# Why Do People Drink Milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596 "2003-09-19T14:32:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/1 "2003-09-19T14:32:47Z")
Why are we the only species that drinks another species milk and to top it off drink it past infancy? ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/2 "2003-09-19T14:34:57Z")
Because other species don’t have the ability to domesticate animals for that purpose, and we do? Because it’s delicious? ---
**Author:** ![verbenabeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@verbenabeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/verbenabeast)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/3 "2003-09-19T14:36:17Z")
It be good for the bones, lassie… besides it be right tasty! Arrrr! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/4 "2003-09-19T14:40:32Z")
Tradition. Avast ye. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/5 "2003-09-19T14:48:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by verbenabeast \* > \*\*It be good for the bones, lassie… besides it be right tasty! > Arrrr! \*\* Ahoy, there, matey, be it Talk Like A Pirate Day already? Well, blow me down! Shiver me timbers if I didn’t almost forget! Yo, ho, ho and a gallon of milk! Arrr! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/6 "2003-09-19T14:59:10Z")
It does the body good. (Arrr.) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/7 "2003-09-19T15:01:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Tradition. > Avast ye. \*\* yup. I’m not an expert on history but i’d assume milk, alcohol and water were the only beverages of choice up until a few hundred years ago. Probably made the milk look very palatable by comparision. ---
**Author:** ![SunTzu2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@SunTzu2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunTzu2U)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/8 "2003-09-19T15:03:01Z")
Well there is a type of ant who milks aphids for their “milk” (whatever juice that is that comes from aphids) so we humans aren’t the only ones who practice this. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/9 "2003-09-19T15:24:46Z")
I used to like milk- I mean, what’s better than milk for your breakfast cereal? Diet Coke? I’m now totally addicted to [horchata](http://gourmetsleuth.com/horchata.htm), though. Unfortunately, only one local store sells it, and I’m afraid that if I ever move north of Austin, I’ll never see it again. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/10 "2003-09-19T15:25:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Well there is a type of ant who milks aphids for their “milk” (whatever juice that is that comes from aphids) so we humans aren’t the only ones who practice this. Do you have a cite? I never heard of this. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/11 "2003-09-19T15:26:35Z")
Cereal and chocolate chip cookies. Opps, ahem… “Arrrrr” (sorry I almost forgot). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/12 "2003-09-19T15:29:51Z")
Because we’re the only species that bakes cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/13 "2003-09-19T15:30:46Z")
[http://www.em.hill.af.mil/conservation/natural/aphids.htm](http://www.em.hill.af.mil/conservation/natural/aphids.htm) [http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8778/aphids.html](http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8778/aphids.html) Ants are quite fond of the honeydew that aphids excrete. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/14 "2003-09-19T15:31:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wesley Clark \* > \*\*yup. I’m not an expert on history but i’d assume milk, alcohol and water were the only beverages of choice up until a few hundred years ago. Probably made the milk look very palatable by comparision. \*\* You fergot tea, ya slimey scurveball. Arrr. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/15 "2003-09-19T15:35:25Z")
And coffee… and probably juices, if freshly prepared. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/16 "2003-09-19T15:38:40Z")
Sometimes the chaos of the world intersects in one bright, shining moment of trivial obscurity… Here’s an aphid-milking cite: [http://www.northcoastjournal.com/JUN95/GARDEN.HTM](http://www.northcoastjournal.com/JUN95/GARDEN.HTM) The publication, The North Coast Journal, comes out of Humboldt County, where interestingly enough, my microscopic hometown of Honeydew is located. Of course this adds a whole new possibility to dispell whenever I’m asked to explain my screen-name. “No, it isn’t a mellon or breast reference…[nor does it refer to aphid spooge]…it is simply the product of a nostalgic and home-sick small town girl”. There are many other cites about it as well… ---
**Author:** ![Svt4Him](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Svt4Him](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svt4Him)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/17 "2003-09-19T15:42:22Z")
My cat drank milk, and so did my dog. But my dog ate poop, so are we so weird? And what I’d like to know is who was the first person to look at a cow and think, “I’m going to pull those, and whatever comes out I’m going to drink.”? ---
**Author:** ![More\_Cowbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@More\_Cowbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/More_Cowbell)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/18 "2003-09-19T16:24:34Z")
Obligatory Simpson’s reference: “Rat’s milk?! You promised me dog or higher!” ~Mayor Quimby And yo ho ho, an obligatory link:[International Talk Like a Pirate Day](http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/19 "2003-09-19T16:59:38Z")
I don’t drink milk. I think it is kind of disgusting, actually. I drink BEER! * * * _SCREW_ the land of “Milk and Honey”! I want Beer and Beef Jerky! ---
**Author:** ![mrsface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mrsface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsface)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596/20 "2003-09-19T17:22:49Z")
Isn’t it great when you pop into a thread about milk and come out knowing about “ant cows” (thanks Honeydewgirl). Also I liked this bit: “The lacewing, or aphid lion, is a vicious predator of aphids. Seizing an aphid in its tusklike jaw and lifting it high off the plant, the aphid lion sucks it dry.” Worlds within worlds, eh? But I don’t think drinking milk is universal, is it? Most Asian people eat little or no dairy products. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-drink-milk/202596.md?page=2)