Dairy's Social History

Dairy's Social History Dairy in Our Culture by Lily Ahrens St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
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Cows milk has not always been a food source for humans. This already contrasts with Thos. H. McInnerney’s words to the Temporary National Economic Committee in 1939, which exemplifies the ingrained nature dairy has taken in our society: “Since the beginning of recorded history the food elements contained in milk have placed milk and milk products among man’s most essential and nutritious foods” (McInnerny 1939). Perhaps he is referring to a mother’s breast milk, which indeed has been important for humans since early history. The Old Testament even records the consumption of breast milk in Isaiah 60:16, “You shall suck the milk of nations, you shall suck the breasts of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob”(Meeks 1989). The New Testament also references breast milk, but, interestingly, it is in an analogy about learning and falling away from god.

“About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, in unskilled in the word of the righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:11-14 (Meeks 1989).

art by C. Landau

How, then, did some human populations, including ours, change from this Biblical stance that drinking milk (mostly breast milk) implies you are an uneducated child, to people of all ages consuming dairy products daily? The majority of the world did not follow this path. In fact there are only a few groups that have lactase persistence (lactase persistence is discussed further in the Health section). These groups are northern Europeans, South Asians and herding populations in the Middle East, Arabian Peninsula and sub-Saharan Africa (Wiley 2004). Andrea Wiley (2004) is one of the few to study the cultural side of dairy consumption. She teaches in the Program in Anthropology at James Madison University. She has identified a connection between animal domestication and lactase persistence, yet a history of dairying is not necessarily the reason human’s started drinking milk. Some populations have dairy cows, yet they are still lactose intolerant. They use the milk for yogurt or cheese, both of which are low in lactose (Wiley 2004).

Dairy cows kept at the Jones-Harrison Home, 1888

3700 Cedar Lake Ave MN

Minnesota Historical Society

In the United States milk has been important since the first Europeans arrived. For early Americans dairy was an important and nutritious food source. Most cow’s milk was turned into butter and stored for use during the winter (Cohen 1998). Alden Manchester wrote a book in 1983 titled The Public Role in the Dairy Economy. Dr. Manchester was a senior economist in the National Economics Division, Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture at the time he wrote this book. According to Melanie DuPuis, he is the USDA’s dairy marketing guru. He has written many papers and has been closely involved with the dairy industry for many years. He discusses the history of dairy in America in extreme detail in this book. Accordingly, the first census ever taken in the US, done in 1790, showed that nearly 95% of the population lived in rural areas. At this time it was common for every family to have a cow or two for dairy products, and if they did not, their neighbor did (Manchester 1983). While most lived rurally, there were still big cities that had to import milk from the countryside. As early as 1742 Boston, a city of 16,382 people, had only 141 cows (Manchester 1983).

By the mid 1800s swill milk was a problem in cities (Block 2002). City cows were kept in bad conditions and often received poor feed. Many people considered the problem to be that urban areas had vices and pollution, which made unclean and unwholesome milk. City residents wanted their food produced in the idealized agricultural land (Block 2002). The pastoral lifestyle was, and often still is, romanticized. Agricultural animals are thought to live in harmony with nature and the family farm is somehow morally superior to life in the city (Fraser 2001). Even during this time of sanitation problems, dairy itself was seen as wholesome and pure, something with higher standards. Taking cows out of the city to maintain its purity made the dairy industry difficult to regulate and it took longer for milk to reach the consumer. Consumer trust, which came from direct connections before, had to come from somewhere else. At first the milkman took this role. Soon people could choose to trust either these milkman connections or technology in the form of pasteurization (Block 2002). Railroads and refrigerated cars were advances that distanced the consumer from the milk and allowed milk to come from more than 100 miles away. Other technology allowed for factory production of butter and cheese, starting in the 1840’s. Yet even at this time only 6% of all farm milk was sold (Manchester 1983).

Delivery man for Franklin Cooperative Creamery, 1949

Minnesota Historical Society

Milk trucks like the one pictured to the right allowed for further separation between producer and consumer. Milk could come from miles away to a city, and because of regulations and technology, the consumer could trust it to be safe without any knowledge of the farm where it was produced.

Bulk Milk Truck, Rochester Dairy, 1955. Minnesota Historical Society.

Despite, or perhaps due to the separation between dairy producer and consumer, milk had a pastoral, pure connotation. This picture exemplifies such a view.

Dairy herd, farm campus, St. Paul. 1910 Minnesota Historical Society.

Technology and regulations made milk safe to drink in the city. The regulations made finding a trustworthy milk dealer unnecessary, because all milk was safe (Block 2002). Milk output per cow increased by 40% between 1850 and 1910, as a result of a longer milking season, better feeding and advanced techniques (Manchester 1983). While dairy was important and popular at this time, it took on a national interest during the Depression. Policy changes are discussed more in the Policy section.

At the beginning of the Depression dairy farmers were not doing as badly as other farmers, but in 1932 the prices dropped (Manchester 1983). During this time, milk production started to be done by fewer companies. By 1934 there were four major companies: The National Dairy Products Corporation, The Borden Co., Beatrice Creamery Co. and The Fairmont Creamery co. Yet dairy farming in the 30’s was still small-scale and involved a lot of hand-labor. Only 75% of farm milk was sold (Manchester 1983). The industry recovered from the Depression, but for the last two decades fluid milk consumption has been steadily declining (Gutknecht 2003). Even so, dairy products and dairy farming have become important parts of our society and economy. In the St. Olaf College library’s copy of the 1939 National Dairy Products Corporation’s statement before a government committee, there is a note which reads: In view of the great economic importance of dairying and the widespread public interest in this industry today, you may wish to catalogue this discussion of dairy industry economics in your reference files (McInnerney 1939). It is not shelved with the reference books today.

Now milk is considered a staple food, yet it is still advertised and promoted extensively. To most Americans drinking milk is seen as a vital part of staying healthy. It is seen as necessary for children, teenagers, and adult women, especially if they are pregnant. Everyone is afraid that a lack of milk will cause aliments, especially osteoporosis. It is often over looked that many other cultures do not drink milk and do not have tremendously high occurrence of osteoporosis. Many women in the US drink a lot of milk, yet osteoporosis is still a problem (Wiley 2004). The USDA’s popular food pyramid has a separate category for dairy, although in the first US dietary guidelines, done in 1916, dairy foods were put in a group with meat (Weinsier and Krumdick 2000). The purpose for a separate dairy category is its importance as a source of calcium, and there are no alternative sources of calcium in the pyramid. Today’s food activists, such as organic supporters, want less technology, but they still want moral production, just as they did in the mid 1800’s (Block 2002).

In the opening of The State of the Dairy Industry Hearing (2003), Gil Gutknecht made the following remarks showing how emotionally involved people have become with the dairy industry.

"I have a special place in my heart for the dairy producers in my district. There is no harder working group of people than the men and women who get up at 4 in the morning to milk these cows, seven days a week, 365 days a year."

art by K. Ahrens