Opinie: Milk is for babies. Grow up!

Gepubliceerd in South China Morning Post, 1 september

The Chinese market is literally at the verge of becoming flooded with milk surpluses from the European Union, especially now that production ceilings in Europe are being abolished.

Milk is the best possible infant formula. Preferably from your own mother. However, after the infant stage most people can no longer tolerate lactose; in Asian and African countries up to 90 % of the adult population is lactose-intolerant. Of course: why would an adult consume infant formulas? That question has become topical now that countries that export dairy, of which the Netherlands is one of the largest, focus more and more on Asian and African markets.

Reputable researchers like prof. Walter Willet of Harvard University indicate that drinking milk can lead to cancer, obesity and doesn’t contribute to healthy bones. The WHO (World Health Organisation) sounded the alarm bell in 2008 about agricultural subsidies in the European Union. There were strong indications that the system kills European citizens, who suffer from cardiovascular diseases as a result of an overdose of saturated fat in full-fat dairy products.

Milk lakes, butter mountains and cheese mountains cannot be sold within the EU and so markets are sought in upcoming economies, even if the population there is lactose-intolerant. Besides a threat to public health, milk also forms a threat to biodiversity. 30 % of biodiversity loss is caused by livestock farming! Each litre of milk equals 1.4 kg of CO2 emission. The EU by no means renders a service to the world by exporting milk and meat. The university of Minnesota recently calculated that we could feed 4 billion people with the harvest of existing crop fields, on the basis of plant-based proteins for human consumption. At the moment, almost half of the world grain harvest is being swallowed up by livestock farming, which is going to lead to huge famines, felling rainforests, climate disruption and consequentially natural disasters and refugee flows.

Cow’s milk is a perfect nutrient, however solely for calves. China is capable of producing and consuming wonderful high-protein drinks such as soy milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk and coconut milk. Consumption of dairy milk is shrinking in the EU; plant-based products are booming. If China skips cow milk and instantly chooses the healthier, more sustainable and animal-friendlier variant there is a world to win, in the interest of people, animals, nature, environment and climate.

Marianne Thieme, chairwoman in the Dutch House of Representatives of the first Party for the Animals ever elected into office