Why 'Got Milk' was a Lie

The Real Reason We Drink Cow’s Milk

Ever wonder why your mom made you drink so much milk as a kid? Turns out the answer is a lie.

About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 3.5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.

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[DailyDoseOfInternet]

The idea that fully grown adult humans need to be breast fed by cows was always weird to me.

[TheLiamster]

If milk is a lie then why did my dad go to get it?

[dennishoyt]

Here is a quote that I will recite here for entertainment purposes. "Make no mistake, pasteurization was never about healthier milk. It was all about flipping the business from the Milkman to the grocery store, making the sale of raw milk illegal solidified the deal... & you can take that to the bank...

[uiechfy]

My grandfather had 5 sons and 5 daughters. They never drink milk. They live past 80 years. The oldest one immigrated into the US when he was about 55 years old. He went to medical checkup and the doctor always said his health was good. He died at about 85 years old. All of my uncles swam and played soccer a lot when they were young and they did physical work. We are from Vietnam.

[bhfzsfe]

When I was homeless and strung out on drugs I think milk was the only thing that kept me alive. Lol. Whole milk. Red cap. I drank it and not much else and survived.. so therefore I am greatful to milk. I don't drink it much anymore, but I'll never forget what it has done for me. ❤️

[canuckinsk]

People easily accept that the government lied in the past but don't think it does it now. I always ask "when did the officials stop lying?"

[carltwelve]

Had the opportunity to try raw milk. I regularly drink gallons of milk A week, but have begun to slow way down. The processed milk is so much like water. But the raw milk was sweet and rich, and filling. I could only drink a fraction of the raw milk before I was full.

[marcellec]

Just a thought... getting a child to drink a glass of milk to get 300mg of calcium is way easier than trying to get them to eat a 100g of almonds. I can get calcium from cabbage if I wanted to, but I'd have to eat a shitload of it to get even nearly the same amount (oxylates in cabbage bond with calcium, thus reducing the amount available for absorbtion)
So yes, you can get calcium from other sources but do remember that it's the ease of ingestion as well as nutrient density that also play a major factor.

[MrMagicharry]

Omg, this finally explains it. When I was growing up as a kid I was always wondering “why in Hollywood movies and shows Americans drink milk all the time?”. In shops you can buy a GALLON of milk and that’s SHITLOAS of milk. Our packaging in Eastern Europe goes up to 2L which is almost half a gallon.

[mahonrimoriancumer]

In my childhood I had gas so bad I thought I would explode. I was in tears and my mom consulted with experts and doctors and they said I was swallowing air when I was eating and they taught me how to blow air out when taking a spoon full of food. It turns out, it was just milk. I ate cereal and milk daily, massive amounts.

[RCurtis]

I think context is crucial. Mr Harris makes some great points here but it’s worth thinking about what you’re drinking instead. Realistically its the 2nd healthiest drink after water - fruit juice and smoothies are sooo full of sugar (eating fruit let’s you take the sugar in slowly and chewing sets of a whole load of processes that prepare your body for what’s coming), refined sugar is bad and any sweetener (even ‘natural’ sweeteners) are ultra-processed, and our bodies aren’t at all adapted to deal with something that tastes like sugar (which upon tasting may for example cause the body to raise insulin levels) but actually isn’t. Best drink water, 2nd best milk, then comes everything else

[missmindy]

🤯 mind blown. My husband called our firstborn daughter “government cheese“ because he thought she was kind of lazy because she really enjoyed letting other people do things for her. I mean, just from infancy to like 2. 😆 but knowing origins is crazy. Fing govt

[AwesomeIan]

It really was insane how hard schools pushed students to drink milk.
A couple years ago, during the peak of the pandemic, I chose to go back to school in person.
I should mention this was an optional choice, and most kids chose to stay virtual. Yet, it seemed like the school didn’t adjust the the amount of milk they were ordering.
Grabbing a milk box became mandatory at lunchtime, I tried every day to refuse it, knowing I wouldn’t drink it and that it would be wasted.
One day the lunch lady just straight up said “Look I know your lactose intolerant, just take the milk and throw it in the trash.”
(I’m not even lactose intolerant but I guess she assumed I was since I kept trying to refuse the milk, I just think it’s crazy that the school was encouraging me to waste it.)

[malachaiuys]

We literally studied the "Got Milk" marking campaign in one of my Uni marketing classes in the past week and I was like I wish there was someone who's videos I like watching makes something related to milk and then bingo this man comes in clutch!!

[victorsvoice]

I found out that I have been allergic to cow's milk all my life. My doctor told me that is the reason most people get allergies later in life. Being introduced to cow's milk in the diet as a baby when the immune system isn't mature enough to handle it.

[bcaye]

Huh, I actually ate quite a bit of that government cheese. It wasn't bad at all. I lived with a widow who had 3 kids under 18 and we'd get rations monthly-wheat, cheese, canned fruit and vegetables, usually oatmeal and sometimes eggs. A local dairy farmer was sweet on her, he would bring a gallon of milk every week and we would skim off the cream and make butter.
No one in the house was a milk fan, we used it for hot cereal, cooking/baking.

[novasiri]

Growing up my mother had to actually stop giving me milk within weeks of being born because they found out I was born with a milk allergy AND intolerance of it entirely. So.. Imagine growing up around all this, and having teachers trying to force me to a point my parents had to get a doctors note to say 'Hey, they have an actual allergy, DONT GIVE THEM DAIRY AT ALL'

[cheekyb]

My friend is a food scientist who works for DMI, and was sent to Taco Bell for 10 years, she's just finished a 4 year stint at Kroeger - and her WHOLE JOB is getting more cheese into food. She is responsible for the taco bell products you love guys, a New Zealander employed by USDA and sent into places to shill for cheese. The irony is she is lactose intolerant!!!!

[anthonybrakus]

Brother, you have mastered this video essay thing. Your vids are very dense with knowledge and the way you present tells a linear story that keeps us interested and invested. Great work🎉❤

[xilefx]

My problem with this, is that people take all of this and project it to countries other than the US, even though dairy and cheese have real history and value and not this toxic American bs