“Drinking milk doesn’t kill cows.” This is one of the most common misconceptions that the population of milk-drinkers have, along with other beliefs such as “kids need milk for calcium,” and “cows need to be milked.” However, all these milk myths are just that: myths.

Like any other mammal, cows are only able to lactate, or produce milk, by having children. But the milk meant to nourish their young is sold, which means the babies are torn away from their mothers when they are barely one day old. Instead of milk, calves are fed replacers so that the milk they need can be sold to humans. Dairy cows are kept constantly impregnated, a cycle that starts shortly after their first birthdays. Naturally, they would be unable to produce the amount of milk forced of them, so they are pumped full of hormones and fed an unnatural diet. The fate of the day-old calf depends entirely on his or her gender. If she is female, she meets the same end as her mother in the dairy industry. Male calves are kept chained in stalls to be raised for veal, where they are fed a diet of milk substitute and purposely deprived of iron and exercise so their flesh can stay pale and tender.

That is only the cruelty of it. Not to mention the facts that the dairy industry is detrimental to the environment (an acre of rainforest is cut down every 6 seconds to accommodate cattle) and it is actually not a very good source of calcium and protein(plant-derived milks contain far more calcium, vitamins, and protein without any of the cholesterol), human bodies don’t need dairy-in fact, they fight it. We just aren’t meant to be drinking the milk of another species, if the rates of lactose intolerance, the most common food allergy after peanuts,have anything to say about it.