What Is Milk?

What is milk? Milk is the first food we taste. It is therefore associated with comfort and strength. We live in a milk consuming society where infants, adolescents, and adults drink milk. Milk sales reach eleven billion dollars annually in the United States alone (McDougall). Incredible advertising campaigns, such as “got milk?” portray celebrities and beautiful, healthy people who ensure us that milk is essentially good for us. In 1999 alone, this campaign cost one hundred and thirty million dollars and raised sales by 0.7 percent (Nestle 79). Other forms of advertising for milk and its imperative importance in our daily lives, include page long ads constructed as articles on accredited magazines, such as The New York Times, claiming for a health crisis due to lack of calcium. Also, our nutritionist tell us it is the essential source for calcium and the FDA in its Pyramid Guide suggests at least two to three servings of dairy daily, while the Dairy Counsel suggests three to four. An important factor in milk consumption is the United States is the Dairy Management Inc. Their sole purpose is to build a marketing plan for dairy, raising the consumer demand for all of their products. They count with a budget of over one hundred and sixty five million dollars a year, which enables them to target any major consumption group (McDougall). A great part of their budget is used for research that tries to demonstrate some benefits of dairy consumption. They are responsible to give the consumer confidence on the importance of milk to achieve maximum health. They do this by emphasizing the main reasons why people do drink milk. Other than a genuine liking, most Americans drink milk as a source of calcium and protein. Calcium is a concerning topic to most Americans because there is a cumulative desire for strong bones that can fight osteoporosis. However, is milk really a good source of Calcium? Does it help fight osteoporosis? Research shows that dairy actually disrupts

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