In
contrast with most dairy farms, the cows at Bhaktivedanta Manor
farm in Hertfordshire are NOT force-fed
with high protein concentrate and pumped with hormonial drugs
to produce more milk, and they do NOT suffer with unnatural and
painful outsized udders or struggle to support their own artifically
increased body weight. Nor are they killed when they are too
old to produce milk. At Bhaktivedanta Manor farm the cows
and their calves are free to roam as they please, and we call
the milk they produce Ahimsa Milk!
Organic Milk is a good first step to cruelty-free milk
The Lotus Trust Ahimsa Milk 'Happy Healthy Cows' campaign
aspires for a complete standard of compassion for cows. Organic
standards, although not complete, are nevertheless a good first
step.
Cow Welfare Unlike milk supplied by conventional farms, organic milk comes
from farms where:
Cows are fed a grass-based diet rather than
concentrated feed
Their diet must be based on organically grown
foodstuffs
They must spend the majority of their lives outdoors
When
they are brought indoors during bad wheather, the cows must
have appropriate bedding and adequate space
Homeopathy and herbal
remedies are used to cure disease
The feeding of calves must
be based on natural milk
The amount of space allocated per cow
is greater compared with conventional dairy cows
Calves must
be kept together in social groups rather than seperated into
individual pens
The use of hormones must be kept to a minimum
No synthetic
chemical pesticides are permitted on fields on which the cows
graze
Organic Cows produce a lower but more natural
yield of milk and so are less likely to suffer from the problems
associated with force-feeding of concentrates and excessive use
of hormones.
"In
Nature, animals and plants lead an interlocked
existence. The connection could not be closer, more
permanent, or more crucial."
Sir Albert Howard (father of the organic movement)
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be
a
vegetarian."
Paul MacCartney and Linda MacCartney
Consumer Health
A recent study published in the British Journal
of
Nutrition and carried out in the Netherlands showed that
the incidence of eczema in young children was reduced by
36% where the children consumed organic dairy products.
Recent research from Newcastle University shows that
organic milk contains more nutritionally desirable fatty
acids, vitamins and antioxidants, including up to 60% more conjugated
linoleic acid (CLA) during
the summer months. These sunstances have been linked to lower
risks of heart disease and cancer.
Organically
reared cows, which eat high quantities of
fresh grass, clover pasture and grass clover silage,
produce milk which is on average 50% higher in Vitamin
E, 75% higher in beta carotene (which our bodies convert
to Vitamin A) and two to three times higher in the
antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, compared with non-organic
milk.
The results of independent research funded by OMSCo and carried out by Dr Kathryn
Ellis at the Universities of Liverpool and Glasgow from 2002 to 2005 looked
into the compositional differences between organic and non-organic milk. The
results, published in the Journal of Dairy Science in 2006, showed that organic
milk is on average 68% higher in total Omega-3 than non-organic milk.
Although the treatment of organic milk producing cows is far better
than that of regular dairy cows, we don't think organic standards go far
enough to be considered ahmisa milk!
Two Main Reasons
Unless they will later be used for breeding purposes, male calves are killed
soon after birth
When dairy cows are too old to produce milk they are killed
We believe that cows deserve better. We propose a new standard - The
Ahimsa Milk Standard.
Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word from ancient India meaning "non-violence".
The Ahimsa Milk Standard will see cows being able to live
out their lives, and calves being kept with their mothers, in cow sanctuaries
like the one at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
"Even
now in the Indian villages surrounding Vrndavana, the villagers live happily
simply by giving protection to the cow. The keep cow dung very carefully
and dry it to use as fuel. They keep a sufficient stock of grains, and because
of giving protection to the cows they have sufficient milk and milk products
to solve all economic problems. Simply by giving protection to the cow, the
villagers live so peacefully."
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
"Cow-slaughter and man-slaughter are in my opinion the two sides
of the same coin."
Gandhi
What
We Do 
In
contrast with most dairy farms, the cows at Bhaktivedanta Manor
farm in Hertfordshire are NOT force-fed
with high protein concentrate and pumped with hormonial drugs
to produce more milk, and they do NOT suffer with unnatural and
painful outsized udders or struggle to support their own artifically
increased body weight. Nor are they killed when they are too
old to produce milk. At Bhaktivedanta Manor farm the cows
and their calves are free to roam as they please, and we call
the milk they produce Ahimsa Milk! 
Organic Cows produce a lower but more natural
yield of milk and so are less likely to suffer from the problems
associated with force-feeding of concentrates and excessive use
of hormones.
Organically
reared cows, which eat high quantities of
fresh grass, clover pasture and grass clover silage,
produce milk which is on average 50% higher in Vitamin
E, 75% higher in beta carotene (which our bodies convert
to Vitamin A) and two to three times higher in the
antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, compared with non-organic
milk.
Terms
& Conditions