Just Say Moo!

According to Sustainable Table, a website devoted to educating consumers about food choice:

Despite opposition from scientists, farmers and consumers, the US currently allows dairy cows to be injected with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), also known as recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST). Developed and manufactured by the Monsanto Corporation, this genetically engineered hormone forces cows to artificially increase milk production by 10 to 15 percent. Today, controversy still surrounds whether or not rBGH is safe for cows and humans.(http://www.sustainabletable.org/issue/rbgh)

The producers of rBGH want to make it illegal to label milk as rBGH free claiming that it would unfairly prejudice the consumer against milk containing the hormone. According to the Columbia News Service, "The FDA does not require dairies to indicate if their cows have been treated with rBGH. Instead, the agency has strongly suggested that dairies that do not use rBGH and claim to be synthetic hormone free to include information on their packaging that states "the FDA has found no significant difference between cows not treated with rBGH and milk from cows treated with rBGH."" (http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cnc/2006-04-04/lyon-hormonesand milk)

Increasingly, consumers are seeking out milk that is free of synthetic hormones. Consumer demand has led Starbucks and Walmart to stop carrying milk from rBGH treated cows. At Tidal Creek we offer consumers a wide variety of alternatives to conventionally produced dairy products. The rBGH hormone is not used in the production of any milk sold at the co-op.

If you want more information about rBGH and its possible effects on human health check out:

Your Milk on Drugs - A film by Jeffrey M. Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GpqwZDbMHU (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMBHNKhlw9M&NR=1 (Part 2)