people.
72. Worldwide, at least 50% of grain is fed to livestock.
73. 82% of starving children live in countreis where food is fed to animals, then the animal are eaten by Western Countries.
74. Dairy consumption may lead to breast lumps and “man-boobs”.
75. Would you steal a baby from it’s mother?
76. Dairy products reduce semen quality and male fertility
77. Dairy has a “nutritient blocking effect” on the phyto-nutrients of foods it’s paired with, including cacao, tea and berries.
78. There is no association between milk intake and fracture risk in women, even at high milk intakes.
79. The German Depertment of Dermatology stated “our deeply rooted beliefs about the wholesomeness of milk and diary products should be reconsidered”.
80. The consumption of cow’s milk in humans interferes with the sensitive endocrine regulatory network from the fetal period into old age.
81. The tumor-promoting effect of IGF-1 in dairy means that patients with tumorous disease should especially resrtict it
82. Dairy weakens the immune system
83. Dairy increases chance of cardiovascular disease
84. Dairy increases risk of cancers
85. Dairy increases rate of ageing
86. Dairy increases oxidative stress
87. Dairy is known to cause inflammation
88. Dairy causes significantly more acne in those that consume it
89. Presence of hormones and bioactive molecules in dairy cause skin imperfections
90. The industry heads actually think that consumers need dietary cholesterol
91. 64% of dairy herds in the US are infected with Bovine Immunodeficiency Viruses (BIV), which can also be properly reffered to as Bovine AIDS - the rate is 70% in Canada and 84% in Argentina
92. 68% of children who experienced extreme constipation - only achieving bowel moments every 3 to 15 days - found relief upon removing dairy from their diet
93. You can look like these guys!
94. Or these girls!
95. Cows are treated like this
96. and this
97. and this
98. and this
99. and this
100. There’s a higher risk of fatal prostate cancer associated with milk
101. If you choose to ditch dairy, I’ll help you along the whole way! So hit me up in my PMs

No thanks . I love my milk & Oreo mcflurry

This doesn't seem impossible since just thinking of my family, my sister and I have IBS (dairy triggers stomach bloating) and my mum is lactose intolerant but receipts?
This was a sad read and you have a variety of sources

Slay vegan icon

Thank you! I appreciate this so much.

That's fantastic!

It's so crazy right! All receipts are at the bottom (due to my link-laziness) - but you can find that one here via The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

I'm a white European so I'm not lactose intolerant. You won't take my kefir from me, next.

Those are all really sad, I knew cows (and animals in general) went through some awful stuff but didn't realise the horrible extent of it all.

I would love to get rid of dairy but I love cheese and chocolate etc too much.

I know vegan alternatives are available (I live with a friend who is vegan) - but I find vegan cheese to be absolutely foul.

Did you just omit it from your diet completely? Or do you enjoy the vegan alternative options?

They love milking sis Dont u enjoy being milked? Dont u?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yhC8sTbnew

None of them has convinced me.

I'm lactose intolerant, and thankfully

Milk

The OP is full of fake/outdated information anyway. As a veterinary medicine student, I can confirm most of those "reasons" are ******** like, go somewhere else with your asinine indoctrination ways and use a music forum for other types of discussions, thank you.

And yet I only need 1 reason to not ditch dairy

1. It's yummy

im cackling at the comics at the top
"thats so ****ing awesome" just takes all seriousness away from it

We are super-predators, and I don't think we should be sorry about it. I will keep drinking milk and I hope this practice will keep going on.

I'm actually about to make a wheel of special vegan cheese - but only for a special event coming up. I don't go out of my way to buy it, but may occasionally use it on pizzas (though I find them quite nice sans cheese). My go-to is nutritional yeast - which is as great sprinkled on as it is in sauces and other things! My all time favourite cheesy recipe is this amaaaaazing mac and cheese. I've made it at functions, for friends, for family, for friend's family, etc. and from vegans, vegetarians and avid meat-eaters alike I get resounding appreciation from all who try it. Maybe that's worth a try to dip your toe in just a little! Us vegans also find "alternatives" quite hit and miss - and some hate them altogether. It's certainly not a case of all vegans/vegetarians/dairy-omitters needing and loving every replacement on the market

So true

I barely have cereal so I'm okay.

However I won't stop drinking it.

No matter how bad you try make me feel.

No.