Liberate

At first glance, milk can seem like an innocent substance with its creamy whiteness and its association with sweet things. It is often bottled and deceptively packaged to detach milk and dairy products from the suffering that is involved in its production. At the moment there are about 5.1 million dairy cows in NZ who produce over 14 billion litres of milk every year. The lives of the cows involve a constant cycle of pregnancy and lactation before they are sent off to slaughter when they are no longer useful. This story follows the whakapapa of milk production and the historical, social and environmental processes that it is linked to. Dairy farming, the exploitation of cows and the pollution of the environment is heavily intertwined with social injustice and environmental destruction spanning back in Aotearoa since the beginning of British colonisation 160 years ago. It is a story of invasion, destruction, violence, expansion, exploitation and pollution on many different levels. It is connected to past, present and potential future injustices and tragedies that are driven by global capitalism and legitimised by state power.

Invasion

The story of milk in Aotearoa firstly involves invasion. The invasion and theft of Maori land was necessary for the establishment of Pakeha settlements and agriculture. The land used for dairy production has a long social and environmental history. Before British colonisation, most of the land in Aotearoa was covered in native forests, wetlands, clean rivers and mountainous ranges. The land occupied by various Maori iwi was collectively owned and used. Private ownership and commodification of land did not exist, land was inalienable. The idea of private land ownership was brought into Aotearoa by Pakeha colonisers who invaded this land and brought along with them western agriculture, farm animals and the capitalist system. Colonisation transformed large areas of land, previously covered in forest, into pastures for industries of death.

On another level, invasion is part of dairy production through artificial insemination. Dairy cows like all mammals must be pregnant in order to produce milk. In nature, that milk is produced for their young, to nourish them until they can consume other food to support their growth. For the dairy industry, 80% of cows are artificially inseminated. Bull sperm is collected by companies like Livestock Improvement and Ambreed to impregnate three quarters of dairy cows in this country. Artificial insemination is an invasive process where bull sperm is effectively injected into a cow’s vagina. When a cow does not fall pregnant artificially, only then are they allowed to mate naturally with a bull.

Destruction and violence

In order to provide land for dairy farming, mass areas of native forest were destroyed. Consequently, native species of animal and plant life are now endangered or close to extinction. For example, dairy farming in the Waikato region have reduced native forest to 18% of its former area beginning from European colonisation 160 years ago. While conservationists talk about possums as destroyers of native forests, proportionately, dairy farming and agriculture has destroyed far more native forest than possums.

Let us not forget the blood and bones of Maori killed by Pakeha colonisers that are embedded in the soil and history of this land. The violence of dispossession and colonial racism have diminished indigenous populations and transformed their cultures through coercive means. The dairy farms operating in Aotearoa are profiting from this history of violence against indigenous people and the injustices of racism and colonialism.

Destruction of life is an integral part of dairy farming. Baby calves that are bred as by-products of the milk industry are destined to slaughter. The dairy and beef industry are intimately connected. About 55% of beef comes from the dairy industry and up to one million calves are killed every year to be turned in to ‘veal’. When a cow is no longer productive, she is sent off to the slaughterhouse. About 20% of dairy cows are culled each year at age 8-10 years old. Cows would otherwise have a life-span of 25 years old. These lives are just discarded when they are no longer useful or profitable for the dairy industry and their bodies are processed into beef for human or pet consumption.

Then there’s the destruction of soil and water quality. Soil and water are essential to all life on earth, destroying the quality of soil and water is effectively destroying life. Nitrate leaching and phosphorus run-off caused by dairy farming are major problems that pollute the waterways of Aotearoa. Excrement pollutes the rivers, surface lakes, streams, groundwater and drains. Excrement also releases greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide that are contributing to climate change, which will cause species extinction, extreme weather disasters and ecological collapse.

Commodification and suffering

Making living beings and land into commodities, things that can be bought and sold, is a vital process of industrial capitalism. In the context of dairy farming, it is the land, the milk and the cows that are turned into commodities. This relies on a sense of detachment to the value of land, milk and cows outside of economics. The spiritual, personal, cultural and social value of land and animals are lost through commodification. For the dairy industry, land is only seen for its commercial value, how it can be used to be productive and create or maximise profits.

