Erin Janus
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 10 months, 2019–2023
5:41 · 6.9M views · Dec 27, 2015
Vegan advocate Erin Janus explains the dairy industry in about five minutes, covering how milk is produced and the treatment of cows and calves. It is an advocacy piece and includes graphic material.
HN commenters in veganism and food threads link it as a short, info-dense explanation that some say opened their eyes, though others dispute it.
17 comments from Hacker News
Here's a 5 minute video that would explain why the newer generations are so mad about the unethical practices of Dairy industry. I know it opened my eyes: this video
> and is unhealthy and worse than full cream milk Dairy is scary: this video Derived from a bovine's udder, cow milk is essentially a white, viscous secretion containing fats, hormones, bioaccumulated pesticides and herbicides, and sometimes pus and blood from infected teats, all filtered through a mammary gland that often comes into contact with dirt and feces during the extraction process. Cow milk, routinely touted as a wholesome beverage, can legally contain up to 400 million somatic cells (often referred to as pus) per milliliter in the U.S., and traces of blood, all originating from inflamed and possibly infected bovine udders, making one wonder about the purity of the seemingly innocent white liquid. Cow's milk also naturally contains hormones, including Insulin-like Growth Factor-1, estrogens, progesterone, prolactin, and oxytocin; also some cows receive artificial hormones like rBST to enhance production; when consumed regularly, those hormones may impact the growth and reproductive functions of consumers. In the relentless cycle of dairy production, cows endure forced impregnation and a shortened lifespan — typically 5 years instead of the potential 25+. The record lifespan for a cow is 48 years. Newborn males are typically culled immediately, while females are separated from their mothers shortly after birth, crying for each other usually for weeks. And we haven't addressed the land needs and environmental impact of dairy production. This includes deforestation for pa
Understand your points of view. I too ate meat for a long time. I too defended that position with same ferocity you do. But I was wrong to do it. And you're wrong on too many points to discuss it at full - sorry, no space here, also have family to feed and work to do. My bookmarks folder about dangers of animal products/agriculture has hundreds of items. I'll cherrypick just few of them to get you started. You'll find several of your viewpoints discussed here: [LINK] Want to learn more? (pun intended) Movies: - I'd recommend Dominion movie again, but you won't probably see it, and even if you do, i don't think the suffering of animals/horrors of the meat production will be enough to change your opinions, so I'll talk about it from different angle. - Cowspiracy - Seaspiracy [LINK] - This man makes you think this video - Dairy is scary Health: [LINK] - Dr. Michael Greger | How Not To Die [LINK] - Foods for Protecting the Body & Mind: Dr. Neal Barnard [LINK] - What the Health! (2017) Impacts on biodiversity / climate change: [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] OK, I'll react to few of your points. > "never personally eat meat strikes me as a bit of a neurotic, narcissistic response" So avoiding killing is a neurotic, narcissistic response? Like, really? > "to avoid ice cream to spare dairy cows who are clearly, if you meet them, quite happy with their jobs" Are you sure? I've met a lot of them, when i was a child. You know that cows giving milk are mothers, forcefully impregnated/raped eve
> India ... has one of the lowest consumptions of animal protein and yet low life expectancy False cause fallacy. > You don't have to eat a lot, but you have to eat some Because you say so? Or do you have a source for your claims? > Breast milk is animal protein, or you'd have to include dairy too Vegans have a saying: "not your mother, not your milk". It's one fallacy after another. You really should read the article I've linked, it's all there. Read it. At least skim it. It's not that hard. > You can justify it for animal cruelty reasons, but not for health reasons You think that adult humans have to drink cow milk to be healthy, do I understand you correctly? Not dog milk, not lion, giraffe, rat, pig milk, but cow milk specifically? You don't read, so let's try youtube. this video Dairy is scary [LINK] Milk: The White Lie We've All Been Sold [LINK] How big government helps big dairy sell milk
> I was actually raised vegetarian and generally prefer vegetarian dishes. If you've been raised vegetarian, it's possible you have some blind spots. A lot of people have an idealized picture of how the industry works. Have you seen "dairy is scary" ? this video Or dominion? [LINK] > know that many things that are sold to us as greener, arent Certainly, that's why I would recommend focusing on science rather than mass or social media.