As we become older, relationships become more apparent but not always in a good way. When I was 12 years old, I joined a milk round at weekends and holidays. I had the contrasting qualities of being fast with a crate whilst also patiently sitting in the van whilst the milkman serviced some of his ‘special’ customers. The fact that these were all women meant nothing to me. Whatever, my work paid the milk bill for my mother. We would definitely have answered in the affirmative had anyone posed the question, is our relationship with milk good for us?

Solar Damage

I was a chocolate beanpole all summer on the milk round; brown as a berry. I knew nothing of sunscreen, even had I been able to afford it. Now, I have repeated trouble with basal cell skin cancer. Upon reflection, that’s no longer a healthy relationship with milk.

Milk & Marriage

As Ann and I approach 49 years of marriage, milk has been inherent in our relationship. This time, it’s breast milk and Ann’s midwifery work over decades trying to counter bottle feeding. In the past, we discussed campaigns on why breast is best. Ultimately, it was all about frustration because huge companies like Nestle seem so much more successful with their powdered alternative. We are no longer surprised how a multi-million pound marketing budget managed by liars turns milk into an altogether different substance. Providing free powdered milk to new mums in the third world killed babies through unsterilised bottles and dirty water. For support on breastfeeding go to the military wife.

Zuri & Milk

Zuri, in 2200 BC, breast fed her baby. In my book I suggest that this would be for the baby’s first five years. She also experienced the first cattle rearing in early Britain and we can assume she was given some of the first dairy produce. Cow’s milk, perhaps even cheese, might have fed her in the food sparse winter months. I assumed that Zuri is included in the newly arising Neolithic population, mostly European, who were lactose tolerant. This is now disputed even though evidence of ‘dairy’ products is found on pottery excavated from that period. Dairy produce would have given her the nutrition to more successfully breast feed her baby. This was, of course, before anybody knew that milk carried TB.

Is Our Relationship With Milk Good For Us?

The answer is always yes, if it is mother’s milk. Another yes if you want calcium and good bone density. But, no, if you are lactose intolerant or working on a milk round without sunscreen. Both Zuri and I have had a close relationship with milk thrust upon us.