Farewell Dairy, Pass The Pea Milk Please

Today, the nation’s largest dairy company, Dean Foods filed for bankruptcy after years of small dairy farms closing their doors.

Under the USMCA, American dairy farmers would have access to 3.6% up from 3.2% of Canada’s dairy market and the ability to raise prices.

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is surely reveling in the news that Dean Foods is filing for bankruptcy amid her desperate plea to reduce methane emissions. Think of all the unnecessary cows that can now be led to the slaughter to stop that dreadful production of methane. Never mind the fact that 66 manufacturing facilities across 32 states may close eliminating 16,000 jobs. Although, as we saw in Queens with Amazon, Ocasio Cortez values her own opinion more than American jobs.

Sadly, Dean Foods was a staple where I grew up outside of Chicago in a time when nearly all of us drank milk. Why did we drink milk? Well, in 1985 the TV told us “it does a body good” but times have changed and there has been an attack on dairy. Saturated fats exist in dairy and we’ve been told saturated fats raise cholesterol and increase our chances of heart attack and stroke. In today’s world of absolutes this can only mean one thing, dairy must be eliminated.

In the late 80’ into the 90’s we were determined to cut out fat because America was quickly becoming the fattest nation on Earth. In the early 2000’s, we were still relying heavily on soy as an alternative to milk but it didn’t take long for a flurry or should I say slurry of milk alternatives to come into the picture. Today it seems like you can make milk out of just about anything, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, coconuts, hemp, even peas. I can’t even get my kids to eat normal peas, imagine passing out tall, cold glasses of pea milk at dinner to grand applause. Nope, I don’t think so but that’s where we are today.

How did we get to his point? We’ve been told these milk alternatives are healthier along with alternatives to many other foods we consumed as children. Yes, healthier than a few years back when American children were less obese and therefore less likely to encounter a multitude of health problems later in life. If alternatives to whole foods are so healthy, why as a breast cancer survivor whose cancer thrives on estrogen, was I told to be sure to cut soy milk out of my diet? Well, soy contains isoflavones and some studies suggest that isoflavones can mimic estrogen and promote tumor growth. That’s just one of these “healthy” milk alternatives.

As we strive to develop “healthier” alternatives to the traditional diet, childhood obesity has more than doubled since we were kids and you don’t have to look far to see it all around you. In the 80’s, you might have one or two children in your grade who struggled with a weight problem but during my daughter’s third grade Halloween party everywhere I looked I saw children who would qualify as obese? In fact, according to the CDC, in the 1980’s less than 10% of children aged 6-11 and closer to 5% of those aged 12-19 were obese. In contrast, in 2016 18.4% of children aged 6-11 and 20.6% of children aged 12-19 were obese. This may not have to do with milk but clearly the switch didn’t solve childhood obesity.

Today, the nation’s largest dairy company, Dean Foods filed for bankruptcy after years of small dairy farms closing their doors. Under the USMCA, American dairy farmers would have access to 3.6% up from 3.2% of Canada’s dairy market and the ability to raise prices. When the USMCA terms were announced in 2018, dairy farmers rejoiced and even declared on MSNBC that this new agreement could save 600 farms in Wisconsin alone. Sadly, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has not allowed a vote on the USMCA despite that fact that experts agree it would likely pass by a healthy margin. It does not include impeachment and that seems to be the only business of interest to Democrats these days. Once again, forgetting American workers in favor of strong arming their way into power.

If we can’t have the USMCA, why aren’t we fighting for a healthy future for our children? Why do government officials like Ocasio Cortez fight so hard for what they say is a healthy world, if American children are not going to be around to enjoy it? Obviously, we’re not all dying but while AOC fights to mask our problems with free healthcare to treat the bodies we abused and trains that can’t be manufactured without creating emissions, the real problems plaguing the health of our country continue to be ignored. Let’s be honest, we can’t advance technologically and reduce emissions if the world’s best and brightest, our beautiful American children, die of heart disease before they save the world from those of us who were crazy enough to drink milk.

By Tudor Dixon

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