Where has all the good

milk gone?

For centuries people have stayed healthy and active on milk and dairy products from cows grazing natural, herb-rich pastures. Grass is the natural food of ruminant animals like dairy cows. Research shows milk produced this way is rich in vitamins, essential minerals and the healthy fats that protect people against heart disease and cancer. Sadly modern dairy farming has turned against these natural foods. Farmers have bred cows to produce huge quantities of milk. To sustain this high production they’re given feeds which are, for them, unhealthy  – feeds such as cereal grains and soya. While most cows still graze at some times of the year, much of their diet is made up of chemically-grown grains from all over the world. What’s more the grass they are offered is often so highly dosed with chemical fertilizer that the mineral-rich herbs have been wiped out and pasture is deficient in vital trace elements.

As a result many dairy cows are lame, infertile and worn out by the time they’re five years old. The milk they produce no longer contains all the vitamins, minerals and healthy fats of naturally-produced milk. At the dairy the nutrients in milk are further damaged by intensive processing – including the unnecessary practise of homogenisation. This “factory milk” - the bulk of milk sold in supermarkets - no longer has the health-giving properties of the natural, pasture-fed food. However, we don’t have to accept the second rate. In the years following World War Two millions of people had their milk delivered straight from the farm. They chose to buy their milk from farms they knew and trusted. Because these farmers valued their customers, they made sure their cows stayed healthy by feeding them natural foods such as grass and leafy forages. Most of these direct-selling farmers – known as producer-retailers – have now gone, victims of government regulation and the power of supermarkets and big dairy companies. But there are still plenty of pasture fields across Britain. They could easily produce truly healthy milk, local milk – real milk. By choosing to buy direct we’d benefit – not just ourselves – but family farms, the countryside and the health of the planet.