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???