This may come as a surprise to a lot of people, but raising cattle for commercial dairy products is a relatively new phenomenon. Well, that is not entirely true. There have always been small and mid-sized dairy traditions throughout Europe and to some extent elsewhere. But these are almost exclusively for production of cheese. Today, when we think of dairy farming, we are thinking of cow's milk. But it was not always that way. The American cowboys of the late 19th century were not moving milk cows, those herds were steaks on legs. The entire milk industry only came about in the middle of the 20th century. This is the why and how in case the category heading has not already clued you in.
I eat my share of cold cereal with milk as a speedy breakfast. My kids all drink milk with some sort of vitamin supplement as a type of healthy snack. Lots of it. Frankly, I am not especially settled on the idea, but my wife was raised on it, and I am very settled on domestic tranquility. So milk it is. We go through several gallons a week in this way. But what about milk is so healthy after all?
Well, for one thing it has plenty of calcium. We all need the stuff, but especially the young and the old. It has some protein also. And it is spiked with vitamin A and vitamin D. Calcium is present in plenty of other foods including broccoli., almonds, oranges, most beans, eggshells, and lots more. Protein and vitamin A are plentiful in most meat. And vitamin D your body actually makes by itself. So don't think that milk plays some sort of indispensable role in nutrition. We cook with it, but let's be serious, water will usually do in its place. (Except for milk chocolate. Don't even THINK about messing with that.) Milk and cereal is a new trend. So are my beloved milk and cookies. How did milk go from a drink you only got on a farm to a commercial powerhouse and woven part of our culture?
Marketing.
Beginning in the 50's dairy farmers hired advertising companies to create a demand for milk where none existed because they could make more money selling cow's milk than the cheese it was being primarily used for at the time. An endless barrage of television and print advertisements depicted milk as a healthy drink for many occasions. They took advantage of the popular ideas of the time that country living was to be upheld as ideal. Milk was a farm product that could be delivered to your doorstep. Cold cereal has been around for over a hundred years, but it did not begin to look like the enormous industry of today until milk began to be viewed as a requirement in every household. You also saw the rise of milkshakes and similar concoctions in this time as people looked for new uses for it. But the view that milk is a natural and beneficial product borders on absurd. It is a fatty, sugary stuff that should properly be classified as a dessert. No other mammal drinks milk past infancy - it is not a natural part of life to drink the milk of a cow. So why do we? Because we have been told to by people who stand to profit from our belief that it is an essential part of our diet.
This process of inventing a market from thin air happens all the time and is the holy grail of marketers. Advertising agencies have actually been able to warp western culture to suit the needs of their clients on many occasions. This is one of them.
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