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A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

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Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#41
post #11

A friend of mine, a chemistry teacher, taught in an Indian school for a number of years. He said a huge problem was buying milk for the students that wasn't cut with bad water and/or other chemicals. They tried paying above market price, equivalent to the price of pure milk, and it worked for a while, but he kept testing the milk and found the vendor eventually started diluting the milk. I guess the temptation was gr…

It might also have to do something with demand and income levels. As both of them rise people who could afford buying unadulterated milk meant the vendor had bigger demands to meet. Now he could either raise the price, something which might be frowned upon. Or start diluting the milk unless he is caught and forced to raise the price.

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently many people in China buy imported powdered milk for the same reason - the local stuff may be adulterated.

Not that the powder being imported stops adulteration from happening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal There is a cottage industry in Australia and New Zealand of people sending back milk powder and infant formula to China, often with newspapers or other proof that the package originated in Australia or NZ. There's no guarantee that the "NZ milk powder" you buy in China is real, however a seale…

I'm surprised the response to grey market exporters is to limit sales.

Why not produce more? I don't believe there's a shortage of milk in Aus.

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#43
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the book he is referring to the generation before your parents. I believe because they did not have access to anything that was produced by a chemical plant

For me, that generation also did not have access to kale, quinoa, or avocados. Bananas and oranges were a rare treat, because getting them fresh was utterly impractical and expensive where they lived. One side were farmers, the other lower class city folk who got their chickens in cans, and had to over cook pork until it would shatter if you dropped it just to be sure that it was safe to eat. That generation grew up…

Quoting from the book:

Whether it’s lactose or kale, quinoa or turmeric (curcumin), you have to ask whether these were foods common at the table when you, your parents, or your grandparents were growing up. If not, it’s best to avoid them or consume them only occasionally.

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#44
post #31
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dairy is very unhealthy for grown-up humans... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3c_D0s391Q

Even the title cries clickbait. For what it's worth: life is deadly. Deal with it and eat what you like.

> life is deadly. Deal with it and eat what you like.

I agree, but in a situation were CVD kills millions we might want to look at an easy fix. And another point, kill yourself with you shit behavior is one thing, dragging 100s of innocent being along with you by paying for them to be bread/hurt/exploited/killed is another thing. A not very ethical thing, especially since alternatives are readily available.

Clickbaity or not, did you see this doctors points? He has quite a case going. Dairy is unhealthy to a point that we should not be so eager to pass this addiction (yes search for casomorphine) on to our children.

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say that video shows the worst of the dairy industry. I grew up spending time on a grandparents dairy over school holidays. It was nothing like this video. Yes you do have things like farms putting their arm up cows vigina and bobby calves being separated. But usually it's a clean and non-traumatic process. Things like the mastitis and blood in the milk is unusual. While I dont doubt there are some highly cruel a…

The vast majority of milk on supermarket shelves comes from factory farms operating exactly as described in the video. But even the best run boutique family dairy farms are going to have to figure out what to do with their male calves. Watch this recent German documentary to see the reaction when a Bavarian dairy farmer that takes pride in treating her animals well sees the ultimate horrific fate of one of her male c…

Wow. This is really, really awful. Thanks for sharing that video

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say that video shows the worst of the dairy industry. I grew up spending time on a grandparents dairy over school holidays. It was nothing like this video. Yes you do have things like farms putting their arm up cows vigina and bobby calves being separated. But usually it's a clean and non-traumatic process. Things like the mastitis and blood in the milk is unusual. While I dont doubt there are some highly cruel a…

The vast majority of milk on supermarket shelves comes from factory farms operating exactly as described in the video. But even the best run boutique family dairy farms are going to have to figure out what to do with their male calves. Watch this recent German documentary to see the reaction when a Bavarian dairy farmer that takes pride in treating her animals well sees the ultimate horrific fate of one of her male c…

1) My grandparents operation and a few others I have spent time with were from boutique operations. At least in the regions I have seen the majority of the market is not based on suppliers as you say. Perhaps there is data to the contrary as my experience is within 2 regional bubbles only, but your statement is not true in these regions.

2) I speed watch through a good part of the documentary. 100% there is some horrifyingly bad footage there. I feel its fair to note what I saw in Germany / France the animals are treated well. The horrifying footage was largely shot in developing countries in the middle east. This supports what my original comment was about, the information being provided shows a skewed view. And I haven't seen anything to change my mind that in some regions animals are treated well and looked after. And in others, they are not.

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#47
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guy selling a book sounds like bullshit. A 2017 study finds "no evidence that following a vegetarian diet, semi-vegetarian diet or a pesco-vegetarian diet has an independent protective effect on all-cause mortality." N = 267,180 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28040519/ Broadly speaking, a vegan diet is a diet of deficiencies. (Meta-analysis from oxford) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2018.…

Are you confounding vegan and vegetarian? Also, the study didn’t control for any of the other variables of his diet for example low sugar intake. You can eat as much vegetables as you like, if you eat a lot of sugar, your diet is still unhealthy. Even if the paper holds for vegan there is still a difference in living longer and living health. That’s why I stated the health span, too. I really recommend reading the bo…

*conflating

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#48
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you confounding vegan and vegetarian? Also, the study didn’t control for any of the other variables of his diet for example low sugar intake. You can eat as much vegetables as you like, if you eat a lot of sugar, your diet is still unhealthy. Even if the paper holds for vegan there is still a difference in living longer and living health. That’s why I stated the health span, too. I really recommend reading the bo…

*conflating

you're right... thanks. Can't edit no more though

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#49
post #44
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the title cries clickbait. For what it's worth: life is deadly. Deal with it and eat what you like.

> life is deadly. Deal with it and eat what you like. I agree, but in a situation were CVD kills millions we might want to look at an easy fix. And another point, kill yourself with you shit behavior is one thing, dragging 100s of innocent being along with you by paying for them to be bread/hurt/exploited/killed is another thing. A not very ethical thing, especially since alternatives are readily available. Clickbait…

I disagree. Not eating dairy products restricts your eating choices considerably. I don't know where this crusade against dairy is coming from (besides the internet).

It's very much normal to eat and drink milk related products, especially in countries with domesticated cows.

Re: A Milk Startup Takes on 300M Cows

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vast majority of milk on supermarket shelves comes from factory farms operating exactly as described in the video. But even the best run boutique family dairy farms are going to have to figure out what to do with their male calves. Watch this recent German documentary to see the reaction when a Bavarian dairy farmer that takes pride in treating her animals well sees the ultimate horrific fate of one of her male c…

1) My grandparents operation and a few others I have spent time with were from boutique operations. At least in the regions I have seen the majority of the market is not based on suppliers as you say. Perhaps there is data to the contrary as my experience is within 2 regional bubbles only, but your statement is not true in these regions. 2) I speed watch through a good part of the documentary. 100% there is some horr…

The point of the video is that dairy farms generate surplus male calves, which have to be disposed of somehow. The male calves may be treated well when they're being raised but it's those very same male calves that are often shipped abroad from countries like Germany to meet the fate you see there. This is an intrinsic part of the dairy business because cows must be kept pregnant to produce milk. I think you should watch the whole thing because you missed the point.

At least in the US, 80% of the milk sold is from factory farms, where cows are certainly not treated well.

https://www.organicconsumers.org/essays/how-boycott-milk-fac...

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