Milkipedia
Journey of milk from nature’s gift to market drift
Milk has been a part of our story for around 200 million years. It sets us apart from fish, birds, and reptiles. From tiny mice in the fields to huge elephants in the savannas, from bats in caves to whales in the ocean, no matter who we are or where we live, milk connects us all as a natural gift from our mothers.
No matter if you:-
- were a hunter-gatherer thousands of years ago or a NASA scientist today,
- grew up in a rural village or an urban metropolis,
- practice Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or any other religion,
- come from wealth or modest means,
We all experienced a phase where we depended entirely on our mother’s milk. Mother’s milk is the great equalizer, a universal experience transcending time, geography, culture, and status. It is the first and most vital connection between mother and child.
How the scene changed?
But then, you see a different picture altogether. Milk, which was so personal between a mother and her child, something like an unbreakable emotional bond, has transformed into a commercial product!
A product that is mass-produced, packaged, and sold on supermarket shelves worldwide. A product with a market value of billions is used as a raw material in almost everything we consume today.
So, how can a symbol of love be converted into a product of market campaigns? How does something deeply personal between a mother and child end up stored in our refrigerators?
To answer this question, we must change our attitude toward milk as a product only. Only then can we understand milk's journey from a symbol of love to a market commodity?
Seeing the origin of Milk itself may be helpful.
A Brilliant Invention
We all are habitual in seeing Milk as something that has always been here. We don’t think of milk as something that can have its history. Let’s have a look at it from a new perspective.
Sharing is not always caring
Have we ever wondered why nature has provided all mammals with this unique feature? Why such an indirect way to feed an infant? Why don’t mothers feed the infant by sharing her food with it?
Imagine a one-day-old lion cub sharing a tasty deer with its pride. What problems might it face? Looks like there are many:-
- A tasty meal may not be available; it is a jungle, not a restaurant.
- Chewing and digesting a deer is not a child’s game.
- No meal can have all the nutrition that a child needs.
- What if deer has some harmful bacteria in it?
Relying on external food is dangerous until a child develops enough capabilities. This is where an invention was needed.
An excellent invention
Evolution came up with an excellent strategy: The Milk.
If a mother can produce an entire baby, she can also produce food.
To be successful, this strategy needed to be perfect in two things:
- Milk should ideally match the nutritional needs of the baby.
- The timing and quantity of the milk secretion should match the baby’s needs.
And as expected, this strategy was perfect in both aspects:-
Nutritional Needs
All mammals produce different types of milk as per the needs of their infants. Human milk is rich in fats and sugars to support brain development, and elephant milk is protein-rich, which supports rapid growth in large-bodied calves.
Each type of milk is perfectly designed to ensure the survival, growth, and health of the species’ young. The solution is so perfect that the composition of the milk changes to meet the evolving nutritional needs of the baby as it grows.
Wonderful, right?
Timing and quantity of milk secretion
As you can expect, the Timing and the Quantity of milk also match the needs of their infants. For example, elephant calves need milk longer than lion cubs, so the lactation period for the former is much more extended than for the latter. The quantity of milk also differs depending on the size of both species.
The Purpose of Milk
So, nature has invented this brilliant solution for a very genuine problem. After all of this discussion, a couple of things should be clear:-
- Only a Mother secretes milk, not all female mammals.
- She produces it for her child only, not for anyone else.
- For some specific period and a certain quantity per her infant's needs, not her whole life.
- Suitable for the nutritional requirements of her child, not for some other species.
This conclusion is evident in the definition of milk itself.
So, where does all of it come from?
At the cost of repeating, I want to highlight the conclusion:-
Milk is just for babies with a specific quantity and time.
But then we see the Markets flooded with Milk. Around 6 billion people consume milk throughout their entire lifespan. How on earth is it possible to produce so much of it?
We don’t need the answers from someone else here. We all know that producing milk is a business. And we all know how a business works.
Imagine yourself talking to one of these businessmen whose main aim is only to earn profit for the milk business. Since it is only in our imagination, our businessman is pretty honest.
I’ll also add some facts to these answers for extra clarification. For this conversation, we will use a cow as an example.
