Milk Money

My first choice in my summer project that I began learning more about was which milk to buy. There are so many choices today – “regular”, organic, hormone free. I discovered for milk to be labeled as organic, it must meet four requirements: • No Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) is used in the cows • No antibiotics are given to the cows while they are producing milk for production • The food the cows eat is grown without the use of pesticides • The cows have “access to pasture.” At first glance, these all sound like things I would want. But on further reading, I discovered marketing has made me think these are all things I want, while science disagrees. The rBGH, or growth hormone, is used to increase the milk production in cows by 10 – 15%. Its use was approved by the FDA in 1993. The concern is that when the growth hormone is used in cows, there is a higher level of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) found in the cows. IGF-1 has been linked to more rapid growth of some kinds of cancer cells and tumors. Scientific research has found that there are no higher levels of IGF-1 in people that drink a lot of cow’s milk produced with rBGH than in people who drink a lot of soy milk. The FDA estimated the “worst case scenario” for rBGH and IGF-1 absorption in humans from milk and found the IGF-1 increase would be about 1% of what we naturally produce. Basically, negligible. I did discover that the use of rBGH is not as safe for cows, as it is for us, though. The use of rBGH leads to more infections in cows. Hence, the next requirement for organic milk – it must be antibiotic free. I learned that in “regular” milk, when cows have to be treated with antibiotics, they are taken out of production until a set period of time has elapsed after their milk tests negative for any trace of antibiotic. In organic milk, the cows are still treated with antibiotics if needed, but the cow is taken out of production for a minimum of 12 months. Either way, milk with traces of antibiotics is not sold for human consumption. The third requirement is that cows be fed food not treated with pesticides. USDA studies have found that nonorganic milk can have trace amounts of pesticides in it, but the amounts are far below accepted levels. I talked with someone that used to farm about pesticide use. She felt that the use of “heavy pesticides” was unhealthy, but a certain amount of pesticide use was necessary to produce a sustainable crop. The final requirement is that cows have “access to pasture,” which basically means grazing time. However, the amount of time is not defined. A cow can have a half hour of grazing time a day and meet this requirement. Unless more clearly defined, this requirement is meaningless. After reading all of this, I concluded that organic milk was no healthier than regular milk. However, I did have concerns about farming practices. So I did some more reading. I found that while hormone use in cows does lead to more infections, it ultimately leads to better conditions for the cows. When farmers can get more milk out of each cow, they can make more money. With more money, they can afford better living conditions and better health care for the cows. The milk producers make more money off charging more for hormone-free milk, but this increased profit is not passed down to the dairy farmers. As far as pesticide use, I think it is a “necessary evil.” Is it ideal for our health? No. Is it ideal for the environment? No. Do we have to use them to get an adequate crop to sustain farms and make produce, meat, and dairy affordable for everyone? Yes. So I’m choosing to continue buying “regular” milk. However, Americans drink more milk than any other industrialized nation. So when the boys get a little older, we might cut back on how much milk we drink. Less milk means less worry about increased IGF-1 levels and ingesting pesticides from milk.