MILK
MILK IS LIFE
4
Milk. So simple, so natural and yet so incredibly complex. Milk is one of the world’s most important provisions, and has a long history marked by groundbreaking technical innovations and major changes. Milk has been part of traditions and routines since time immemorial. It’s part of daily life for people of all social classes, of all ages, all over the world. That said, quality, price and expectations all vary. Similarly, the route milk takes to get from the udder to the glass is very different, depending on where you are in the world. We can’t claim to tell you the whole of milk’s story, but we would like to share a few episodes that illustrate its varied part in all sorts of people’s lives. Come with us on a journey where you’ll have the opportunity to meet some of the world’s milk-producing animals and a few of the millions of people who live off, with and for milk, from farmers, to dairy managers, from distributors to consumers. No two of them are alike. We all have our own unique relationships with milk. Because milk is life.
5
6
Goats were the first animals to give us milk. They were domesticated around 12,000 years ago and dominated the production of milk and cheese for a long time.
Goats are known as the poor man’s cow, because historically they were cheaper to buy and keep than cows. A goat produces between 2–5 litres of milk a day.
7
8
There are more than 250 million dairy cows in the world. Cows give 83 percent of the world’s milk.
It was only when the Indians started milking cows that they became the primary dairy animal.
9
10
Sheep were taken to Europe from south-west Asia via Iran and Iraq. Did you know they’re ruminants and have four stomachs, as do cows?
Sheep came to Europe from south-west Asia via Iran and Iraq. They’re ruminants and have four stomachs, just like cows.
Sheep and goats become sexually mature early and are impregnated at the age of around five months. Both animals’ milk is used to make cheese.
11
12
Camels with both one and two humps can be milked. They can have their first calves at the age of four and a productive camel can give birth to up to eight calves.
Camels give between 1–2 litres each time they’re milked and 5–6,000 litres throughout their lives. They contribute 0.3 percent of the world’s milk production.
13
14
There are around 80 million dairy buffalo around the world. They contributed 13 percent of the world’s milk in 2011.
India and Pakistan produce 90 percent of the world’s buffalo milk, while the rest comes from Egypt, China, Iran and Italy.
15
16
There are almost 8 million dairy farms in the world, and almost 1 billion people live on them. World milk production from cows, buffalo, sheep, goats and camels added up to more than 720 million tonnes in 2011. Across the globe, the average person consumes more than 100 litres of milk per year. People in Ireland, Finland and Estonia are the biggest consumers, at up to 160 litres a year. Asians account for 39 percent of total consumption, Europeans 29 percent and North Americans 13 percent. Over the next few years, milk production is expected to increase most in China, India, Argentina and Brazil.
17
18
19
20
21
Conditions for milk production differ widely around the world. The number of animals per farmer ranges from one to 10,000. And farmers’ varying levels of knowledge about animal husbandry, as well as business acumen (with all that entails), are also very different. Operations include everything from family companies and partnerships to cooperatives. New Zealand is one of the world’s largest exporters of dairy products. The first cow arrived there in 1814 from New South Wales. In 1882, the export industry was revolutionised when the Dunedin sailed from Port Chalmers with its first shipment of chilled butter, destined for Great Britain. New Zealand’s dairy industry makes up 26 percent of exports. Just 5 percent of milk produced remains in the country. And demand is growing: exports are expected to increase by 3 percent per year. Dairy products have overtaken wool in the export league table, and sheep farmers are changing production from wool to milk. There have been more sheep than people in New Zealand for many years and, at the time of writing, the country is home to cows and people in equal numbers.
22
23
24
Janine Fisher has been permanently employed by dairy farmer Brian Pirie for six months now, and lives a few hundred metres from the farm’s cowshed, on the other side of the pastureland. She enjoys milking but has no ambition to own cows. “No, it’s too much responsibility. I’ve done a lot of temping but the problem with that is that you never know how much work you’ll have. That’s not great for someone like me – I spend all the money I earn instead of saving it!” Janine laughs, revealing the gap in her top teeth. “I damaged my teeth playing hockey,” she explains. Janine played at top level in the old days and ended up with a lot of different injuries. But in all those years she never broke a single bone. “It’s probably because I drink so much milk. I drink bucketfuls of milk!”
25
Brian and Julie Pirie started off as sharemilkers in 1986. Sharemilkers own cows, but rent land and share the profit with the landowner. Seven years later, they had saved enough to buy their first farm. Now they have four, with capacity for 2,500 cows, and the family is doing well. Brian says: “But who knows, the price of milk might fall suddenly, we might have a drought or the banks might decide they don’t want to lend any more. Then we’ll sell up or take in sharemilkers. I’m not sentimental about it. As far as I’m concerned this is business, nothing more. There’s no way our daughters will have to become farmers. They can choose to do whatever they want.”
