Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas

Mark Kurlansky traces the 10,000-year history of milk and dairy products across cultures and civilizations. According to Greek mythology, the Milky Way galaxy originated from the goddess Hera's breast milk. While human infants depend on mother's milk for nourishment, humans have cultivated milk from other mammals since domesticating animals over 10,000 years ago, initially to produce cheese, yogurt, kefir, and other fermented foods that made lactose digestible. Genetic mutations later enabled some humans to tolerate fresh milk. Before industrialization, families commonly kept dairy cows and produced their own milk. The nineteenth century brought mass production and urbanization, making milk safety a major public health concern as milk-borne illnesses caused widespread death. Pasteurization gradually became legally mandated. Today, milk remains central to debates over industrial farming, animal rights, GM Os, the locavore movement, and raw milk consumption, which some advocates promote despite rejecting pasteurization. Kurlansky examines milk's role in cultural evolution, religion, nutrition, politics, and economics from ancient times to the present. The book includes recipes throughout.