help arrived from an organization called Dairy Management.
one slice contains as much as two-thirds of a day’s maximum recommended amount of saturated fat, which has been linked to heart disease and is high in calories.
Dairy Management, which has made cheese its cause, is not a private business consultant. It is a marketing creation of the United States Department of Agriculture
the same agency at the center of a federal anti-obesity drive that discourages over-consumption of some of the very foods Dairy Management is vigorously promoting.
Americans now eat an average of 33 pounds of cheese a year
the links between milk (or dairy) and such a broad range of ailments has not been well studied, at least by the medical establishment.
Yet if you speak with people who’ve had these kinds of reactive problems, it would appear that the medical establishment is among the last places you’d want to turn for advice.
the job of an agriculture department should not be to sell whatever crops our farmers can grow most efficiently, it should be to encourage the growth of crops that will benefit the greatest number of Americans. Those crops are not corn and soy, grown largely to create hyper-processed food or animal feed (and in turn animal products), but an increasing variety of plants that can be directly eaten by humans.
More on Milk
By MARK BITTMAN
Mark Bittman on food and all things related.
TAGS:
DAIRY, DIETS, MILK
Not surprisingly, experiences like mine with dairy, outlined in my column of two weeks ago, are more common than unusual, at least according to the roughly 1,300 comments and e-mails we received since then. In them, people outlined their experiences with dairy and health problems as varied as heartburn, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, eczema, acne, hives, asthma ("When I gave up dairy, my asthma went away completely"), gall bladder issues, body aches, ear infections, colic, "seasonal allergies," rhinitis, chronic sinus infections and more. (One writer mentioned an absence of canker sores after cutting dairy; I realized I hadn't had a canker sore - which I've gotten an average of once a month my whole life - in four months. Something else to think about.)
Although lactose intolerance and its generalized digestive tract problems are well documented, and milk allergies are thought to affect perhaps 1 percent of the American population, the links between milk (or dairy) and such a broad range of ailments has not been well studied, at least by the medical establishment.
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Yet if you speak with people who've had these kinds of reactive problems, it would appear that the medical establishment is among the last places you'd want to turn for advice. Nearly everyone who complained of heartburn, for example, later resolved by eliminating dairy, had a story of a doctor (usually a gastroenterologist) prescribing a proton pump inhibitor, or P.P.I., a drug (among the most prescribed in the United States) that blocks the production of acid in the stomach.
But - like statins - P.P.I.s don't address underlying problems, nor are they "cures." They address only the symptom, not its cause, and they are only effective while the user takes them. Thus in the last few days I'
In my opinion there isn't a heck of a lot of difference between these "animal protection" organizations and the industry and its
proxies.
Another way to think of this situation is what we have seen in the environmental movement since the 1980's. What I have observed is that once any organization grows to a certain critical mass things change. There is always a disconnect from the
grassroots and survival of the corporate entity is job one. It was a back room
trade off. An "I'll scratch your
back, you scratch mine." The
industry is changing of its own volition due to recent developments in animal
husbandry and the re-engineering of the animals them selves.
As far as I know these "animal protection" organizations have never put into print, spoke of or promoted animal rights. It is the media that has conflated these animal husbandry reform organizations with animal rights and many well meaning
activists become confused and support them thinking that they are convertly
animal rights organizations.
You talk about cattle and dairy culture being validated by TV advertisements; about a dominating culture of indoctrination; and how frightening social change can seem.
Where the animal movement has gone wrong for over 30 years is the story they shared. It is a message of suffering, cruelty and harm.
Guilt and shame never changed anyone’s heart or mind.
They now have a new sow that gives birth to about 20 piglets and that her body size is such that the old crates are too small, that they literally won't fit into the old crates.
There is NO humane solution to dairy other than just making it stop
that most calves are sent to auction 24-72 hours after birth.
the coming convergence of global warming, peak oil, population growth, ecological disaster and other factors will force a remedy upon us.
I am the eternal optimist and believe that people are capable of great things if given the opportunity. I have seen it time and again. It is about creating a safe place and a community where people can come and deconstruct their indoctrination.
I think it is important that although you may want to give up cheese it isn't all your fault that you can't, despite your will power. there is a component in the protein of milk called casomorphine. Yup, morphine. You are addicted as are so many vegetarians that want to eat a plant based diet. It is a tough addiction to break but to be informed goes a long way. One we understand that there isn't anything in any animal product that we need then it is recognized that it is only a want. Wants are easy to leave behind.