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Pigs Got Milk?

August 3, 2012 in MeatCast Commentaries | Tags: animals, Availability and Cost of Feed Ingredients, baby, Biology 101, breed, consume, cows, dairy products, dead, diet, economic, flesh, human, indoctrination, infant, insanity, Joel DeRouchery, Kansas State University, kill, lactation, lactose, Mackenzie Dierks, milk, milk replacer, milk sugar, nature, nursery pig, nutrient, pigs, podcast, Pork Checkoff, Porkpod, pregnancy, societal, speciesist, spray dried whey, starter pig diet, weaning, whey | 3 comments

Mackenzie Dierks, from Pork Checkoff:

“One of the things you touched on was a lactose source, such as whey, and its importance, and also the challenges it can create as a part of the nursery pig diet. Can you expand on that?”

Joel DeRouchery, from Kansas State University:

“Lactose is a very common nutrient that we look at to formulate into starter pig diets. Lactose is the milk sugar, so pigs really like the taste. It’s highly digestible in that transition period from the sow on into weaning. So it’s very typical we have some sort of lactose source from weaning, up until the pigs are about 25 pounds.”

“One thing that’s happened over this last portion of this year is that the lactose price has greatly increased. In fact, spray-dried whey is priced around 75 cents per pound. And if we go back historical, 4 years ago, it was 24 cents per pound.”

Reference: 7/23/12 PorkPod podcast “Availability and Cost of Feed Ingredients” (6:27)

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Well…

It seems that everyone’s getting dairy products except infant cows.

And, it seems that baby animals of various kinds are denied their own milk from their mothers.

Let’s back up a second and review Biology 101…

Cow + Pregnancy = Baby Cow
Cow Lactation = Food for Baby Cow

Pig + Pregnancy = Baby Pig
Pig Lactation = Food for Baby Pig

Human + Pregnancy = Baby Human
Human Lactation = Food for Baby Human

That’s what nature intended.

Now, a step-by-step sequence describing how humans have screwed with nature:

Humans want Cow Lactation.
Humans take the Food for Baby Cow from Baby Cow.
Humans feed Baby Cow a “milk replacer.”
Humans calculate the economic usefulness of Baby Cow in order to determine his or her ultimate fate.

and…

Humans want to consume lots of Pig flesh.
Lots of Pig flesh requires lots of dead Pigs.
Humans breed lots of Pigs in order to kill lots of Pigs in order to consume lots of Pigs.
Humans remove baby Pig from mother Pig as early as possible.
Humans feed baby Pig “milk replacer” from a Cow.

Conclusions:

Humans like to breed, kill and consume one type of animal in order to breed, kill and consume another type of animal.
Humans like to take what is not rightly theirs to take.
Humans have zero requirement for (non-human) animal Lactation.
Humans learn speciesist behaviors based on societal indoctrination.
Humans are capable of challenging social norms.

It’s time to stop disrespecting nature.

Live vegan and let’s stop the insanity!

Dairy Marketing…Untruth in Labeling?

June 13, 2012 in The Dairy File | Tags: alfalfa, alkaline, American, beef, business, calcium, candy bars, citrus pulp, commodity feeds, corn gluten, corn silage, cows, dairy, Darigold, distillers grains, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), fuzzy whole cottonseed, grass, grass silage, hay, Hormel, Idaho, idyllic, ion, Lucerne, metal, milk, milking, mineral, National Dairy Council, pastoral, pasture, profitability, red barn, Southwest, soybean hulls, soybean meal, steer, Total Mixed Ration (TMR), U.S. | Leave a comment

Things That Make Me Go “Huh?”

EXHIBIT B: DAIRY LABELS

Do you ever really notice the pictures on the milk jugs? I’m talking about those cute drawings of dairy cows on perfect green pastures, with– of course– the stereotypical red barn.

Take a quick glance at any dairy container and you’ll find idyllic pastoral pictures. I opened the fridge at work and found 3 different brands, complete with delightful farm depictions: Darigold, Hormel Health Labs, and Lucerne.

What the dairy industry would have you believe is that cow’s milk products actually come from cows living wonderful lives. But does the average dairy cow eat grass? No.

What do dairy cows eat? Let’s consult the Dairy Production page of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to find out what’s in their Total Mixed Ration (TMR):

Corn silage
Alfalfa/grass silage
Alfalfa hay
Corn
Soybean meal
Fuzzy whole cottonseed
Commodity feeds (corn gluten, distillers grains, soybean hulls, citrus pulp, candy bars, etc.)

No, the cows aren’t eating grass.

Do you notice something else? The Lucerne label says “Calcium Fortified.” Why would that be? Aren’t dairy products supposed to be naturally high in calcium? Why must they fortify?

Think about it for a minute…

Calcium is a chemical element (Ca) and an alkaline Earth metal. The calcium ion (Ca²⁺) is essential for human physiology, notably for nerve conduction, neurotransmitter release, and muscle contraction. Calcium is stored in the bones and teeth.

Minerals such as calcium come from the ground. Dark, leafy plants are rich in calcium.

While there is abundant calcium in milk from cows eating grass, dairy cows don’t typically eat grass. Are dairy products calcium-fortified because the cows themselves aren’t getting enough calcium?

Would the dairy industry– i.e. The National Dairy Council– make claims that “TMR-fed” cow’s milk is an “excellent” source of calcium if they didn’t fortify the milk?

Remember…

If you have more than a few cows, it’s not practical to “let” them all eat grass, over acres of pasture land. Why? Because milking occurs twice a day, without interruption. It would be costly and labor intensive to let the cows out, bring them in for milking, let them out, bring them in…

Dairying is a business, and profitability in any business depends on it running efficiently, with minimal costs. (The cows you see on pasture are likely steers being raised for beef, not dairy cows.)

Here are some realistic images of dairy farms:

I took pictures of this dairy in Idaho over 28 sec while traveling (as passenger) at 75 mph: