DAIRY IS SCARY! on HackerTube: recommended by 3 Hacker News commenters across 5 separate months, 2019–2023.
commentary · evergreen
Vegan advocate Erin Janus explains the dairy industry in about five minutes, covering how milk is produced and the treatment of cows and calves. It is an advocacy piece and includes graphic material.
HN commenters in veganism and food threads link it as a short, info-dense explanation that some say opened their eyes, though others dispute it.
“I know it opened my eyes”
17 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
Here's a 5 minute video that would explain why the newer generations are so mad about the unethical practices of Dairy industry. I know it opened my eyes: ▶ this video
in “Aubrey Plaza Is the Unfortunate New Face of the Milk Wars – Bon Appétit” · View on HN
> and is unhealthy and worse than full cream milk Dairy is scary: ▶ this video Derived from a bovine's udder, cow milk is essentially a white, viscous secretion containing fats, hormones, bioaccumulated pesticides and herbicides, and sometimes pus and blood from infected teats, all filtered through a mammary gland that often comes into contact with dirt and feces during the extraction process. Cow milk, routinely touted as a wholesome beverage, can legally contain up to 400 million somatic cells (often referred to as pus) per milliliter in the U.S., and traces of blood, all originating from inflamed and possibly infected bovine udders, making one wonder about the purity of the seemingly innocent white liquid. Cow's milk also naturally contains hormones, including Insulin-like Growth Factor-1, estrogens, progesterone, prolactin, and oxytocin; also some cows receive artificial hormones like rBST to enhance production; when consumed regularly, those hormones may impact the growth and reproductive functions of consumers. In the relentless cycle of dairy production, cows endure forced impregnation and a shortened lifespan — typically 5 years instead of the potential 25+. The record lifespan for a cow is 48 years. Newborn males are typically culled immediately, while females are separated from their mothers shortly after birth, crying for each other usually for weeks. And we haven't addressed the land needs and environmental impact of dairy production. This includes deforestation for pa
in “Labelling soya foods as ultra-processed is unhelpful” · View on HN
> India ... has one of the lowest consumptions of animal protein and yet low life expectancy False cause fallacy. > You don't have to eat a lot, but you have to eat some Because you say so? Or do you have a source for your claims? > Breast milk is animal protein, or you'd have to include dairy too Vegans have a saying: "not your mother, not your milk". It's one fallacy after another. You really should read the article I've linked, it's all there. Read it. At least skim it. It's not that hard. > You can justify it for animal cruelty reasons, but not for health reasons You think that adult humans have to drink cow milk to be healthy, do I understand you correctly? Not dog milk, not lion, giraffe, rat, pig milk, but cow milk specifically? You don't read, so let's try youtube. ▶ this video Dairy is scary [link] Milk: The White Lie We've All Been Sold [link] How big government helps big dairy sell milk
in “Vegan Food Revolution – Why Food System Transformation Is Closer Than You Think” · View on HN
> I was actually raised vegetarian and generally prefer vegetarian dishes. If you've been raised vegetarian, it's possible you have some blind spots. A lot of people have an idealized picture of how the industry works. Have you seen "dairy is scary" ? ▶ this video Or dominion? [link] > know that many things that are sold to us as greener, arent Certainly, that's why I would recommend focusing on science rather than mass or social media.
in “New plant-based pork ribs to feature edible vegan bones” · View on HN
Understand your points of view. I too ate meat for a long time. I too defended that position with same ferocity you do. But I was wrong to do it. And you're wrong on too many points to discuss it at full - sorry, no space here, also have family to feed and work to do. My bookmarks folder about dangers of animal products/agriculture has hundreds of items. I'll cherrypick just few of them to get you started. You'll find several of your viewpoints discussed here: [link] Want to learn more? (pun intended) Movies: - I'd recommend Dominion movie again, but you won't probably see it, and even if you do, i don't think the suffering of animals/horrors of the meat production will be enough to change your opinions, so I'll talk about it from different angle. - Cowspiracy - Seaspiracy [link] - This man makes you think ▶ this video - Dairy is scary Health: [link] - Dr. Michael Greger | How Not To Die [link] - Foods for Protecting the Body & Mind: Dr. Neal Barnard [link] - What the Health! (2017) Impacts on biodiversity / climate change: [link] [link] [link] [link] OK, I'll react to few of your points. > "never personally eat meat strikes me as a bit of a neurotic, narcissistic response" So avoiding killing is a neurotic, narcissistic response? Like, really? > "to avoid ice cream to spare dairy cows who are clearly, if you meet them, quite happy with their jobs" Are you sure? I've met a lot of them, when i was a child. You know that cows giving milk are mothers, forcefully impregnated/raped eve
in ““Judas goats” were once key players in meatpacking plants” · View on HN
Cows only make milk after pregnancy. That has to happen somehow. Guess what is done with her baby. Guess where the literal pus from the overworked udders ends up. Yum! All those vegetarians sure are enjoying that. If you want to know more fun facts, check out Dairy is scary on YouTube - ▶ this video
in “How sustainable are fake meats?” · View on HN
Vegans have cheese. Salty and fatty, melts. You should try it. There is no magic ingredient in cow (dog, giraffe, lion, bat, dolphin) milk that we couldn't get from plants instead. ▶ this video [link] (1700+ cheeses from all over the world)
in “The Cartel That Controls the US Food System” · View on HN
> To call other things "cheese" that aren't cheese is torturing the very definition of the word, much like "milk" Yes, if it doesn't have torture, blood, puss, pesticides, antibiotics and estrogens in it, it can't be called milk or cheese. Why torture? How else would you call forced impregnation, year after year, and forced separation of mothers and calves? Just to shorten the cow's life from 25+ years to 5 and then turn her to burgers. ▶ this video > has been traditionally understood, inconveniently for you, as excretion from mammary glands Inconveniently for you, soybean, almond, coconut, rice, oat, hemp, even poppy milk was used for centuries, millenia even, all over the world. > and my eyes alighted on "gypsum" [link] So you probably don't drink beer, eat baked goods or farmed mushrooms too. Got it. Btw, there are other coagulants, like nigari, epsom salt, calcium chloride, lemon juice or vinegar ... Not everybody is scared of 1 tbsp of gypsum in several kg of tofu, so that's why they probably use it. In my view it's much better than contents of someone's stomach. But I'm me. I wonder what other poisonous chemicals were there. Do you have the list? :) Btw, do you know, that there's l-cystein in most flours on the market, and that's often made from human hair? [link] Our food industry is so ingenious.
in “The Cartel That Controls the US Food System” · View on HN
You'd still get pus, blood, endotoxins, hormones (like estrogen), pesticides/herbicides (organic farms still usually use them), etc. Only 40% of consumers in UK [0] know that a cow has to give a birth to a calf to be able to give milk. Male calves are usually immediately killed these days, or sold for meat in a few months (together with 25?% of female calves). In dairy industry calves are removed from their mothers the day they're born (only 27% of consumers know this), in beef industry they're usually kept together. The saddest story I've seen is a mother cow who gave birth to two calves. Because she was not first-time mother, she prepared. One calf was immediately taken away, the other she managed to hide somewhere in the fields. Of course when the farmer found about it (insufficient milk output), he located the calf and took it away. I can't find it, but here is a similar story. [1] All dairy cows are forcibly impregnated every year, are spent after 5-6 years to the point where they often can no more walk [2], and instead of a normal life which would be 20-48? years (upper number is the record) they're taken to the slaughterhouse [3]. > humane conditions for the cows That doesn't exist, not even on small local farms. Humane? It's an oxymoron. [0] [link] [1] [link] [2] ▶ this video - Dairy is scary! [3] [link]
in “Vitamin D: Potent regulator of dopaminergic neuron differentiation and function” · View on HN
90+% (IIRC) of slaughtered animals in US are from CAFOs. Any kind of slaughter is inhumane when there's no NEED to eat meat. The clean process you may have seen in TV is different from reality (see recent CO2 chambers relevations [0]). Taking away mother's young and taking milk mother produces for her (him is killed usually immediatelly) is inhumane. [1] Etc. I've seen Dr Temple Grandin's "Glass Walls" ... she is not the right person for the job of representing "humane animal treatment." Yes, she says what you want to hear. But not the right person for the animals. [0] [link] [1] ▶ this video
in “Vitamin D: Potent regulator of dopaminergic neuron differentiation and function” · View on HN
> To industrialized abuse ... I don't know, 95+% ? > That you don't see a problem to solve ... You can solve it by not participating. > Go look at the Wikipedia page for the film ... The film is (mostly) compilation of the responses of health professionals, some passages are debatable, and i'm not ready to defend the work. I haven't linked any scientific sources, because those are biased as well - you can always find sources from both camps. I've linked this film because it's easy to digest and covers some of the areas where you're so off. But you haven't looked (i'm pretty sure) at any link i've provided previously. > The explanation that was given to me for this practice was to protect the calfs, which makes sense to me ... Beef calves are kept with their mothers. Where there is a profit motive (milk), calves are taken away. Where there isn't, calves are kept with their mothers. Hmm. Maybe just milk cows are horrible mothers? > That's part of their job! Job? You're surely joking. > Animals. Aren't. People! They don't talk (as we do). They don't think as we do. But they have intelligence, and are capable of suffering. Isn't it enough? > ... also nowhere close to true. Producing milk does not leave the cow exhausted and crippled ... Absent farming needs, cows have a typical lifespan of 15 to 20 years. That lifespan could even understate their longevity. Guinness World Records lists the oldest cow as 48 years and nine months old. [link] > Producing milk does not leave the cow
in ““Judas goats” were once key players in meatpacking plants” · View on HN
> You're using it wrong. You like cheese, I get it. Care to elaborate? > So plants are not enough? Yes, they are. See my other comment to you in this discussion (I've even listed some numbers for you). But I've got a hunch not even that will be enough for you. [0] [link] [1] ▶ this video - Dairy is scary !
in “Meat made from recycled carbon dioxide” · View on HN
Our perception of traditional food is heavily skewed by last 50 years or so. Our ancestors were not used to so much meat and dairy as we are now. Eating plants was much more common then we think. [ [link] - Anthropologist Debunks the Paleo Diet] [ ▶ this video - DAIRY IS SCARY! The industry explained in 5 minutes]
in “'On a vegan planet, Britain could feed 200M people’” · View on HN
This is great! Pricing in externalities is exactly what regulation is supposed to accomplish in a functioning market. The meat production industry is full of unpriced externalities[0], and decades of propaganda[1] convincing us that everything is fine and dandy[2]. Not to mention the current (now-historical) market solution isn't an efficient allocation of resources by any means[3]. Livestock account for only 18% of global calories and only 37% of protein! It's a myth that eating meat is the way we get protein. To boot, 45% of crop yields go towards feeding that livestock[4]. I have nothing against eating meat as such, and I'm all for using grazing land for grazing. But the fact that we waste good crop land on highly inefficient food/nutrient/protein production is not good. We have to use regulation to price in these inefficiencies and allow the market to deal with realistic pricing levels for meat. [0] (graphic, but short and info-dense) ▶ this video [1] [link] [2] <this is fine>.jpg [3] [link] [4] [link] (not thrilled about posting Vox links but they're just the tip of the iceberg if you start reading about this stuff properly)
in “Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect” · View on HN
Some sources to back up my claims the industry and how cruel it is ▶ this video hormones in dairy [link] casomorphine [link] igf1 and cancer [link] and saturated fat [link] the Environmental impact [link]
in “Oat Milk Could Change the Way You Drink Coffee (2018)” · View on HN
I didn't say your claims were wrong. I said that they were poorly supported and that you ignore the two much larger reasons that large numbers of people avoid dairy. As an example of the lack of support: > igf1 and cancer [link] I read the abstract. It suggests that circulating levels of IGF-1 may be related to cancer. It does not say that drinking IGF-1 is related to cancer or that milk contains absorbable IGF-1. In fact, I found one study that determined that IGF-1 in milk is broken down during digestion and that mechanism by which various dairy products might impact blood IGF-1 levels are unknown. So I maintain my claim that all the reasons you listed are poorly supported. In contrast, the fact that most people do not have the lactase persistence trait and end up lactose intolerant as adults is very well supported indeed. Similarly, I know people who have done genuine lab tests and determined that they have bona fide IgE-mediated milk allergies. Apparently some people also have non-IgE-mediated immune reactions to milk. Of all of these, among adults, lactose intolerance is far and away the most common issue with dairy products. BTW: > the industry and how cruel it is ▶ this video If you want to drink milk or eat cheese that is cruelty-free, there are quite a few purveyors in Northern California that have cows that are very happy indeed. If you ever want to feel jealous of a cow's living conditions, just drive near any of the dairies in Point Reyes. Some of them offer tours, and
in “Oat Milk Could Change the Way You Drink Coffee (2018)” · View on HN
> (decaf) latte I'm running on regular coffee, no milk. > Oh wait I forgot about cheese Try [link] - 1800+ plant based cheeses, perhaps one or two would satisfy your taste buds? :) > life without milk is udderly untenable I've missed yoghurt the most. Fortunately coconut milk based yoghurts are quite palatable. Sorry, I have to. Did you know that dairy is scary? ▶ this video
in “Meat, milk alternatives could slash food system emissions a third: study” · View on HN