Dark Side of Dairy report 2014

The Dark Side of Dairy – A Report on the UK Dairy IndustryTargeting ChildrenRealising the importance of getting people hookedon milk while they are young, the dairy industrybombard British schools with propaganda thinlyveiled as ‘educational’ materials.DairyCo run various projects, including ‘Food – AFact of Life’ which provides ‘educational’ resourcesfor schools presented to be about healthy eating,cooking, food and farming for children and youngpeople aged three to 16 years (21) and inevitablyteach children that dairy products are an essentialpart of their diet.Through the European School Milk Scheme, theEuropean Union provides subsidies to schools so thatthey can provide their students with milk – eitherfree for young children or substantially cheaper (thanusual price) for older children. The aim, as they say,is: “to encourage children to consume milk and milkproducts and develop a lasting habit of doing so.” Inthe school year 2010/2011, almost 27,000 tonnes ofmilk and yogurt had aid paid on it which cost over£8 million (22).DairyCo’s website ‘This Is Dairy Farming’ paints anidyllic picture when talking about the lives of dairycows: ‘they have access to nutritious feed, the besthealthcare and spacious pastures and barns. Dairycows are social animals that live and graze in herdsand they need exercise as well as rest.’(25) Andwhen talking about separating the calf from themother just one day after birth, they claim it’s bestfor both the mother and the calf completely failingto admit that breaking the bond between themcauses immense stress and that in nature, the calfwould suckle from their mother for eight to twelvemonths. And of course there is no mention ofunwanted male calves being shot in the head at aday or two old (see page 17).More SubsidiesIn 2004 EU dairy farmers received a total of €970million in direct aid from the EU, with UK farmersreceiving €119 million (26). Since 2005 records forfunding have changed which means it is not possibleto tell exactly what type of farming receives whatamounts.There are several school milk suppliers such as CoolMilk, School Milk UK, Dairy Link UK, that facilitatefree and subsidised milk supply to schools and all ofthem also offer ‘educational’ materials.The huge ‘Make Mine Milk’ campaign employingcelebrities to promote milk to young people is run byThe Milk Marketing Forum, a joint venture of leadingBritish dairy companies and milk co-operatives (ArlaFoods UK, Dairy Crest Limited, First Milk, Milk Linkand Müller-Wiseman Dairies). Of the £7.5 milliontotal spend for the campaign, a third comes fromEuropean Commission funding (23). However, just in2012, the Milk Marketing Forum received a subsidyfrom the EU of over £840,000 (24).All these campaigns and materials avoid mentioningthe unappealing practices that dairy farming is basedon, are very simplistic and offer a rose-tinted view ofwhat goes on at a dairy farm. The extensivelyexploitative nature of the industry is completelyplayed down, suggesting that farmers assist the cowsin their natural life and getting milk from the cows isdone without inconveniencing the animals. And thesimple facts that humans don’t need cow’s milk tosurvive, that cow’s milk is linked to many diseases andthat we have evolved to consume human breast milkuntil weaning, are also conveniently omitted.8