So, I’ve recently converted to vegetarianism and am progressing to quasi-veganism, not because I think eating meat is wrong, per se, but rather because the conditions under which livestock and dairy animals are kept are often very inhumane. I was trying to find out if there were any brands of dairy products in particular that were “cruelty-free,” and from what I could gather, many people say that to produce milk for humans, cows must be kept constantly pregnant and separated from their calves. So basically all cow milk is inherently cruel. Is this true? I am skeptical just because I believe that many cultures around the world historically (and currently) which don’t engage in industrialized agriculture and don’t have sophisticated breeding/impregnation techniques still drink milk.
Any thoughts? If it is possible for milk to humanely produced, does anyone know of any companies that do so?
Also, for my purposes, “cruelty-free” means that the cows are allowed to move about and graze much of the day and eat grass and do general cow-y things and not be cooped up in horrible pens where they never move or see another cow or see the light of day. That being said, I’m honestly not sure how cows behave in a state of nature . . . I assume they are penned at night and herded during the day.
Thanks for any input
Our neighbors keep a couple of dairy cows, as well as beef cattle, and we get milk and some meat from them. They are all kept on pasture as much as possible, day and night, and only brought in for calving or particularly bad weather. Around here (Missouri, where grass is plentiful) the rule of thumb is 2.5 acres per cow. They all seem happy and healthy. All they do is eat grass and wonder around a big pasture all day.
They do have to breed the dairy cows to get them to produce milk. I believe (and I may not me 100% accurate on this) that the calves stay with the mom a few days, then are moved to another cow who has recently calved. One cow can feed several calves, and they’re good about adopting other cow’s calves. They’re kept in the same general area, but the one being milked is not actively feeding her calf. She is milked twice a day.
So it’s not a totally natural set up, but honestly, these animals seem pretty happy and chill about the whole thing. Of course, this is not a national brand, so I can’t help you there, but it can be done humanely. Check with local farmers.
I had relatives who ran dairy farms before the family dairy farm became unprofitable.
The cows had a pretty nice life. Got food, vet care, etc. Lots of hanging out in fields chewing cud. Very pastoral.
You don’t treat cows badly if you want your milk production to stay up.
Laying chickens, OTOH, can be abused in tiny cages and still produce. But it’s easy to find eggs from nicer sources.
There’s a lot of glurge out there. Take some of it with a grain of salt.
(And don’t buy raw milk. Okay?)
People invented things like cheese to tide them over for when the cow/goat/water buffalo/camel/whatever what running dry or at least at lower production.
Modern dairy animals are bred to produce more milk than their wild cousins ever did, and being milked regularly keeps them producing longer than they would if left to themselves. Dairy farmers really don’t want to have to get the cows pregnant any more than really necessary.
I think you’re pretty much limited to very small-scale operations or do-it-yourself. If it’s just for yourself you might be better off with a goat than a cow, goats are smaller and much less expensive to keep.
That’s pretty much diary cow life - if you don’t allow them a decent life their milk production falls off. Dairy cattle live better than meat cattle. The cruelty is mainly separating them from their calves, which does cause distress to the animal. In big operations the calves are just gone (actually, taken away for growing up to be new diary cows, or slaughter for veal). In a small operation were the calves are given milk from an adoptive mother there might be less distress, I wouldn’t know for sure. Other than that, they have a pretty good cow life.
If you want cruelty-free eggs you’ll probably either have to get a few chickens for yourself, or, like I do, find a neighbor with a small flock they take good care of.
It’s still mass production, but I recently switched to buying Bell & Evans chickens (when I buy meat, which is not often), because they are raised relatively humanely and especially killed humanely. They are anesthetized with carbon dioxide before slaughter. Whole Foods sells them. You can find out where to buy on the B&E website.
Modern dairy cows do produce more milk than their wild cousins did and probably don’t need to be kept pregnant but, from what I understand, impregnating them every 12-14 months will result in the most amount of milk being produced.
I can’t imagine a dairy farm where they would allow cows to stay with their young beyond the first few days. Any milk that a calf is taking, is milk that the farm can’t sell. Then there’s also the male calves to consider. Obviously a female calf will one day be able to produce milk so it makes sense to spend money to keep and feed her. Male calves? Not so much. They are generally killed at a few days old or raised for veal.
It really comes down to where you draw the line for what you consider to be cruel and whether you can find a dairy farm that doesn’t participate in all, or even some, of those practices.
I’m expecting at some point cattle AI will get to the point the farmer will be able to choose the gender of the calf conceived, after which most dairy cow produced calves will be female with only a few males being produced.