I have nothing wrong with someone working hard to make a good living and I respect all the hard work that farmers put into their jobs.
But…
I can’t stand when “associations” or “lobbyists” of farmers spend millions of dollars marketing GARBAGE to our youth about the supposed benefits of their product.
The most recent example is a campaign of TV milk commercials developed and paid for by the Prairie Milk Marketing Partnership (PMMP) – that’s a subtle name – touting the benefits of NEVER STOPPING DRINKING MILK!
It’s absolutely absurd.
These milk ads have been specifically targeted toward teenagers, predominantly girls, based on the TV shows during which they air. The sad part is that milk-pushing organizations like the PMMP are marketing bad messages and essentially brainwashing people who don’t know better.
As a result, these youngsters grow up believing a lie – that daily consumption of cow’s milk is actually good for us!
Nothing could be further from the truth.
To show you some of the nonsense that these ads and the website are dispelling, I’ve copied an image from the NeverStopMilk.ca website.
Just in case you can’t read the so-called FACTS ABOUT MILK that this campaign is promoting, here they are listed again. I’ve also added my commentary after each of these “facts”.
The calcium in milk can actually help you lose weight by encouraging your body to use fat as a source of energy.
=> What on earth does that even mean? How does that make sense? I’m not sure how calcium helps you burn more fat? Try exercising a little.
Feeling tired? Milk can give you an energy boost!
=> How?
Milk can make you glow (but not in the dark). Drinking milk brightens your smile and keeps your eyes bright, and the proteins in milk help your hair shine and build stronger teeth.
=> I can’t believe they’re actually allowed to make these claims!
Milk makes you strong. The proteins in milk help to build your muscles.
=> Ah, the oldest trick in the book. This is the one statement that has led millions to believe that we should drink milk.
Milk is natural and contains 16 essential nutrients that nourish your entire body. Drink daily!
=> Opium is natural too. Most foods contain 16 essential nutrients (and even more). But let’s not forget to drink milk EVERY day.
Milk builds strong bones. By the age of 20, 90% of your bone mass will be built. 90 percent!
=> Milk doesn’t build strong bones. If it did, would countries that drink the most milk also have the highest rates of osteoporosis?
Can’t sleep? Warm milk can help you get your zzzzz’s.
=> There are other ways of getting the relaxing mineral – magnesium – into your body before bed. Plus, dairy has been associated with nightmares and increased incidence of bedwetting – mainly because it’s an allergenic food.
What’s My Beef with Milk?
Now, reading this you might be wondering why I keep bashing milk. After all, I totally dismantle it in my book, Eating for Energy, as well as in several other posts on this blog.
The truth is that I don’t have a HUGE issue with cow’s milk itself. I just don’t believe that it does our body good. Once you understand the science of milk and how it interacts with the human body, it just doesn’t make much sense to drink it – certainly not every day.
At the very least, if you drink cow’s milk, make sure it’s raw.
My real issue is with the MONEY-HUNGRY ORGANIZATIONS that are pushing incorrect information on the masses.
What’s been happening is really a mass brainwashing of society into truly believing that milk is good for us. But hey that’s the power of “credibility” and “social proof” – we’ll save these powerful marketing concepts for another post.
In this most recent milk campaign, the PMMP, which includes the 1188 dairy farmers represented by Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, Dairy Farmers of Saskatchewan Inc. and Alberta Milk, is obviously reinforcing this message yet again…
Never stop drinking milk!
That’s pretty powerful.
My hope for you is that these kind of campaigns make you sit up and think. Because it’s only through education and awareness that we can begin to make change.
How about this one…
Think before you drink???
Related posts:
Hi Yuri,
I am not sure about your claim about cow’s milk! In Vedic medicine cow’s milk (if its drink raw) is one of the most important ingredients of our diet.
Besides, all other sources of calcium like soy milk have preservatives like caragennan.. It seems like which is a greater evil!
This advertising campaign and the push to drink milk is incredibly irresponsible and misleading. Not only does most milk have additional hormones and antibiotics in it, but many people are allergic to dairy. That allergy can cause a host of other health problems. I agree with you 100% Yuri.
Hi Yuri,
I agree with you totally. Milk is not a health food. It does not build bone, in fact it destroys bone because people drink so much of it until their body become very acidity and calcium is pulled from the bones to buffer the acid body, hence causing osteoporosis. If you want strong bones eat alot of leafy green vegetables and fruit. People need to do their research to find out where they truly get the most bang for their buck when it comes to getting enough health calcium for their body. It certainly isn’t milk. Sylvia
I don’t know how they get away with this, but it seems that if something is said loud enough for long enough people will start to believe it. I am creating a book for kids about nutrition and tooth decay and am making sure to emphasize the harm that can be caused by milk.
I hope more people start to see the light to raise awareness especially to the youth, so this propaganda that is damaging the health of the public can finally be stopped.
Hi Yuri,
I was just wondering if you could post sources that disprove this facts. I didn’t really see any analysis behind your a few of your statements. I don’t drink milk because I am lactose-intolerant, but I would like to see the real facts about milk. Maybe make a video about it.
Thanks.
Hey Thomas,
I refer to a lot of these studies in my book – Eating for Energy. Other than that, check out the 3 previous blog posts I refer to in the body of this post.
I find it incredible how 2 faced the system is. If a health food/herb made these statements they would be fined and shut down. But big business makes them all the time. Just read a few drug ads. I think the problem with Milk is the fact that it isn’t RAW. Just try and find RAW, Organic Milk. It has been pasturized/homogenized beyond recognition, baby cows couldn’t survive on it. My daughter started losing her eye focus at 12 years old. A smart eye doctor told me to get her off milk. All better! From there my father stopped all milk products and his “Schizophrenia” vanished. You can bet he never touched it again. Yeah, facts and statistics would be great, results are even better.
Are you a Registered Dietician? If not, how can you make claims like this?
Do you have any idea how many people would get sick if they started drinking raw milk? They don’t have the immunity against the unpasteurized bacteria in raw milk.
This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever read, but it probably wont get published because you only want positive comments. WAIST OF TIME.
Thanks for your comment. I don’t delete negative comments. Instead, I encourage them. Thankfully, I’m NOT a registered dietician – I’m a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. I’m not talking about drinking raw milk in this article. Instead, I’m simply stating that we think we need to drink cow’s milk because of mass marketing campaigns like this one that have absolutely no validity. Do your research.
http://mainehost.com/blog/?p=7
Killer site! Great one, I’ll come back for more.
i always take calcium supplements to my bones strong;’`