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Should humans consume dairy milk?
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  1. Should humans consume dairy milk? Explain your answer(s).
  2. Because humans do consume dairy milk, how should we mitigate the environmental consequences? Or, do you believe the environmental effects to be an acceptable trade-off for producing milk? Explain your answer(s)
  3. Research the diet of another culture or country. How does it differ from your own? Do they consume dairy? What foods provide essential nutrients for them? Reflect on your answers.

Take Action

  1. Explore the pro-milk site GotMilk.com.
  2. Watch videos about milk and milk products at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  3. Analyze “The Scary New Science That Shows Milk Is Bad For You” at Mother Jones.
  4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.
  5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives.

Sources

  1. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Milk,” britannica.com, June 15, 2021 “Milk,” britannica.com, June 15, 2021
  2. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, “Dairy Products,” fao.org (accessed Apr. 27, 2022)
  3. Richard P. Evershed, et al., “Earliest Date for Milk Use in the Near East and Southeastern Europe Linked to Cattle Herding,” nature.com, Aug. 6, 2008
  4. David K. Bandler and R. Paul Singh, “Dairy Products,” britannica.com, Apr. 8, 2021
  5. Pauline Osena, “Top 10 Surprising Foods That Contain Dairy,” huffpost.com, Sep. 26, 2016
  6. Kurt Suchman, “Wait, Are Eggs Dairy?,” food52.com, Apr. 21, 2021
  7. Amber Charles, “Pasteurized vs. Unpasteurized Foods: What’s the Difference?,” healthline.com, Mar. 18, 2022
  8. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Pasteurization,” britannica.com, May 4, 2021
  9. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Homogenization,” britannica.com, Apr. 20, 2021
  10. ProCon.org, “Raw Milk Laws State-by-State,” milk.procon.org, Feb. 2, 2018
  11. Matt Hale, “Exploring the Growth of Plant-Based Milk,” foodmanufacturing.com, Sep. 23, 2021
  12. USDA, “Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025,” dietaryguidelines.gov, Dec. 2020
  13. National Dairy Council, “13 Ways Milk Can Help Your Body,” usdairy.com, 2021
  14. USDA, “My Plate: Dairy,” myplate.gov (accessed Apr. 28, 2021)
  15. Stephanie Brown, “USDA Recommends 3 Cups of Dairy Per Day. Is It Too Much?,” verywellhealth.com, Nov. 12, 2021
  16. Jill Riepenhoff, et al., “Deserted: Access to Healthy, Fresh and Affordable Foods Is Elusive for Millions Who Live in Rural America,” ky3.com, June 14, 2021
  17. William A. Masters and Anna Herforth, “3 Billion People Cannot Afford a Healthy Diet,” theconversation.com, July 9, 2021
  18. National Institutes of Health Institute on Aging, “Healthy Eating As You Age: Know Your Food Groups,” nia.nih.gov, Feb. 25, 2022
  19. Mahshid Dehghan, et al., “Association of Dairy Intake with Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in 21 Countries from Five Continents (Pure): A Prospective Cohort Study,” thelancet.com, Nov. 24, 2018
  20. Sophie Putka, “Is Milk Bad for You? Here’s What the Science Says, “ discovermagazine.com, Jan. 26, 2021
  21. Emiko Terazono in London and Camilla Hodgson, “How Methane-Producing Cows Leapt to the Frontline of Climate Change,” ft.com, Oct. 10, 2021
  22. Kat Smith, “Is Cheese Worse for the Planet Than Beef?,” livekindly.co (accessed May 4, 2022)
  23. Emily Lombardo, “Some Less than Brie-lliant News…,” thecapture.club, May 18, 2021
  24. Tanya Lewis, “The Top 10 Foods with the Biggest Environmental Footprint,” businessinsider.com, Sep. 19, 2015
  25. Samuel Webb, “Is Dairy or Meat Worse for the Environment?,” independent.co.uk, Oct. 30, 2021
  26. Hannah Ritchie, “Dairy vs. Plant-Based Milk: What Are the Environmental Impacts?,” ourworldindata.org, Jan. 19, 2022
  27. Christian Løvold Storhaug, Svein Kjetil Fosse, and Lars T. Fadnes, “Country, Regional, and Global Estimates for Lactose Malabsorption in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” thelancet.com, July 6, 2017
  28. Harvard Health Publishing, “The Sweet Danger of Sugar,” health.harvard.edu, Jan. 6, 2022
  29. Brenda Goodman, “Rethinking Milk: Science Takes On the Dairy Dilemma,” webmd.com, Feb. 14, 2020
  30. Congressional Research Service (CRS), “Animal Waste and Water Quality: EPA’s Response to the Waterkeeper Alliance Court Decision on Regulation of CAFOs,”  Sep. 20, 2006
  31. Congressional Research Service (CRS), “Food Biotechnology in the United States: Science, Regulation, and Issues,”  Jan. 19, 2001
  32. Douglas H. Goff, “Clarification and Cream Separation,” foodsci.uoguelph.ca (accessed Aug. 18, 2008)
  33. The Family Farm Project, “Farm School: Time to Milk,” familyfarmproject.com (accessed Sep. 28, 2007)
  34. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Livestocks Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options,”  2006
  35. Parmalat Australia Ltd., “Student Info: How Milk is Made,” parmalat.com (accessed Sep. 28, 2007)
  36. USDA, “2019 Milk Production,” fmmacentral.com, Feb. 2020
  37. USDA, “Farm Milk Production,” ers.usda.gov, Nov. 12, 2019
  38. USDA, “Milk Production,” usda.gov, Mar. 19, 2020
  39. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, “Food Sources of Calcium,” dietaryguidelines.gov, 2019
  40. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, “Calcium,” ods.od.nih.gov, June 2, 2022