Milk Money: Cash, Cows, and the Death of the American Dairy Farm
When Kardashian began taking his daughter to day care at a family-run dairy farm in Vermont, he began to pay closer attention to more than simply the price of milk, cheese, and yogurt. His focus shifted to price fluctuation, speculation in the commodities market, government agricultural policies, and factory farming. Why is it that each year small dairy farms fail, despite the steady demand for this food staple and government subsidies? Kardashian provides deep historical context, from 12,000 years ago, when farming was on the rise, to the modern science of breeding cows that produce more milk to automated milking machines. He examines a range of issues, from immigrant labor to the roles of genetically modified feed, antibiotics, and artificial growth hormones to, most moving, the tragically negative impact of giant dairy processors on the day-to-day life of family farmers. Kardashian’s consciousness-raising journalism aims to boost knowledge about how milk is produced and why thousands of small farmers can’t make a decent living and are losing their farms. --Vanessa Bush