Milk haters: they are everywhere.
Oh, they would gladly be. Sip the tea Or stick it in a protein shake. They won’t bat an eyelid at putting it on a bowl of cereal or ordering a ridiculously large latte that, as the name suggests, is overheated. The milk Compared to real coffee. But admit that you really enjoy drinking a glass of the white stuff by yourself, and it’s like you still showered with a sibling or downed all 36 of your Squishy Mellows individually before bed every night. To say good night. .
As a milk superfan myself, I have long been used to the judgment and ridicule of others. I’ve heard critics call it “weird”, “creepy” and say it gives them away. “ick”. Before the cow’s milk kills one In the alternative milk wars – with suitors like almonds and the like Oats Stepping in to steal Derry’s crown as the default choice – people were surprisingly cynical about a grown-up having fun kicking around with a glass.
I’ve always been able to defend my enthusiasm by citing the old calcium argument – whenever I indulge, I’m just making my teeth and bones stronger. If necessary, turn your nose up. I’m the one who’ll be laughing in my eighties while the rest of you have osteoporosis. Now, there is an even more compelling health argument, after a A new UK study found that drinking a large glass of milk a dayThe equivalent of an extra 300 ml of calcium, reduces the risk of bowel cancer by 17%.
The study, conducted by the University of Oxford and Cancer Research UK, analyzed the diets of more than 500,000 women aged 16 and over. “This highlights the potential protective role of dairy in the development of bowel cancer, largely due to calcium,” said lead researcher Dr Karen Papier from Oxford.
Take this, scoffers! But how did we end up here – just having a peer-reviewed scientific paper to justify a perfectly normal and healthy habit? Forced? My obsession with milk, and the disdain of others, can both have their earliest origins in the free school milk initiative. Despite Maggie “The Milkman” ThatcherThrough the best efforts of , the policy of free or subsidized milk in primary schools continued into the new Labor years and, for this child of the nineties, that mid-morning carton was the highlight of my day. I can still remember the anticipation as we waited on the thick carpet. a satisfying slide of mini straws; A mouthwatering first hit of rich, ice-cold creaminess. Mmm.
But because I feel a wave of nostalgia every time I take a sip, many people can’t help but associate the act of drinking milk with childhood. Milk was branded as infantilizing – baby-safe – an impression reinforced by American TV shows in which babies would be offered milk and cookies before bed.
Despite being a staple of almost every fridge up and down the country (the The price of a pint is still always brought To test whether British politicians are completely out of touch with the real world), the dairy drink is associated with a kind of arrest in popular culture.
In the recently released erotic thriller Baby girlone of Intern Harris Dickinson’s power plays is to send Nicole Kidman’s CEO a glass of milk at a bar and drink it. His choice of drink suggests that he is submissive while he is truly mature, in control.
Then there is the cult sitcom. The IT Crowdin which Moss’ character, a neurodivergent child who still lives at home with his mother, commemoratively orders a glass of milk at a secret members’ club. The countdown. The implication is clear – he is a child in man’s clothing with an unsophisticated command to prove it.
The milk was branded as infant – baby safe
British comedy may also go some way to explaining why, for people of a certain age, milk is a huge turn-off. We need look no further. Notice show Little Britain When it came to figuring out where the “ick” factor came from – the infamous “Bitty” sketch, in which a grown man is enthusiastically breastfed by his mother, found the concept of drinking milk utterly revolting. were sufficient to constitute a process.
We milk stains aren’t in particularly good company in modern times either. Completely detached from the connotations of childhood, milk has been co-opted in America by the hyper-masculine alt-right (making another ick entirely). Around 2018, The white supremacists began to steal the goods. To show how strong they were against the woke, left-wing, liberal “soy boys” who characterized their preferences for plant-based milk. last year, Raw, unpasteurized milk began to gain traction. As the ultimate Republican accessory – For example, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that he only drinks raw milk.and mega-conservatives have been right behind it.
None of this is making the milk look good, I’ll admit that. But we still have an ace, an icon whose cool factor never wanes no matter what’s happening in the wider cultural landscape. In the Coen brothers’ 1998 classic film The Big LebowskiPlayed innocently by loveable slugger “The Dude”. Jeff Bridges) will forever be synonymous with his gangster’s signature milk-based cocktail: a White Russian. He downs a total of nine over the course of the two-hour film. After its release, the drink saw a huge rise in popularity. If you don’t believe me, may I produce Exhibit A: the Lebowski Bar in ReykjavikIceland, where moviegoers can choose from a menu of 23 different types of White Russian (including a Pink Russian, Tropical Russian, and Special Lady’s).
Curse the politicians and haters. As far as I’m concerned, milk will always be the best food: delicious and nutritious with even more enticing health benefits. Dude lives! And so is my love of white things.