Milk Comes From Cows, Not the Supermarket
August 28, 2009 - by Molly MannWhen I was about five years old, my kindergarten class went on a field trip to a local farm. I don't remember the whole trip, but I do remember very clearly milking a cow for the first (and only) time in my life.
The experience was such a tactile and immediate one. Not only was I touching a creature that I had previously only seen rendered in cartoons, but I could also witness the direct product of my labors in the pail below me. Now, every time I go to the grocery store to buy my weekly quart of milk (organic, of course!), I know exactly how that milk got there. But am I alone in that knowledge?
Well, to be fair, the way our milk gets to the grocery store isn't so idyllic as all that. There are no rosy-cheeked milkmaids perched on stools beneath softly mooing cows. Rather, cattle (even those raised organically) are herded into milking machines that suck the milk out of them through a vacuum. They get no soothing pat on the belly, no vocal reassurances to calm their fears about being forced into an enclosed space and hooked up to a computer.
Knowing this, I still think that milk tastes better when you get it straight from the cow. Maybe that's because it's unpasteurized, with all its raw goodness intact. Or maybe it's because it's the satisfaction of making such a primal connection with another creature. It's the difference between picking up a burger at the drive-thru and having someone special serve you a home-cooked meal. You can taste the love.
That's why I find it so sad when I hear children answer the question, "Where does milk come from?" with "the supermarket," as I've heard them do a couple of times so far. Those kids, through no fault of their own, are missing out on one of life's simple pleasures and a valuable lesson about appreciating the animals who sustain us.
