Ethical milk?

Question

Does it exist?
Im vegetarian (of the non fish eating variety!) and try to eat local/ethical/fairtrade foods etc.
I keep my own chickens for eggs but want to know more about milk (and milk products)
Is organic milk OK? Or is it still unethical? The only difference I can find is that it wont contain antibiotic traces. The calf still has to be removed though...right?
Can anyone point me to sites where I can research this more, as we drink pints of the stuff in this house!

Thanks!

Answer 1

Check with a local dairy of food co op to see if they offer raw, organic milk. I am fortunate enough to get it straight from my lovely cow, Abigail, who produces more than enough than she needs for her calf, Benji. If we dont milk her, she becomes swollen and engorged. I consider her milk to be a gift, and churn her cream into butter and make homemade cheeses from the milk and buttermilk. If you are using commercial milk, its likely the animals are treated as poorly as they are for the meat industry, including many "organic" milks. Local dairies are your best option

Answer 2

I think the only way to make ethical milk would be for you to buy a cow and when it has a calf, don't send it for slaughter but keep it yourself, even if it's male. Then let the cows stay with you even if they get old and don't produce milk. This would be highly inpractical though because you'd end up with a hell of a lot of cows and bulls.

The person who said that the cows were moo-ing to be milked... well, that may be the case but that's because the calf they are producing the milk for isn't drinking it and so it becomes painful if it gets stored up... just like breast milk from humans. Also, most dairy cows are pumped with drugs so they produce a far greater amount of milk than they would naturally which makes it even more uncomfortable.

I think the dairy industry can actually be a lot crueler than the meat industry... I know I'd prefere a short life of a few months before being killed compared to a 5 year life of being uncomfortable, getting my babies taken away from me every year and then getting killed anyway.

It is of course your choice whether to drink milk. I didn't like soy milk at first but I've grown to like it and would never think of going back to cow's milk. It's so much healthier for you to but I'm sure you've done the research and know that already.

I do think it's great you have your own chickens. I'm a vegan but would eat eggs from my own chickens if I had them.

Answer 3

The only way for organic milk to be 'ethical' sadly is if you owned the cow(s) and did the milking yourself. With the demand for 'organic' products on the rise, the prices have increased. So mainstream producers have jumped on the 'organic' bandwagon to bilk the unsuspecting public out of money. Much like in the way of the bottled water revolution, the 'organic' farms have been found to use cows from traditional farmlands, the only difference is according to the Organic Consumers Association, they confine the animals cruelly in close quarters, and prevent them from grazing in pastures. Furthermore, while soy milk maybe an o.k. alternative, the factories are outsourced to two countries that are always in the news for violation of worker's rights; which allows alot of things to slip through USDA guideline 'loop-holes' and when the USDA doesn't know about it, I suppose their stance is they can't justify an investigation.

Answer 4

I think the only way you could get ethical milk would be to visit local (small) farms. Perhaps some of them have humane practices where they only take SOME of the milk from the cow and let the baby continue to be with its mother. I know some FAMILY farms are this way (one family doesn't need anywhere NEAR as much milk as a cow gives each day) but not sure about ones large enough to sell their milk, even locally. I'm sure ALL the large places (ie. milk bought at the store) have unethical practices related to their milk.

Answer 5

Ha, I used to drink gallons and gallons of it! And the first time I tried soy milk, (Silk brand), I didn't like it...too beany. But then I found better brands, and experimented with soy milk (esp. 8th Continent), almond milk, hazelnut, rice milk, oat milk, etc. Rice and soy are the cheapest, so those are the ones I guzzle. They're a bit more expensive than cow's milk, but less expensive than organic cow's milk. I think you'll have a hard time finding ethical cow's milk, and if you do, it's likely to be expensive... I'd save cow's milk for cheese since that's the only dairy product you can't find an equal or better version of that's plant-based.

Answer 6

Calves need all milk in the early days, but as they start to graze they don't need as much, and there is some over. If the cow is regularly milked, she keeps producing more than the baby needs. I find it ethical.

Can you get to know an organic farmer and buy the milk at source? That way, you will know it is good.

Answer 7

Organic Raw dairy farms tend to be the best! Accoriding to the company we buy milk from for my husband, they don't make the cows come in, they go out to the cows to pump them. I know brands like Horizon Organics aren't very truthful about their practices, so I would boycott them! As others said, try to get to local organic farms and check them out to see how they do things!

Answer 8

I switched to vegetarian for ethical reasons about a year ago. I have no energy problems from drinking milk / cheese / yogurt / eggs.

I have cousins with a dairy farm, and the cows would go to the barn moooooo ing because they wanted to be milked.

Answer 9

ok ashley hes a vegetarian not a vegan are you vegetarain ashley? i drink soy milk and find it actually tastes quit delicious

Answer 10

no such thing as ethical milk!!!

You are not a vegan if you drink cow secretions.