Written by Kathryn Dolan

The summer before I turned 18, I was hunched over a large bowl of Mac N’ Cheese. My best friend who recently went vegan, was sitting across from me shaking her head as I slurped up the stringy goodness. She didn’t say anything out loud, but her eyes said it all. You know better. 

It’s true. I did.

After watching a few Netflix documentaries, I learned all about the atrocities that occur on most factory-level dairy farms. For those of you that don’t know, here's a quick summary. (WARNING, it’s upsetting):

The mom cow is artificially inseminated by a farmer and forced to give birth over and over again in order to keep producing milk. Each time she has to witness her baby be ripped away from her. The calf is either A: killed and sold for veal, or B: raised as another dairy cow and the cycle continues. 

Sad right? Well unfortunately that’s not all. 

Dairy is not only harmful to cows, it’s harmful to the environment too.

It takes about 1,000 gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk, and almost 900 gallons of water for one pound of cheese. Livestock release an incredible amount of gasses into the air, with cows alone producing over 150 billion gallons of methane per day. One to two acres of rainforest land are cleared every second for cattle grazing ground, making animal agriculture the leading cause of rainforest destruction. 

I had given up meat completely for almost a year but I couldn't let. go. of. dairy. 

After doing a bit of research, I found out dairy contains an addictive compound called casein. When consumed, it triggers the same brain receptors that heroin and other opioids attach to. Obviously cheese is not as dangerous as heroin, but it did explain why I couldn’t seem to give it up. 

I reflected back on my childhood and remembered the, “Got Milk?” signs plastered on my cafeteria’s walls and the food pyramid that listed dairy as a vital and necessary food group. 

Turns out, the government signed an agreement with the dairy industry to promote dairy in public schools all across America. Students actually make up a huge portion of the dairy industry’s profit from advertising and selling milk cartons to kids in the lunch line.

I did some digging and discovered this alliance between the government and the dairy industry dates all the way to World War 1, when there was a major dairy surplus. The USDA Dairy Division began to heavily market and push dairy products through educational campaigns which linked milk to bone health, and listed dairy as the best source of calcium for children. 

I had to wonder, were either of these claims true?

Though dairy does contain a substantial amount of calcium, many products are loaded with sodium, fat and cholesterol. (Not to worry! There are so many healthful calcium-rich foods available like broccoli, kale, okra, almonds, sesame seeds, tofu, and fortified soy milk.)

As far as milk relating to bone health, it looks like drinking milk doesn’t actually benefit our bones at all. 

According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a large-scale Harvard study followed 72,000 women for twenty years and found no evidence that drinking milk can prevent bone fractures or osteoporosis. 

Another study of more than 96,000 people found that the more milk men consumed as teenagers, the more bone fractures they experienced as adults. Similarly, another study found that adolescent women who consumed the most dairy products, were at greater risk for stress fractures than those consuming less calcium.

I felt betrayed by all my favorite childhood celebrities, looking down at younger me in the lunch line with their milk mustaches. Ashley Tisdale, Micheal Jordan, how could you?!

According to the National Library of Medicine, over 65 percent of the global population is lactose intolerant. The more I thought about it, the more this statistic made sense. Of course it’s hard for us to process dairy, after all, cow milk was meant to help baby calves grow, not humans.

After learning all of this information I couldn't consciously feel good about consuming dairy anymore. I've been vegan for three years and the longer I go without dairy, the lighter and healthier I feel. Not to worry if you’re craving something creamy, there are so many dairy alternatives out there now. 

Here are some of my absolute favorites:

Tofutti sour cream, perfect on a burrito or a baked potato.

Follow your Heart cheese slices, great for grilled cheese. 

Miyoko cream cheese, for your bagel needs.

Violife cheddar shreds, definitely melt these. 

Oat-ly vanilla oat milk ice cream, tastes like frozen custard I swear.

So Delicious coconut milk yogurt, add some granola, mmmm. 

As far as milk goes, I prefer unflavored soy milk in hot drinks and unflavored almond milk in cereal. 

I leave you with this advice:

Take this information as an opportunity to feel good about what you consume. But please don’t feel guilty if you can’t afford dairy alternatives, or if you stop eating dairy for a while then slip up and eat some ice cream, it’s OK! Consciously cutting down on dairy is a great first step and you should be proud of yourself and your efforts. If you absolutely can’t part with dairy, buying products from local dairy farms is a great option too. You can actively help the earth, yourself and animals every time you go to the grocery store, good luck!