Have you ever experienced a moment that completely shattered your perception of reality? Not just a minor realization, but a profound shift that stops you in your tracks and forces you to question everything you thought you knew? For me, that seismic shift occurred when I stumbled upon a video exposing the brutal truth of the dairy industry. As someone who values compassion and justice, the revelation was earth-shattering, demanding a fundamental change in my life.
Sitting at my computer, tears streamed down my face as I watched in horror. The depth of cruelty I witnessed was incomprehensible. How could I have been so ignorant for so long? At 40 years old, I was utterly unaware that a cow must be repeatedly impregnated to produce milk. The sheer scale of this deception, perpetuated by the dairy industry, was staggering.
Like many, I had been completely brainwashed by the industry’s carefully crafted image of “happy cows” grazing in idyllic pastures, plastered across our screens and product packaging. We are bombarded with misleading slogans like “Milk, it does a body good!”, indoctrinated from childhood into believing these blatant lies. This cycle of misinformation spans generations, continuing unbroken until someone dares to challenge it. In my family, I became that disruptor. Now, armed with the truth, I feel compelled to illuminate this darkness and ignite that lightbulb of awareness for others to see, much like Street Hooligans challenging the status quo.
Forget the comforting fables you’ve been fed. Here’s the stark, unadulterated reality.
On a dairy farm, a cow is subjected to forced artificial insemination – essentially, rape. She carries her calf for nine months, just like a human mother. She forms a deep bond with the life growing within her, anticipating motherhood. When the time comes to give birth, within mere hours of nurturing her newborn – sometimes before she has even had a chance to fully clean the placenta – a worker forcibly separates them. The calf is dragged away or carted off in a wheelbarrow to a separate pen, far from its mother. The mother cow grieves intensely. She has lost her baby and cries out in anguish for days. This heart-wrenching cycle of forced pregnancy and stolen motherhood is repeated relentlessly, time and again. Why? So her milk can be taken and sold for human consumption.
The question naturally arises: what becomes of these stolen babies?
Female calves are destined to endure the same horrific fate as their mothers, trapped in the endless cycle of impregnation and milk production. Male calves, deemed useless by the industry because they cannot produce milk, are sold off for veal. The dairy industry has cunningly manipulated public perception, portraying veal as a delicacy to profit from what they consider a mere byproduct. These male calves are deprived of essential nutrition, confined to cramped cages, and brutally slaughtered at just a few weeks old. A few WEEKS.
Every cow in the dairy industry is ultimately sent to slaughter. Like humans, a cow’s body can only withstand so many pregnancies before it becomes exhausted, or “spent.” This typically occurs around the age of five. These mothers, still young in cow years – as cows can naturally live to around 25 years – are discarded and slaughtered.
But what about nutrition? Isn’t cow’s milk essential for a healthy diet?
The truth is, cow’s milk offers no nutritional value that is essential for humans. Do you drink dog milk? Elephant milk? Do you continue to drink milk from your own mother beyond infancy? The reason you instinctively answer ‘no’ is simple: you don’t NEED these milks to be healthy. The same principle applies to cow’s milk. In fact, scientific evidence increasingly links cow’s milk consumption to a higher risk of serious health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers like breast and prostate cancer. Milk does NOT “do a body good.”
Now that you are aware of the truth, what action can you take?
The solution is remarkably straightforward: stop consuming dairy. It is truly that simple and easily achievable. The market is now flooded with delicious and satisfying dairy-free alternatives. Almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, oat milk, and many more plant-based milks are readily available. Beyond milk, there are dairy-free yogurts, ice creams, coffee creamers, and even everyone’s beloved cheese, all crafted WITHOUT dairy. These plant-based options are free from the harmful components found in dairy products, and choosing them allows you to take pride in no longer supporting a cruel, abhorrent, and torturous industry.
If you are a woman, ask yourself: how would you feel if you were forced into repeated pregnancies, only to have your newborn baby snatched away from you each time? How would you feel if your milk was relentlessly harvested until your body was utterly depleted?
If you are a man, consider: how would you feel witnessing your wife or mother endure such treatment? How would you feel being considered disposable, sent to slaughter at a young age simply for being born the “wrong” sex?
Make the connection. Recognize yourself in them. See them in you.
Stop listening to the industry’s self-serving lies.
I don’t know if I have fully flipped the switch for you today, but I sincerely hope I have at least started to illuminate the truth.
Written By: Danette Godinez, 2nd Street Hooligans Volunteer Coordinator
Some of Our Favorite Vegan Dairy-free Brands:
Silk, Miyokos Creamery, Follow Your Heart, Chao, Daiya, Earth Balance, So Delicious
Sources:Keon, Joseph. Whitewash: The Disturbing Truth About Cow’s Milk and Your Health New Society Publishers, 2010 Print.
Forks Over Knives. Directed by Lee Fulkerson. Virgil Films and Entertainment, 2011. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005K23RS0/ref=as_li_tl? ie=UTF8&tag=forovekni-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B005K2 3RS0&linkId=59797ad3aa16ee6566576aedeb6204f4.
Health Concerns About Dairy Fact Sheet by The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, https://p.widencdn.net/mwhzyu/Health-Concerns-About-Dairy-Fact-Sheet.
