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| Top 5: 1) Water 26.5%, 2) Soda 20.9%, 3) Beer 9.5%, 4) Milk 9.3%, 5) Coffee 8.5% |
Approximately 75% of milk consumption occurs at home. Breakfast is the meal we’re most likely to drink milk. Nearly 50% of milk consumption occurs in the morning, 20% at noon/afternoon and 30% in the evening. American’s busy, on-the-go lifestyle has us eating more meals away from home so less milk is being consumed.
Milk is packaged in a variety of sizes from gallon jugs to half gallon cartons to single serve. Currently, 70% to 75% of the drinking milk sold is in gallon containers which are consumed at home.
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| Jack enjoying some milk at home |
“On average, 50% of people over the age of 18 don’t drink milk. Half of the people who don’t drink milk say they don’t because they believe they are lactose intolerant. Scientific studies show lactose-intolerance isn’t that prevalent. So a lot of people are not drinking milk who could be drinking it,” according to Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc.
Milk has been an important part of a healthy diet for generations. Research supports disease prevention and health promotion from vitamin D, calcium, protein, probiotics, whey and the overall package of nutrients that milk provides. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommends consuming 3 servings of dairy daily and increasing our vitamin D intake.
The Dairy Research Institute, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, published its top 2010-11 dairy research insights. Included on the list:
- Adequate dairy intake may help reduce incidence of Type 2 diabetes.
- Adequate dairy intake can improve key metabolic risk factors associated with obesity.
- Dairy consumption may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Establishing good milk drinking habits early in life can lead to improved nutrient intake into teen and later years.
- Among beverages, milk has the highest nutrient density scores in relation to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Dairy protein excels for nutrition and product value for food/beverage manufactures.
As dairy farmers, we produce a raw product that is shipped to a processing plant where it is pasteurized and made into a finished product like milk, cheese, butter, ice cream or yogurt. We dairy producers don’t control product packaging, labeling or marketing. We depend on milk processors to make products that meet consumer’s needs. Is the dairy industry succeeding at providing products consumers want? Are we packaging, labeling and marketing our products to reach their full potential? The numbers show milk consumption declining so I think we could do better. What do you think?
My husband, whose 30, LOVES LOVES LOVES milk. I can barely keep a gallon of whole milk in the fridge longer than 2 days -- he guzzles it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Allison. That's great to hear!
ReplyDeleteI know for our family, we produce our own milk. I think this is a trend becoming more popular. People want more control on where their food comes from. Wether the government is in agreement or not, that seems to be the trend. This could be why you wee the decrease in the purchase of milk from the stores.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless
I have my own Jersey cow, so my family drinks the best!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn www.mylifeoncedarlane.blogspot.com
Thanks for the comments. I understand the desire to know where your food comes from. It's a lot of work to own and care for a dairy cow so I'm a little surprised by this trend. The milk produced by U.S. dairy farmers (99% which are family owned and operated) is a good quality product. So for those who don't have their own cow, you can be confident you are drinking nutritious, quality milk.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn - I enjoyed your blog. It looks like you have a great home, farm and family!
I will share the reasons why my family is consuming about half the amount of milk that we were 1 year ago.
ReplyDeletePackaging - Milk comes with wasteful packaging. Plastic jugs and the plastic screw tops have a limited potential for recycling and reusing (most plastics can only be recycled 1 or 2 times). We try to avoid creating as much trash as possible, so we limit the beverages we buy that come in packaging (we buy 3 half gallons of milk a week, we used to buy 3 gallons).
Cost - I prefer to buy organic because I appreciate the promise that the cows are allowed frequent and regular pasture grazing. I spend more per half gallon than I used to spend on one whole gallon. My husband and I limit our consumption (maybe 2 glasses a month). The kids are limited to 2 glasses at breakfast for the day. The rest of the time we drink water.
Sustainability - In general we are trying to live in a more modest manner. We compost, we have a vegetable garden, we hang out the clothes, we turn off lights, and we try to eat foods that are simple and as sustainable as possible. We eat about one third the meat we did a year ago, and half the milk and twice the fruit, veggies and water.
MJ
Thanks for sharing MJ. It’s true organic cows have a grazing requirement. Our traditional cows are housed in freestall barns with plenty of quality feed, fresh water, comfortable bedding and are cooled in the summer by fans and water misters. Cows can be comfortable and well cared for in a variety of settings inside and outside.
ReplyDeleteThe dairy industry has a great track record for sustainability. A 2010 report by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Dairy Sector” estimates global milk production, processing and transportation contributes just 2.7% of green house gas (GHG) emissions. The report focuses on the entire dairy food chain from feed production and on-farm emissions, to emissions associated with milk processing, packaging and transportation of dairy products to retailers.
A 2009 study by Cornell University found over the past 60 years, U.S. dairy has reduced the carbon footprint of its products by 63 percent, thanks to improvements in animal genetics, feeding rations, animal health programs, cow comfort and overall farm management practices. In fact, more milk is produced today with only 9 million cows than with 26 million cows in 1944.
In an effort to continue our earth-friendly values, U.S. dairy has set an industry-wide goal of achieving a 25% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
I hope you’ll feel good about serving your family dairy knowing we dairy producers make animal care and sustainability a top priority just like you.
Your post really helpful for my research and developed.
ReplyDeleteDrinking Milk Products in Algeria