Because the land and cows are seen are commodities, just objects and things that only have an economic value, they are treated like objects to be exploited. Cows on the dairy farms often suffer from mastitis (swollen udders), lameness, stress and lack of shelter. The calves are taken away from their mother two days after birth. Selective breeding of dairy cows, GE-research and vivisection have transformed the physiology of cows to increase milk production and efficiency. Nowadays, based on a statistic on the Fonterra website, one cow can produce the amount of milk that it once took 10 cows to produce. The well-being of dairy cows is only of interest to the milk industry when it affects productivity and quality of milk.

Expansion: Fonterra and the globalisation of dairy consumption

The Fonterra Co-operative Group is Aotearoa’s biggest dairy company. They have over 11,000 farmer shareholders and they process milk into more than 600 products (including cheese, milk powders and proteins, pharmaceuticals and desserts). They export dairy products to 140 countries. Fonterra are not only involved in the exploitation of cows and the environment, they are also part of the process of neoliberal expansion. The recent Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and China is going to benefit companies like Fonterra but at great price to the animals, environment and people.

Fonterra was created in 2001 as a merger of dairy companies in order to compete in the neoliberal world. Globalisation and market competition essentially created the urge for the formation of Fonterra; to jump on the neoliberal trend of free trade to economically benefit rather than be left out and become a victim of globalisation. This process of neoliberal globalisation has resulted in dire consequences for people all over the world. The market competition has encouraged the desire for greater profits and productivity of the dairy industry and thus resulted in the industrial intensification of dairy farming. In the last decade, milk production has intensified and increased the usage of fertiliser, water irrigation, energy, knowledge or capital to produce more milk on the same area of land.

Milk is an unnecessary and harmful product for humans. Most people in this world are lactose-intolerant because the human body is only supposed to consume the milk of human mothers up to a certain age. We are the only species that consume milk from another species (except for pet species under human control) and we are the only species that consume milk as adults. But milk consumption is also culturally specific; many human cultures have not and do not consume milk. It seems to be mainly European and Indian cultures that have a tradition of milk consumption, however the relationship with the cows and the treatment of the cows differ in these cultures and have changed through time.

At the moment in China, Fonterra are pushing milk products and advertising milk as a health product. Part of this is due to the declining consumption of milk in richer countries like New Zealand. To companies like Fonterra, China is a massive market that they can tap into and profited from. However, the majority of the Chinese population are lactose-intolerant. They cannot digest milk properly because the enzyme lactase is not present in their bodies. Drinking milk or using cows for milk has not been part of Chinese culture, so consuming dairy is relatively new for most people. Because most Chinese people are lactose-intolerant, yoghurt is a dairy product that people with lactose-intolerance can withstand because the bacteria helps with digestion.

Milk products are now everywhere in China, it is promoted as a health product and pushed in schools as it is seen to promote growth of strong and healthy bones. Because of globalization and western cultural imperialism, the beauty ideal of Chinese people is similar to Europeans who are tall and white. Milk is seen as a substance that encourages bone growth so kids can grow up tall and strong. For older people, it is a health product that strengthens the bones. But milk consumption also linked to a lot of health problems like osteoporosis, diabetes, breast cancer and heart disease.

Stolen land, stolen milk, stolen futures

Stealing is central to milk production. Land in Aotearoa was stolen from Maori through the violence, deception and manipulation of British colonisation. The stolen land was cleared of native forest and settled by Pakeha, who brought over farm animals such as cows. The lives of these animals were stolen along with their labour, their milk, their skin, their flesh and their menstruation (eggs). In this process of constant stealing to generate profits, our futures are also being stolen. Irreparable ecological damage and climate change means the future of life on earth is looking very grim.

The dairy industry in Aotearoa is going to be a real challenge for animal rights activists since the economy is currently dependent on this industry. Milk production is harmful for animals and the environment, while milk consumption is also causing quite a few health problems for humans. It is quite surprising that Fonterra and the dairy industry has not been a prime target of AR activists considering its locality and the mass suffering it causes. Because Fonterra is involved in the neoliberal agenda, in animal abuse and environmental destruction, they can be challenged from all these different angles and this also creates an opportunity for alliances between movements. It is about time to disrupt business as usual and expose the real story of milk!