History
People have been drinking animal milk for as long as we have had domesticated animals. Bedouins, nomads in the Middle East, survived on their camel herds’ milk while traveling through the desert thousands of years ago. The ancient Egyptians produced dairy products, but reserved it for royalty! In European nations, it wasn’t until the 14th century that cow’s milk became more popular than sheep’s milk. Dairy cows were brought to North America by Europeans in the early 1600s. In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution pushed dairy farms outside of growing cities–farmers were farther from their customers. To get milk from the farms to the cities, reusable glass milk bottles were developed. Over a hundred years later, in the 1930s, the milk carton was introduced!
Benefits
- Dairy products contain many nutrients including calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.
- It has been shown that consuming milk as a child and adolescent helps build strong bones and reduces the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis later in life.