Remember when our economy was awesome? Three years ago, when everything was just lovely and everybody wanted more more more because that’s how we capitalists roll, dairy farmers couldn’t meet the milk demands of the American people.
The solution: breed only heifers (females). A bunch of guys in white lab coats spent years staring at bull semen. They figured out a way to tell if a sperm cell carried an x or a y chromosome (the x is slightly bigger), and then they plucked out and sold a ton of heifer-making bull sperms to the farmers.
Cool...except not really, because just as herds started ballooning with new dairy cows, we plunged into a ginormous recession. And people got way less excited about buying milk.
Today, these unnatural heifers are growing up and dumping dairy products into a non-existant market. There’s a huge supply and very little demand; farmers are losing money on milk.
The National Milk Producers Federation has been paying farmers to slaughter their herds. 230,000 cows have been culled this year.
So what do we have?
Rivers of milk. Struggling farmers. A ton of dead cows. And more genetically engineered heifers in test tubes, ready to go.
Today, these unnatural heifers are growing up and dumping dairy products into a non-existant market. There’s a huge supply and very little demand; farmers are losing money on milk.
The National Milk Producers Federation has been paying farmers to slaughter their herds. 230,000 cows have been culled this year.
So what do we have?
Rivers of milk. Struggling farmers. A ton of dead cows. And more genetically engineered heifers in test tubes, ready to go.
There is just so much wrong with this situation. It’s especially frightening because scientists are looking to extend gender-selection to human babies. Think about what could result from that. Pimps breeding harems. Terrorists breeding armies. I don’t know. It just seems so easily abused...sometimes we should leave nature be.
Also, what about all those dead cows? I understand the financial necessity of culling, but couldn’t they be donated to impoverished communites or something? Seriously, dear National Milk Producers Federation, giving away cows to penniless Peruvians isn’t going to hurt your profits. And in fact, a heifer and tubes of heifer-making semen would be ideal for the rural poor (make a baby without feeding a bull). Readers, d'you think we can do something about this? Bombard them with letters maybe? Contact the Heifer Foundation? Leave a comment on this post if you want to brainstorm.
Yeah, some people during the great depression had the same reaction as you when the government started having farmers underplow their fields and kill like, 298374 piglets to raise the value of crops. They were also like wtf? isn't that a waste?
ReplyDeleteAnd it is a waste. We have a world hunger issue and last time I checked, the world likes steak. So I aggree, I think it would be a good idea to notify the people killing mad cows. Heifer Foundation is a good idea--they supply people with live cows, so maybe they'll listen?
p.s. or, Sophia, we could leave it to the Quakers to end the cow violence. Jus' sayin'
*agree
ReplyDeletewell said. and yeah my blood always curdles when we get to the great depression pig business in textbooks. hmm.
ReplyDeletewhy don't we all just convert? i'm serious. i want to hear the angels sing.