So, let’s start the questioning:-
First of all, how do you get the milk at all? Wouldn’t the baby drink all the milk?
Yes, it would. But why would we let that happen? We separate the child from its Mother at a very early stage(in 24 hours).
What, within 24 hours??
Yes, why would we waste any time? It also helps us in saving all the “liquid gold.” It is even costlier than regular milk.
Mother's milk is quite different from the usual for the first few days. It is essential for the child. This milk is what we call Liquid gold or Colostrum.
Sometimes, this early separation negatively impacts milk production. But no worries — we have figured out some solutions.
What kind of solutions you are talking about?
Using our “intelligence,” we know what types of hormones are released in a cow when it has a calf nearby, and once we know it, we don’t need that calf. Brilliant. Right?
Also, cows are not that intelligent. That’s why we sometimes even fill the dead calf skin with hay. This helps lay down the milk by fooling the cow.
What? How cruel you can be?
How foolish can you be? Did you expect that a mother would happily sacrifice their milk for you without caring about her child?
But how do you raise these babies then? You will need more cows for future production as well, right?
Yes, we do need to raise calves. But we can’t “waste” Milk on them. After all, milk is such a high-value product. We use some milk substitutes to raise the babies.
This ensures that the final product reaches the ultimate customer who can afford its price. Poor calves can’t afford it. They are just a “part of the process.” They should be fed at the least cost.
Also, we don’t like the calves to suck from the same place where we are going to get the milk.
I can understand why you raise females? But what about males? They are not going to lactate in future?
No…, we don’t raise them. We only need a few of them to produce more infants. Others are just the by-products.
But there is a market for them as well. We sell them to the butchers who scrap and can use them for other purposes. Nothing goes to waste. After all, it is a business.
What????
Why you’re surprised? Haven’t you ever wondered why only a few bulls are compared to cows? Also, do you think we are in a charity business here? After all, raising a male calf is a very costly affair.
I’ve never think of it in that way.
I know.
But lactating would stop after some time. How do you keep producing milk continously?
Simple, once they stop producing milk, we inseminate them again.
And guess what? We don’t even need to depend on the natural mating process now. We artificially do it.
We extract semen from bulls and implant it in cows, causing them both some pain. But who cares? After all, pain isn’t considered a cost in the business.
Yes, overusing machinery may cause wear and tear and reduce life. But we have figured out that it is more profitable that way.
Do you keep repeating this process again and again during the whole lifetime of a cow?
Yes. However, the relentless cycle of forced pregnancies takes a severe toll on their health and well-being. Even when they are meant to live for 20 years, they only last for 4–5 years.
But we have figured out that it is more profitable that way. After all, who can afford an ideal cow just wasting our food?
I’m scared to ask. But what do you do to them once they are of no use?
That’s not very difficult to think of. We realized their salvage value by selling them to the same butcher again, where the calves have been going until now.
And if the law doesn’t permit it, we leave them on the streets to die either of hunger or eating polythene bags.
Even then I’m unable to see how you fulfill such a high demand of milk. A food meant for babies can’t be so much that whole humanity can consume it.
Well, our strategy starts even before the cows are born. We breed specific cows with unnaturally large udders to produce more milk. Our tech has enabled us to create cows producing more multifold milk than even an elephant.
This genetic manipulation causes them a lot of pain and health issues, like udder infections and difficulty walking. But, until and unless their final purpose is fulfilled, i.e., producing more and more milk, we don’t care.
It is very Gross man. How you can treat such a living being like like a Machine to produce Milk?
Simple, for money. It is a business, man. Milk is in demand, and people are ready to pay the price for it. Hence, there is a big market out there. And one thing is sure: the market can’t work with soft hands.
You treat milk as a product, and we treat their producers as machines. Nothing complex!
You’re the reason behind this pain and blood. The reason behind this redness of milk is you.
You come with a demand for human milk, and indeed, there will be an industry that treats humans the same way, up to the point that our laws allow. We will change those laws once demand skyrockets and it becomes a big business.
But once you start looking at Milk as a natural gift from a Mother to her child, do you think any of this craziness would continue?
So, honestly, the question falls on you:-
Why do you see milk as just another product to consume?
