For the past fifteen years, my work as an animal photojournalist has taken me through the world of dairy production, far beyond the marketing campaigns, and taught me an entirely different story about milk.
Please see PDF of the entire article with stunning photography by Jo-Anne McArthur.
Pulling a calf from a dairy cow
When I was a kid in the ‘80s, cow’s milk was ubiquitous in school life.
Parents paid a token amount so that their child could have a personalized
carton of milk every day at lunch. We needed cow’s milk so that our bones
would have a fighting chance at growing strong, and preventing later-life
diseases such as osteoporosis. Since 1942, Canada’s Food Guide promoted milk
and dairy products as a standalone food group that we should consume, ‘as
available.’
However, in early 2019 sweeping changes to the Canada Food Guide provided an
evolved understanding of our nutrition needs; gone are the pictures of milk
and dairy products floating across the food guide rainbow, and they are no
longer included in the long list of healthy options for school snacks. Milk
and milk products are now lumped into the ‘protein’ food group and
surrounded by disclaimers: “Among protein foods, consume plant-based more
often”, and “Make water your drink of choice.”
Slick marketing campaigns still target in-school education programs that
tell parents and kids that cows are happy, and their milk is a necessary
building block for any child’s development.
For the past fifteen years, my work as an animal photojournalist has taken
me through the world of dairy production, far beyond the marketing
campaigns, and taught me an entirely different story about milk....
Please see PDF of the entire article with stunning photography by Jo-Anne McArthur.
Number of animals killed in the world by the fishing, meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage.
0 marine animals
0 chickens
0 ducks
0 pigs
0 rabbits
0 turkeys
0 geese
0 sheep
0 goats
0 cows / calves
0 rodents
0 pigeons/other birds
0 buffaloes
0 dogs
0 cats
0 horses
0 donkeys and mules
0 camels / camelids