Spoiled : the myth of milk as a superfood

Why is cows' milk, which few nonwhite people can digest, promoted as a science-backed dietary necessity in countries where the majority of the population is lactose-intolerant? Why are gigantic new dairy farms permitted to deplete the sparse water resources of desert ecosystems? Why do thousands of U.S. dairy farmers every year give up after struggling to recoup production costs against plummeting wholesale prices? Exploring these questions and many more, Spoiled is an unflinching and meticulous critique of the glorification of fluid milk and its alleged universal benefits. Anne Mendelson's groundbreaking book chronicles the story of milk from the Stone Age peoples who first domesticated cows, goats, and sheep to today's troubled dairy industry. Spoiled shows that drinking fresh milk was rare until Western scientific experts who were unaware of genetic differences in the ability to digest lactose deemed it superior to traditional fermented dairy products. Their flawed beliefs fueled the growth of a massive and environmentally devastating industry that turned milk into a cheap, ubiquitous commodity. Mendelson's wide-ranging account also examines the consequences of homogenization and refrigeration technologies, the toll that modern farming takes on dairy cows, and changing perceptions of raw milk since the advent of pasteurization. Unraveling the myths and misconceptions that prop up the dairy industry, Spoiled calls for more sustainable, healthful futures in our relationship with milk and the animals that provide it. "Can any other food product be as staggeringly difficult and expensive as milk to get from source (in this case, a cow) to destination (milk glass on table) in something loosely approximating its original condition? Cow and goat milk was consumed only in fermented form for centuries (e.g., cheese, yogurt) until modern times. The rise of fresh milk drinking is unnecessary, expensive, bad for the environment, and nonsensical, and has grown into a huge industry only because in the early 20th century advertising campaigns convinced doctors and the rest of us that milk was an essential food. Mendelson's book is a history of the food she describes as "drinking-milk," referring to dairy animals' milk that is consumed in fluid form rather than as some kind of fermented sour milk or cheese. Contrary to popular belief, it never figured prominently in human diets until very recently. Mendelson argues that milk's rise to the status of nutritional mainstay - the first scientifically anointed superfood of the modern industrialized world - was one of the great flukes of food history. The founders of Western medicine had no way of understanding the genetic anomaly that allowed them, unlike most of the world's peoples, to digest lactose from babyhood to old age. In other words, today's mega-industry stemmed from a lack of scientific perspective. Mendelson further argues that in the case of drinking-milk's merits or demerits, early modern medical authorities' unquestioning faith in their own advanced knowledge lured them into misguided teachings destined to form the flawed basis of a huge - and soon troubled - industry that is now on the thin edge of unsustainability. From the Enlightenment era on, the seeds of many future dairy-industry crises lurked in an unavoidable bit of historical mistiming: Medical authorities arrived at a supposedly up-to-the-minute belief that "sweet" (unfermented, and thus full-lactose) drinking-milk was purer and more healthful than sour milk, well before crucial scientific advances that might have triggered some doubts. The purpose of this book is not to portray drinking-milk from dairy animals as a dangerous poison but to explain how milk is produced, and to debunk the idea that milk in unfermented fluid form is a food of unique virtues whose use goes back to remote prehistory. Along the way, she provides an interesting look at the history of the raw-versus-pasteurized milk debate, and how it has developed into not only a public health debate but also a 'personal choice' question adopted by those on opposite sides of the political spectrum"-- Provided by publisher Why is cows' milk, which few nonwhite people can digest, promoted as a science-backed dietary necessity in countries where the majority of the population is lactose-intolerant? Why are gigantic new dairy farms permitted to deplete the sparse water resources of desert ecosystems? Why do thousands of U.S. dairy farmers every year give up after struggling to recoup production costs against plummeting wholesale prices?Exploring these questions and many more, Spoiled is an unflinching and meticulous critique of the glorification of fluid milk and its alleged universal benefits. Anne Mendelson's groundbreaking book chronicles the story of milk from the Stone Age peoples who first domesticated cows, goats, and sheep to today's troubled dairy industry. Spoiled shows that drinking fresh milk was rare until Western scientific experts who were unaware of genetic differences in the ability to digest lactose deemed it superior to traditional fermented dairy products. Their flawed beliefs fueled the growth of a massive and environmentally devastating industry that turned milk into a cheap, ubiquitous commodity.Mendelson's wide-ranging account also examines the consequences of homogenization and refrigeration technologies, the toll that modern farming takes on dairy cows, and changing perceptions of raw milk since the advent of pasteurization. Unraveling the myths and misconceptions that prop up the dairy industry, Spoiled calls for more sustainable, healthful futures in our relationship with milk and the animals that give it Table of Contents 8 Preface 10 Introduction 18 1. Milk: Some Scientific Ins and Outs 31 2. From the Cradle of Dairying to the English Manor 48 3. The Rise of Drinking-Milk 70 4. Setting the Stage for Pasteurization 87 5. Pasteurization: The Game-Changing Years and Nathan Straus 121 6. Sour Milk, Briefly Rethought 157 7. Milk for the Masses: The Price to Be Paid 194 8. Technology in Overdrive II: The Animals 225 9, Technology in Overdrive II: The Milk 258 10. Reviving the Raw Milk Cause 291 11. The Future 328 Acknowledgments 358 Notes 360 Select Bibliography 392 Index 402