Green Options

Conventional dairy production is a lot different from the idyllic farms you see in those Happy Cow commercials on TV. Real dairy production forces cows to live in close quarters, involves nasty growth hormones, and is just a pretty cruel business overall.

Milk’s quite easy to cut out of your diet, whether you’re using it to cook or drinking it straight out of the glass. If you’re thinking about avoiding dairy for animal rights or for health reasons, there are a slough of delicious options out there for you!

I was thinking of doing a post with a title like ‘In defense of cows’ or something along those lines.  This is not just because I’m a sort of carnivorous and contrarian guy (which I am), but because cows can actually do something that is objectively remarkable.  I know that lots of the readers on this blog are vegetarians or even vegans, and that is fine as a life-style choice for you. But no matter what your personal food choices are, it is worth thinking about what cows can do for the rest of us.

What Cows Do

One of the most abundant natural, organic chemicals in the world (cellulose), is something we humans can’t digest at all.  Cows are cool because they can eat cellulose and turn it into human-edible foods like milk and meat.  The reason that I switched the title of the post is that it isn’t actually the cows that should get the credit for this feat, at least not most of it.  Cows (and other ruminants like sheep, goats, bison, camels, llamas, yaks, water buffalos…) can only make this conversion because of the bacteria that they house in one of their stomachs.  In the whole world, there are only a few bacteria and a few fungi that have the capability of turning cellulose (the main structural polymer of all plants) back into the energy-rich, glucose sub-units of which it is made (bacteria also do that job for termites!).

I can relate to why many people have ethical issues with aspects of how beef or milk is produced today. But that does not, at least for me, mean that we should abandon the idea of harnessing the remarkable microbial process that has allowed ruminant animals to be such an important part of the human food supply in diverse cultures for millenia.  In fact I would like to see us refine not just the “animal wellness” aspect of this industry, but also its greenhouse gas issues.  

Ask the average kid where milk comes from and he might very well say a jug. Bread? The grocery store. According to research by Kingston University in London, kids need more farm visits to dispel the ignorance and misconceptions about farming and where food comes from. Scientist Frances Harris, the author of the report, wants schools to take action to organize these visits.

Even if your child knows that milk comes from a cow, does she know that there is more than one variety of cow? A hands on approach at the farm could also help kids understand which foods are real and which ones are processed. They won’t see any Pop Tarts or red, blue and green grains that could make up their Fruit Loops on the farm. Showing your kids where food comes from could set them up for a lifelong, healthier lifestyle. And actually being able to reach out and touch a cow is invaluable compared to watching a farm DVD or playing a video game.

If you love milk (from animals or a vegan option) but are tired of drinking it plain or having it with your cereal every morning, you can try to prepare some delicious drinks and frozen desserts from it. Here are a few recipes you can use to enrich your daily diet.

Ready for a skin smoothing, luxuriously scented treat for warm weather skin?  Then it must be Suzanne aux bains Nourishing Body Millk ($30).  Lightly scented with Chamomile, Lavender and Incense essential oils, this creamy-dreamy body lotion is a sweet little indulgence for the skin.

The first time I used Suzanne aux bains Nourishing Body Milk I really didn’t put much thought into it, until later that is.  I  received a sample sachet and quickly applied some of the lotion to my arms and shoulders on the way out the door.  Later, as I was getting ready for bed, I couldn’t help but notice how soft and smooth my arms were, and had to think back to even remember what I had put on them.  Well, needless to say, I purchased a tube the very next day.

In drier winter months a body cream or butter provides us with a thicker, richer form of hydration for the skin.  In warmer seasons we need to switch to something lighter and more regenerative.  Suzanne aux bains uses Jojoba oil for deeply penetrating hydration and Lavender honey to gently exfoliate the skin.

“Old-fashioned dairy, the new-fashioned way!  CyClone is the first major dairy to raise a herd of clones and clone offspring.  You could say cloning is our passion - where we combine DNA with TLC.”

That is what Cyclone dairy says on their website’s mission page.

Thank goodness it’s not for real…not yet anyway.

Raw nuts are a healthy addition to any diet, and in my house we go through them almost faster than we can buy them.  They’re a great snack on their own, added to recipes, or turned into milk.

Every week after I’ve make homemade nut milk (our favorites are almond or Brazil nut) I’m left with nut pulp I’ve strained out of the milk mixture.

This pulp (which by the way can be frozen for later use) is great when dried and ground into nut flour, or used in recipes like the raw truffles my family enjoys so much.

This recipe is quick, easy, healthy, and delicious!

Gooey melted cheese on pizza, a glass of cold milk with freshly baked cookies, ice cream on a hot summer day… who hasn’t at one time or another enjoyed something made from milk?

Dairy products are part of most American diets on a daily basis, but what is the health and environmental impact of this high demand for milk?

The production of much of the milk in this country is done in large scale-operations, some having thousands of cows.

That’s a lot of manure to be dealt with, this reduces the air quality (especially for people living near the dairy operation), and consistently finds its way into our rivers, streams, and groundwater.

Many parents and caregivers are uninformed that routine practices like providing healthy snacks and sharing utensils may increase their child’s risk of developing cavities, according to a new survey.

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), a leader in children’s oral health.

It found U.S. parents and caregivers are uninformed about cavity-causing bacteria and teeth-friendly snacks.   One result showed 96% of U.S. adults with children under 12 years old in their household thought a cracker was better for children’s teeth than a piece of caramel.  Starches, however, can also cause cavities like sugars, and caramels dissolve more quickly from the mouth than crackers.

Calling cows by name has been shown to increase their milk production, thereby cutting costs and reducing environmental impact.

Researchers at the University of Newcastle in the UK have reported, in the scientific journal Anthrozoos, that cows on farms where they are called by name yielded 258 litres a year more milk than those who were not called by name. Given [...]

Milk powder contaminated with melamine in China has killed six children and sickened nearly 300,000 children.  Now, those families are being offered pitifully small payouts from dairies to compensate for their children’s pain and suffering.

The affected Chinese families have rejected the compensation and are attempting to sue for a greater settlement.

Although the payouts total 1.1 billion yuan (US$160 million) for the melamine contamination, they are sickeningly low per child. A child who suffered kidney stones would get only 2,000 yuan ($290). Sicker children would get a higher compensation of 30,000 yuan ($4,380), and the death of a child would be compensated with $29,000.  Tian Xiaowei, an apple farmer and part-time truck driver, whose one-year-old child died from drinking melamine-tainted milk powder, explains is disgust: