Free Range/Intensive Milk

mjm3346

when you think of milk what image do you see?

I see any empty wallet on organic milk at 90p/ltr and cash for food with 1%fat milk at 44p/ltr

competitionscafe

There is information on Soil Association milk and organic certification standards here:
http://www.whyorganic.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf/ed0930aa86103d8380256aa70054918d/b74f2bfcf9e96dde80257149004cb426?OpenDocument

There is more detailed information (aimed at farmers but anyone can read it) here: [pdf]
http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=fwLb%2fW%2fRKdA%3d&tabid=132

Regarding calves, "Changes to the Soil Association standards on calf welfare came into force on 1 January 2010 which require producers who are still culling dairy bred bull calves to introduce a clear plan - with timescales - to end this practice. "
http://www.soilassociation.org/Farmersgrowers/Adviceandsupport/Livestock/Dairycattle/tabid/132/Default.aspx

Lotus-eater

competitionscafe wrote: »

Regarding calves, "Changes to the Soil Association standards on calf welfare came into force on 1 January 2010 which require producers who are still culling dairy bred bull calves to introduce a clear plan - with timescales - to end this practice. "
http://www.soilassociation.org/Farmersgrowers/Adviceandsupport/Livestock/Dairycattle/tabid/132/Default.aspx

Well they've got to do something with them.

I wouldn't mind eating more veal, as long as the price came down a bit and the availability went up.
We need Delia to do a show or two about it.



By the by, I buy Organic milk and the price is pretty much the same as normal milk, maybe a few pence more per 4 litres.

luce181

SmallEnglish wrote: »

I buy Moo Milk - I think that might come from "happy" cows

I buy moo milk too,

I love the 1% milk and it's all long life.

The moo website tells you about the company:

Here


Lucy

andrione1

[

QUOTE=SmallEnglish;21574575]I buy Moo Milk - I think that might come from "happy" cows

me too!

i really hope the cows are happy and it's not all hype. i feel very uneasy knowing that cows are suffering for a milky coffee.

(and thanks Lucy for the link)

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Veal is available in Waitrose. It is expensive, but a small, thin slice is enough for me and DD.

I think the problem is that, as some have said, if you want to drink milk, you have to take account of the fact there is inevitably a supply of unwanted calves. By opting to consume veal from over here, it is at least sending an economic signal that the consumer is prepared to accept the higher cost involved in higher welfare standards.

If I am at the supermarket or ordering in, I get organic milk. If I only need a pint and no other shopping, it has to be the standard stuff from the corner shop. DD drinks Moo milks in preference to other milkshakes whilst I actually prefer soya or oat milk myself. She has tried but doesn't like them as much (but will have the vanilla soya milk occasionally)

When asked what I 'see' in milk, I see the woman conducting my bone scan repeating it because, after so long on steroids and with a 4 generation family history, I 'should' have had signs of osteoporosis by now.

I see (and smell) the cattle, hear the machinery, the clinking of bottles, the sound and smell of the silvertops being opened. I remember the blue tits going for the red tops (homogenised full fat - remember that?) and being given the gold top by my granddad to lick the cream off because my mother thought milk was too expensive to waste on a child drinking it. She has osteoporosis now.

I see my DD pink cheeked and healthy, with shining white teeth, rather than with the blackened crumbling ones sported by the kids who live on fizzy drinks.

I also see calves. Note, not 'Baby calves'. What kind of anthropomorphic (and grammatically inaccurate) nonsense is that? I know they are used for veal. It's better than what happens to male chicks, although they are still very useful in terms of natural foodstuffs for animal conservation projects.

Whilst I believe that humans have a responsibility to minimise animal suffering wherever possible, I think anyone who has had children and fed them knows that it's pretty much impossible to get a let down reflex when tense or frightened. As such, it makes economic sense that the cows are kept as relaxed as possible.

Although, having read statements regarding blue cheese as being 'pus filled mouldy mammary secretions' and eggs as being 'chickens menstrual waste', I suspect there is sometimes some form of revulsion towards the female body involved, especially when I have heard the sentiment that a child who has innocently eaten a meat product at a party is 'disgusting and tainted by flesh'.

I truly believe that, if you wish to have a milky coffee, you should not allow someone else to make you feel guilty, but that you should make your decision based upon something more impartial/less emotive than 'Poor dead baby moo-moos!'. If you then decide that you are not comfortable with any dairy products, by all means make that decision.