Guest guest Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 >>>> Do cows need to be milked other than when they are pregnant? I think they do. Are there any...and don't get mad, i am just asking....are there any " friendly farms " that actually make cheese from cows that they raise and not slaughter? <<<< Like all mammals, cows produce milk to feed their infant young. They produce milk when they have young. Dairy cows are bred to produce milk longer than their wild bovine ancestors, but they still need to be impregnated to keep producing milk. One issue with dairy cows is what to do with those calves. If the calves are male, they're generally sold for meat, and my understanding is that these are a main source for veal. As far as I know, there isn't a good solution for this, even among humane small dairy farmers. They'd have to take care of many male offspring, and farmers large and small have pretty small profit margins. I don't know of any that simply raise those males to live, though I might be wrong about that. But my understanding is that they can't afford to do that. These decisions can be really tough, and I think it's hard to be completely pure about using animal products. I guess I'd lean toward small farms if I used dairy, and companies like Organic Valley are coops marketing products from small family farms. Would that be a good compromise for your household? Cheers, Trish -- Trish Carr http://home.comcast.net/~bantrymoon/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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