If you’ve opened a magazine in the past 20 years, this is probably a familiar image.
It’s easy to flip past these ads and think, “Hey, great. Stars promoting a healthy
alternative to sugary sodas and sports drinks,” awesome
There’s this idea that we have to drink milk to be healthy.
But where did that idea come from? There are
plenty of foods with just as much calcium, potassium and protein
Willet: Individuals can be very healthy with no dairy consumption at all.
In fact, a quarter of Americans can’t even digest milk!
and researchers have found that people who drink lots of milk aren’t any less likely
to get fractures. milk was a bad choice
And yet… the federal dietary guidelines recommend three servings of dairy a day. Why!?
Willet: Our dairy industry has become a very powerful economic force
For most of human history, milk was a small part of the lives of a small number of people.
Willet: Milk was really a survival technology for living in cold places where the long winters
made it difficult to grow fruits and vegetables. Then, around World War I, The US government
sent huge amounts of canned and powdered milk overseas, to fight malnutrition among soldiers.
And farmers made huge changes in response. Many got rid of their other crops to focus
exclusively on dairy. But when the war ended, demand dried up, and
the country was left with a whole bunch of milk it didn’t need.
At this point, farmers and milk processors had invested too much to shift away from large-scale,
year-round milk production So instead of making less milk, they convinced
people to drink more. “Milk education” campaigns in public schools
encouraged students to drink four glasses a day.
And milk producers got a boost from legislation that created the national school lunch program
in 1946, and required those lunches to include a glass of whole milk.
Even with all this promotion, the U.S. still saw huge milk surpluses in the 1940s and 50s.
So the federal government started buying up the extra. It sent some to schools, the military,
and to other countries as food aid. But much of the surplus sat unused in vast, underground
storage caves. By 1980s, the government was spending $2 billion
a year on surplus milk. The Reagan Administration, in its quest to cut government spending, put
a stop to the buying program. That didn’t sit well with dairy producers.
They convinced Congress to change the rules so that they could create something called a dairy checkoff.
Dairy farmers would into the checkoff with a mandatory fee. That fee would
go toward advertising campaigns aimed at making people buy more milk. And the U.S. Department
of Agriculture would approve those campaigns. The “Got Milk?” Ads are one example. The
fees also pay for partnerships with restaurants like Domino’s, Taco Bell and Starbucks to develop dairy-heavy menu
items, like a pizza with 40% more cheese. This means the USDA, the same federal agency
writes our dietary guidelines, is also in charge of a multi-million dollar campaign
to get us to eat a cheese pizza where one piece has two-thirds of a day’s maximum
recommended amount of saturated fat. So, if we know milk isn’t necessary, then
why not change the recommendation? Instead of milk with every meal, why not tell people
to drink water? Willet:...I think it’s impossible at this
point in time...because the political forces would not allow the dietary guidelines to say antying about limiting
red meat or dairy consumption. The dairy industry gives millions to politicians,
who protect their interests whenever the nutrition guidelines come up for review
Susan Del Bene: how do we continue to make sure students have access to appealing and
nutritious dairy products? Glenn Thompson: what can we do to remove policies
that are hindering milk consumption or promote policies that enhance milk consumption?
Milk and other dairy products can be a part of a healthy diet, but the idea that they’re
essential? That’s just marketing. And it's not like there's broccoli trade groups giving
money to politicians and running multi-million dollar ad campaigns. If there were, our dinner
tables might look a little different.