26
27
28
29
30
There are 30 million dairy farmers worldwide, but only about 2,000 use some form of automated milking. One reason is that many of them have no electricity.
31
32
Pakistan has a population of 175 million people and 50 million dairy animals. Although the country produces 36 billion litres of milk a year, this is by no means enough to meet domestic demand. Just 5 percent goes for industrial processing. The rest is sold in bulk and distributed by the milkman, or ‘doodhwala’, directly to customers or small milk shops.
33
34
It’s important to stay close to the animals. Many owners and milkers have a home in a town but sleep with their buffalo no matter what the time of year.
It’s important to stay close to the animals. A lot of owners and milkers live in town but sleep with their buffalo no matter what time of the year.
Around 40 owners and milkers and their 1,000 buffalo can be found in Harbanspura on the outskirts of Lahore in Pakistan.
35
36
“At first, I thought ‘cow comfort’ was a bit of a weird idea. But I can see that it’s important for the cows to have space, light and clean water. We sometimes let them have footbaths, and they have mattresses to lie on. If they rest a lot, they give more milk. And they love the brush, there’s always a queue for that! The milking robot works well too, although the cows haven’t really learned how to find their way there yet. But it means we don’t have to work with staff who don’t have a feel for the animals and the farm. Not only that, cows like routine, and a robot does exactly the same thing every day. This frees up my time; I can observe the animals instead of just milking and milking. Another advantage of the robot is that it raises the alarm if a cow gives less milk than usual. Looking back, I like the way things have developed. My grandfather had three cows. I have 300 and four milking robots, and we’re in the process of buying another farm as well. The best cow I ever had was called Mariasole. She had a real personality, and was healthy and strong, with good hooves. Vittoria was another superb cow. Now, I’ve got two daughters who’ll be taking over the farm. Their names are Mariasole and Vittoria.” Filippino Paolo, Cremona, Italy
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48 Elly 5567 was one of Sweden’s most productive cows. She was born and bred on the Hamra farm in Tumba. She gave birth to 12 calves and produced 167 tonnes of milk during her life.
49
50
51
52
53
54
“I came here from the Azores in 1969 with my parents and ten brothers and sisters. My dad had eight cows, but by 1973 we had 100. Now we have 1,000, and we could add another 500 to our herd without buying more land or applying for new permits. We never had to go hungry in my family, but we were poor. And even though we’re by no means rich now, I could never have dreamed we’d end up like this. I can pick up the phone and say ‘Hi, I want this...’, and the answer I get is ‘Sure, when do you want it?’ But a few years ago, I was seriously depressed because everything was going so badly. We were losing $10,000 a day. I had to pick up the phone and say ‘Hi, I’m a bit short of cash but…’” John Dores is one of around 17,000 dairy farmers in California who together milk almost 1 million cows. In San Joaquin, where he farms, 90 percent of farmers are of Portuguese or Dutch origin. Going back centuries, the first European settlers arriving in New England had no cows with them; survival was difficult, especially for children, and many starved. This led to a new law that each group of six had to bring a cow and two goats with them to be allowed into America.
55
Kasowal Dairy Hub is a cooperative of 2,000 small-scale farmers from 20 or so small villages within a 15-kilometre radius. Among other things, the project aims to train the farmers and bring them into the value chain. It organises and develops their production so that the milk is collected to be refrigerated, tested and distributed to the dairies sponsoring the project. “There’s no competition between us farmers, we’re all neighbours and related to one another. This cow is a superb specimen. She gives 16 litres of milk a day and has produced eight calves. She’s worth 250,000 rupees. Sell up? Move to the town? No, why would I want to do that? This is a lifestyle that I enjoy. Milking is easy. My children are studying at boarding school at the moment and, if they want to, they can take over the farm. And if they don’t, I’ll stay here anyway.” Chaudhry Mohammad Shafique, Kasowal Dairy Hub
56
57
58
A third of the 35,000 farmers at various Dairy Hubs in Pakistan are women. Men and women are trained separately. “Women have a different approach to both the animals and how the farm and its finances are to be handled,” says Tahira Perveen, Lady Team Executive. “They care for the animals and are keen to learn. One important lesson involves understanding how to feed and look after the young animals so that they can start calving and producing milk at 18 months instead of three years, as they used to.” Near Kasowal is Vehari Dairy Hub. Both are built around an ingenious system of irrigation canals, and each individual plot has a unique number depending on its position in relation to the canal.
