I can’t remember a time when I was ever told not to drink milk. In kindergarten, the food pyramid lady would come in, and give lessons on nutrition. She would always emphasize the importance of drinking milk, “It makes your bones strong!” All my favorite celebrities would have the ‘milk mustache’ – promoting to drink milk. All those years I never thought of consequences of drinking milk. In my head, I’ve always thought that the cows lived on a farm with lots of cow friends, and they took a little milk here and there from the mom cows. I never knew what the dairy industry was, and what it meant not only for the cows – but for us.

Personally, I haven’t drank straight milk in over a year, but unfortunately I still consume dairy products which is something I’m trying to stop altogether. I have noticed a complete difference in the way my body feels, and how my body digests food. Ironically, before I gave up regular milk – I became lactose intolerant. This is something that will be touched on later. Besides all the documentaries, this one article by Spoon University stuck out in particular. I’ve compiled a list to spread awareness, and to advocate switching to alternative options.

• ANIMAL ABUSE: The conditions that these dairy farms are kept in are disgusting, and cruel. Baby cows are ripped from their mother at birth, preventing calves from drinking the milk. They are kept in crowded rooms, which are more often than not filthy. Don’t forget about the blatant physical abuse.
• SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: Humans are impregnating cows. They are pumped with hormones and are literally getting fists shoved in them. This is inhumane.
• MILK PAST INFANCY: Studies have shown time and time again that humans aren’t supposed to consume milk after infancy. Milk that is consumed should only be from the mother as an infant, and if the person fails to stop drinking cow milk then it can result in the person becoming lactose intolerant (literally me.) We don’t drink rat milk or dog milk, so why do we drink cow milk?
• IT’S KILLING OUR ALREADY DYING PLANET: According to the EPA, a 2,000-cow dairy generates more than 240,000 pounds of manure daily,and the runoff manure from the farms are harmful to the groundwater, rivers and streams.  This results in contamination, water pollution, and smog pollution.
• DO YOU LIKE DRINKING PUS?: People are drinking infected cow puss. The average somatic cell count in U.S. milk per spoonful is 1,120,000.

There are so many alternatives that taste so much better than cow milk. My personal fav is unsweetened almond milk, which has more calcium than cow milk and has better nutritional benefits. It’s almost 2019, and it’s time for us to make the switch to help our plant, and the cows.