Several agriculture organizations in the Northeast have joined forces to promote dairy products as healthy food choices for consumers, children and adults alike.
The American Dairy Association North East, the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program and the Pennsylvania Beef Council created a partnership, inviting 15 registered dietitians to a farm tour at the Spring House Market and Farm in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania.
The purpose of the tour was to debunk myths about dairy products and to promote trust in dairy.
The chair of the promotion program, Lolly Lesher, believes that starting with this group of registered dietitians can result in a “ripple effect” to build needed trust in our industry. The efforts are part of the programming emphasis on relationship-building prioritized by the organization.
What preconceived notions about dairy might some of the dietitians have?
First, animal welfare gets a lot of publicity. Notions of how animals are treated must be addressed by the industry so consumers are aware of the facts.
Are there dairy farms in the U.S. that don’t meet sanitation requirements? Yes. Are there dairy farms that don’t practice humane animal care? Yes.
But we have to assure consumers (including dietitians) that the commonwealth has regulations to prevent these negative conditions as much as possible and the companies that purchase the milk require standards to be met.
If standards aren’t met, the milk is dumped at the farm, plain and simple.
Dietitians touring Spring House Market and Farm learned about the farm owner’s efforts to care for the land and the environment, something that has been generalized in news media as a negative.
For the most part, the participants finished the tour with a greater understanding of the animal care, milking and processing procedures that yield a safe and nutritious product. Several even commented that they felt reassured about the safety and health of dairy products.
The second major perception that has been around for several decades is that dairy, and particularly dairy fat, is not healthful for humans.
This issue has often been confused with lactose intolerance, which is a real problem for some individuals, including someone in my own family.
The problem can be so severe that even drinking an ultrafiltered milk or ingesting lactase does not help. We understand that and recognize it as real.
However, lactose intolerance does not make milk unhealthful for the general population.
Add that to the fact that to have the same nutrition as dairy, the alternatives must have nutrients added to them. These nutrients include protein, vitamins and minerals all found naturally in dairy. Soy beverage is the only dairy alternative to contain substantial amounts of protein on its own.
The myths of dairy fat also need to be addressed and could easily be made part of the educational offerings of tours such as the one recently provided to dietitians.
Prior to 2021, it was difficult to find research results or opinion pieces that talked positively about dairy fat. However, there are many credible studies through well-known organizations that have begun to debunk the myths surrounding dairy fat as related to health risks.
There is still a lot of controversy about this, though, as just today in searching for information on this topic I found multiple differing opinions. I can say that the negative-toward-dairy fat opinions were primarily based on health guidelines from 2015-2020 and not more recent research.
Source: lancasterfarming.com
Photo Credit: gettyimages-jesp62
Categories: Pennsylvania, Livestock, Dairy Cattle