About two weeks I have finally watched the German documentary “Das System Milk”, The Milk System in English. Here are links to the German and English Trailer:
It was published in 2017, yet not many people know it. You can find it on Netflix or if you don´t have a Netflix account and you understand German you can find it here.
I found a short desciption on imdb.com:
Movie description on imdb.com
Summary: the documentary showcases the links between global dairy industries. How dairy farmers in Europe have difficulties surviving, while big dairy companies like Arla or Friesland Campina prospect a growing demand, in particular outside of Europe. With an uprise in protests through farmers, there is a lack of political support, which is also discussed in this documentary. It is a good movie to understand the links behind the scenes, yet, without a happy end. Welcome to reality I guess.
The movie is only 1.5h long, however, if you are too busy during your lockdown at home, here is a sweet summary, so you know the details without having watched it:
- Without milk a cow has no right to be alive (believe me – I have seen it)
- genetic science in the industry will soon be able to ensure that no bulls (male cows) will be born. They´re “useless” for a dairy farmer. More in another blog post “Do we need bulls?”
- Italy has the biggest genetic trade show worldwide, where the best genetics are being showcased each year (it´s insane)
- Cows poop means a lot of waste that countries like the Netherlands sell abroad, Cow poop contains …
- Cows get fed grain to grow faster, yet, they only verarbeiten 1/3 of it. The rest goes to waste as they can´t turn it into energy
- Milk commercials have always been misleading – see my post about “why people say dairy is scary”
- There is a growing demand outside of Europe, in particular for milk powder (export to Asia and Africa)
- China is huge importer of milk but also huge producer of milk, whereas it is not a milk-nation traditionally
- Dairy companies invest more and more money in the Chinese dairy industry, which has a negative impact on European farmers due to a lack of monetary resources
- European farmers would not survive without EU funding (In 2016 about 600 farmers in France have taken their life due to financial insecurity)
- Farming has become an global economical topic
There are so many topics to write about. I hope you can bare with me and wait for new posts while I investigate.
Cow Kiss,
Marlena