Vegan Club: Cows, non-dairy and #WorldMilkDay

It’s #WorldMilkDay! I love milk. I’ve seen a lot of crap going up about #happycows and a lot of unpleasant stuff about how terrible vegan milk is (including the insulting #blockavegan hastag). I thought I’d write a quick little post in the interests of balance so here’s a few happy facts for all you friends out there… 

1. The best chocolate vegan milk on the market is, in my humble opinion, Alpro. I drink a carton pretty much every week… it’s JUST SO GOOD.
2. I like soya or hemp milk in tea, almond milk on cereal and coconut milk in cakes – but they all work equally well. I love the variety of vegan milk on the market – back in 2009 the non-dairy options were basically soya or occasionally almond.
3. For homemade ice-cream I prefer coconut or almond milk!
4.  Hazelnut milk in coffee has become one of my favourite treats. If you haven’t tried it yet, you are really missing out – and I’m a massive coffee snob.
5. Every type of vegan milk I’ve tried has been fortified with vitamin B12 and calcium, so you can throw your deficiency theories out the window. Often iron is included too, which means vegan milk is actually a lot healthier for you than cow milk and lowers your cholesterol (bonus).

And here’s some of my favourite cow facts, alongside the dairy facts I find most horrifying.

1. Cows are incredibly smart animals, and research has shown that they display excitement when they solve a problem, recognise family members and enjoy certain types of music.
2. Cows produce milk for their babies. To get enough milk for us, we keep cows constantly pregnant and then take the babies away when they’re about one day old and kill them. Mother cows become extremely distressed and have been known to call for their babies for weeks afterward. Not so #happycows
3. Cows can live up to 35 years, but are killed in the dairy industry after just 5 because their bodies are so worn out from being constantly pregnant.
4. Cows in captivity have been known to jump 5 foot walls, kick and attack human handlers, learn to operate gate locks and even jump off freighters into water. Instead of concluding that we probably shouldn’t keep the cows captive, we now regularly mutilate and drug the animals instead. Enjoy your drugged-up murder juice..!
5. Cow milk is designed for calves (no shit sherlock), who gain up to 1000 pounds in their first few months and have four sections of stomach. For humans it’s not so beneficial, and millions of people develop lactose intolerance. Studies have shown that those who suffer from headaches, cramps, vomiting, rashes, asthma, fatigue, bloating and gas found symptoms greatly decreased, or even stop altogether after cutting out dairy.

So there you go! I hope you all have a happy glass of milk today :)

FURTHER READING:

Article on Issues in UK Dairy Farming – “Dairy Farming In The UK” from World Animal Protection

Cowspiracy – a film on environmentalism and particularly focused on the lives of cattle. Available to download for $4.95 or most regions of Netflix

Article on health benefits of vegan milk and cow suffering – “Cows Milk: A Cruel, Unhealthy Product” on the PETA blog