59
Tanykina Dairy Hub in Eldoret is part of the East Africa Dairy Development project in Kenya involving 4,800 farmers. The daily milk output has increased from between12–18,000 litres to between 35–40,000 litres. The refrigeration station is centrally located so no farmer has to travel more than 30 kilometres to reach it. Despite that, the project motto is: if you can’t get to the refrigeration station, the refrigeration station will come to you. Roads are poor, so if farmers have to cycle or walk with their milk it can splash out of the container – and entire churns have been known to tip over. This is why there are also interim stations. Transporter Hillary K. Kemboi cycles five kilometres to pick up milk from seven farmers a day, and gets paid three eurocents a litre. Many of his colleagues also cycle or walk, and a few use motorbikes or cars. Kenya produces 5 billion litres of milk a year, of which half is processed and the rest sold in bulk. Tanykina Dairy Hub aims to process another 1 billion litres a year.
60
61
62
63
64
65
In large countries with hot climates it is difficult to distribute fresh, pasteurised milk to all, due to lack of transport and refrigeration. UHT technology and aseptic packaging have brought about a milk revolution in countries such as China and Brazil, where places like Inner Mongolia and the Amazon are hard to get to. In Brazil, more than 87 percent of households buy UHT milk nowadays. Five billion litres of UHT milk were sold in 2010, compared with 450 million litres in the early 1990s.
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
Mohammad Iqbal sells 2,400 litres of milk a day at Hafiz Milkshop in Lahore, Pakistan. The milk is boiled before being sold in plastic bags.
You’ll also find on the menu ‘zafarani kheer’, a sweet, milk-based rice pudding with saffron, and ‘lassi’, a sweet or salty drinking yoghurt.
79
The nomads in Asia and the Middle East knew it was important to package milk and made bags out of animal skins. Modern packaging protects and can be adapted to each product, guaranteeing quality and long life. Even so, in some countries much milk is still sold untreated and unpackaged. In developing countries, the most important job for packaging is to guarantee the safety of the milk. In developed countries, this packaging has to be functional, ergonomic and visually appealing too.
80
81
Aseptic packaging shuts out light, oxygen and harmful germs.
82
Beneficial nutrients, vitamins and flavour are protected and preserved.
83
84
Sales of UHT milk in cartons are increasing in densely populated urban areas in countries such as Kenya and South Africa.
Both small shopkeepers and customers have greater trust in the new product, which used to be considered too expensive compared with milk bought in bulk.
85
86
Plain milk, flavoured milk, drinking yoghurt, sweet condensed milk, acidified milk products and milk substitutes are forecast to increase by 30 percent between 2010 and 2020. By that year, China and India are expected to consume a third of the world’s milk products. In Pakistan, where half the population are under 19 and enjoy more than half the country’s milk, the flavoured variety is likely to be the next big seller. Global demand is expected to increase – above all, in major towns and cities. By 2030 more than 60 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Karachi in Pakistan is expected to grow the most up to 2030 with an estimated 26 million inhabitants – a 92 percent increase over 20 years. That contrasts with Shanghai, the world’s most densely populated city in 2010, with almost 16 million inhabitants.
87
88
89
90
Improved living standards are making it possible for people to focus on their needs instead of only price.
The middle classes in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are expected to increase from 80 million at present to 2 billion by 2030.
91
No other single food has as large a proportion of organic sales as milk. The fact that more and more people in the West are switching to organic milk can be seen as an element of our increasing concern about the environment. Organic produce is also linked with positive values such as ‘healthy’, ‘natural’ and ‘ethical’, and shows a high level of awareness among consumers. Did you know that Danes consume more organic milk than any other nationality? In four years, Denmark’s export of organic milk has tripled, and it’s estimated that milk exports will exceed €130 million in 2012.
92
93
94
In the US and UK, people talk about ‘organic chic’ when it comes to food, interior design and fashion. In California this lifestyle and the demand for organic milk are huge. Dairies could sell more but at the moment there aren’t enough farmers able to supply it. For a farm to be approved as an organic producer, the cows’ food chain must be documented, and it must be free of antibiotics and hormones. It takes up to two years for a cow to be certified as producing organic milk. Both White Wave in Los Angeles and Clover Stornetta in San Francisco feed growing local demand. People who buy organic milk are prepared to pay more, keeping the price paid to farmers stable.
95
96
David Yates, Heritage Farm, Auckland, New Zealand.
