The dairy industry is lying to you. 

Companies like Horizon, Foster Farms, and Nestle are using fear tactics and images of happy cows to persuade you into believing that milk can be beneficial. Not only are these companies being manipulative, but they also lie to consumers. 

“Got Milk?” advertisement campaigns have promoted dairy as a way to strengthen bones and increase calcium intake with no scientific proof. The government has paid its way to have milk added to school nutrition programs. This industry will do anything that it can to sell more product. 

Many individuals do not know what goes on behind the scenes — and once it is found, consuming dairy will become less appealing. 

Dairy is in no way healthy for humans; in fact, studies prove otherwise. Milk contains high levels of calcium, but so do other foods, like soy products and vegetables. Dairy is not going to benefit your body, a healthy lifestyle will. However, the media pushes that cutting milk out of your diet can be detrimental and cause bone thinning. 

But according to Joe Loria from Mercy For Animals, “populations that consume the most cow’s milk and other dairy products have some of the highest rates of osteoporosis and hip fractures.” 

Cows are given hormones to make them bigger for more production. According to Care2 Causes’ Natalia Lima, “many farmers give them growth hormones, which lead to today’s cows producing about 10 times more milk per day than they did a few decades ago.” 

Not only have these hormones been linked to cancer, dairy products have sugar additives for taste, which can lead to obesity and an overall decline in health. Cow’s milk is made for calves– animals that will soon weigh half a ton–not for humans wanting to maintain their weight. 

In Harvard’s School of Public Health article discussing the worst foods to consume, cheese and dairy products were on the top of the list. 

Since a calf stops nursing around the one year mark, the mother will no longer be able to naturally feed her young or produce milk. So, the dairy industry artificially inseminates them. Semen from bulls is taken and placed into an instrument used to impregnate the female cow. The cow is then placed in what is called a “rape rack,” and is impregnated. These “rape racks” are long devices that hold a cow in place so she cannot move away, holding many cows and usually exercised on multiple animals at once. 

This process is performed every year. After the cow stops producing milk, they are retired by the company. And no, this does not mean they get to finally see a nice green pasture. All dairy cows are also used for meat. Once they die from physical exhaustion or illness, they are sent to the slaughterhouse. 

Dairy companies want customers to believe that cows are treated ethically, but in reality, these animals are abused by the industry. Fifty percent of cows will suffer from udder infections which cause milk to become infested with bacteria, and plenty of them are alive when they have limbs amputated, PETA reports. 

These animals only live for a few years, even if they should be living for over 20. Being meat or dairy-free certainly takes a lot of self-control. However, cutting more of it out of your diet can have trememdous health benefits. 

Granted, one person going vegetarian or vegan is not going to change the treatment of these animals; fighting back against this sadistic industry only interested in money will.