The Troubling Link Between Milk And Racism
Iselin Gambert, an associate professor of legal research and writing at George Washington University in Washington, is co-authoring a forthcoming paper that argues milk has long been used as a symbol for and tool of white supremacy.
Animal milk products, Gambert told HuffPost, have become ubiquitous around the globe, including in regions with little or no history of a dairy industry. She noted the dairy industry has long marketed milk as universally healthy, even though roughly 65 percent of the world’s population has a reduced ability after infancy to digest lactose found in unprocessed milk.
Lactose intolerance is complex and very difficult to measure, but several studies, including a 2010 report produced for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, have found that people of color are more likely to report symptoms of lactose intolerance.
Yet milk and milk products have formed the backbone of some food initiatives in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program and Special Milk Program all provide milk to children in public and nonprofit private schools. It’s a policy that has been criticized by law professor Andrea Freeman for pushing harmful amounts of saturated fats into the diets of children and disproportionately affecting communities of color.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/milk-white-supremacy-racism_n_5bffad35e4b0864f4f6a3e28
