The Profligate Distribution of Milk
Introduction
In this time and age, there is a limit of sources within the United States Of America, and possibly worldwide. An article published on March 18, 2014 by Paula Marantz Cohen named “The Milk of Human (Un)kindness” expressed the concerns of public school systems wasting milk that is provided to students by a private catering company. In one of the nation’s poorest cities (Camden, New Jersey), students receive free breakfast and are routinely served milk — whether they want it or not. In the article, it states “Every morning, representatives from the company deliver the meals to her classroom. They tell the students that even if they do not want the milk provided, they must open the cartons and spill the contents into the plastic bucket placed near the serving cart.” After reading this article and researching the topic of dairy and the hunger in America, along with the stress it puts the cows through in order to provide their milk is astonishing.
Research Results
With a google search of “hunger in America”, plenty of articles and statistics appeared including organizations to help fight hunger. These sites exhibited the seriousness of poverty and hunger within the United States of America. The organization “Feeding America” states the statistics of the food insecurity: “According to the USDA’s latest Household Food Insecurity in the United States report, more than 35 million people in the United States struggled with hunger in 2019.” The National Geographic, a reliable source, has put out a video published in 2014 about the hunger crises that rises in America. The families in the video cry out for help and questioning when their next meal will be.
The charts from the credible source npr.org show the statistics of food scarcity in the United States Of America from 2004–2019 by year, nationality, and age.
It is hard to turn a blind eye to the atrocities that cows endure during the process of extracting their milk. The process of extracting milk is not natural anymore with the amount of people that consume it in the United States Of America. A modern farmer, Mark Kurlansky wrote the article “Inside the Milk Machine: How Modern Dairy Works”, took a trip to Ronnybrook Farm in New York to see for himself how milking is done. Kurlansky states, “Cows spend their lives being ‘constantly impregnated in order to produce milk. Bulls can be difficult, so the majority of dairy cows are now artificially inseminated. Sex is a thing of the past. Antibiotics cure infections. Hormones have been designed to increase milk production.” The activists “Animal Equality” also covered this topic “How the Dairy Industry Hurts Cows” The article by Kim Johnson conveys the truths to dairy farming. The activists take the claims to social media as well as evidences to show the cruel effects of dairy farming. Johnson writes, “COWS ARE FORCIBLY IMPREGNATED: Just like humans, cows only produce milk once they’ve given birth. So to keep the milk flowing, farmers artificially inseminate female cows about once a year.” The families of the cows are torn apart because once the mother gives birth, the baby is taken away. There is a dark truth when pouring out that milk that was left untouched.
All in all, the school systems should not be wasting milk that the students do not want to consume. The profligate distribution of milk in the United States Of America is very real as well as how the milk is sourced. Before dumping out that carton of milk, think about where it came from and the hunger that lies within the United States of America.
Works Cited
Cohen , Paula Marantz. “The Milk of Human (Un)Kindness.” The American Scholar, 8 July 2015, theamericanscholar.org/the-milk-of-human-unkindness/.
“Hunger in America Is Growing.” Feeding America, Feeding America, 2021, www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america.
Silva, Christianna. “Food Insecurity In The U.S. By The Numbers.” NPR, NPR, 27 Sept. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/09/27/912486921/food-insecurity-in-the-u-s-by-the-numbers.
Kurlansky, Mark. “Inside the Milk Machine: How Modern Dairy Works.” Modern Farmer, Modern Farmer Media, 10 Oct. 2018, modernfarmer.com/2014/03/real-talk-milk/.
Johnson, Kim. “How the Dairy Industry Hurts Cows: Animal Equality: International Animal Protection Organization.” Animal Equality | International Animal Protection Organization, Animal Equality, 16 Mar. 2020, animalequality.org/blog/2019/07/09/dairy-industry-hurts-cows/.