97
“This board shows where each and every cow is in her cycle. It’s important, because we’ve divided calving into two periods so we can have milk in both summer and winter. This board is the only analogue piece of equipment we’ve kept, despite all the other changes. Now we’re looking to the future and preparing a huge celebration – the 100th anniversary of David’s forefathers arriving at Heritage Farm from the UK.” Cathy Yates
Heritage Farm is the world’s first organic farm where all the cows’ fodder comes from the farm’s pasturelands – three different fields totalling 90 hectares – and the cows are milked automatically using the Voluntary Milking System (VMS). Computerisation means the Yates family do not have to be present at the farm the whole time. If anything happens, they receive a text message and then all they have to do is pull on their boots and get on with the job.
98
99
100
101
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), methane emissions from cows and manure account for half of all global warming caused by milk production. This is why it’s important to ensure that developing countries in particular get help to reduce farm emissions while increasing productivity. One man who has received such help and understands how the work is done is Laban Talam, who belongs to Tanykina Dairy Hub in Kenya. “I grow mulberries, calliandra and sunflowers on my land. They provide enough fodder for my two cows for a year. We convert the manure into gas which is pumped into the kitchen. This means we don’t have to buy gas, and we save nearly €40 a month. Before I got involved with the project and learned about all these things, I had a cow that gave me 4 litres a day. Now I’ve got two cows, giving 20 litres each. Things are going well for me, the future’s bright. Every Tuesday, I go on the radio and tell people how they can work with their farms.”
102
103
104
105
106
“We call this road an organic corridor. It forms the boundary between the natural forest and the planted forest. We have more than 1,000 different plant varieties and 650 wild animal species here, and they can’t survive in cultivated woodland. This is why almost half our 192 million hectares is made up of natural forest. We plant pine and eucalyptus. Pine has long fibres, eucalyptus has short ones. Packaging for liquids demands strong paperboard suited to printing. Mixing long and short fibres gives the best results. We were granted Forest Stewardship CouncilTM (FSCTM) certification in 1998. As our country’s biggest paper producer and exporter, it goes without saying that we also take responsibility for sustainability and recycling.” Francisco Quadrado Jr, Key Account Manager, at Klabin in Brazil
FSCTM is an independent, international organisation working to promote environmentally appropriate, socially responsible and economically viable use of the world’s forests. In 2011, 34 percent of all paperboard purchased by Tetra Pak was FSC-certified. The target for 2012 is to raise this to 50 percent.
107
“I had a good job and earned almost ten times as much as I do now. But when I was given the opportunity to do something sensible with this land, I took the chance. And I’m pleased I did. Now I can sleep well at night and know that I’m doing something which is good for society and the people who work here.” José Carlos da Silva, manager of the recycling cooperative Cooperlínia Ambiental do Brasil in Paulinia, Brazil
108
109
110
Packaging for liquid food must be made of 100 percent virgin wood fibre.
More than 36 billion tonnes of used Tetra Pak packaging was recycled in 2011. Plastic, aluminium and wood fibres are separated during recycling.
111
112
Drinks packaging can be recycled and turned into other products up to four times.
113
114
“It was when I worked for one of Tetra Pak’s customers that I realised the time was right for recycling plastic and paper, like the materials used in Tetra Pak packaging. The material I manufacture now, ‘plastic wood’, is made by heating up and reusing the plastic from the original packaging. It is done in more or less the same way as ordinary wood pulp, using the same machines but different settings. There are no additives such as adhesive. “My plastic wood waste bins are everywhere, but I don’t feel anything in particular when I pass them on the street. For me the material is what’s important, not the finished product. My waste bins were included in World Expo 2010 and can be found all along Nanjing West Road, on Tiananmen Square, and at Beijing Airport. The Government buys them for the most part; they want to encourage Chinese people to think about the environment. Private companies still think my products are too expensive, but I reckon some of them will start buying soon. China is right out in front when it comes to wind power, solar power and hydroelectric power, but there are only about ten companies who recycle packaging in the entire country.” Tian Jin Wei, Shanghai Linpai Environmental Technology
115
Attendance at Gatoto School in Nairobi, Kenya, has increased since school milk was introduced. The school’s choir has won national championships in choral singing for several years. One song composed by teacher Evans Ngadi is a tribute to milk: “Milk for better health to nourish healthy children. Milk encourages children to go to school. Milk for better health. Milk to build up the body. Enough energy for sports and games. Milk encourages talent.�
116
117
118 More than 51 million children in over 50 countries receive school milk thanks to Tetra Pak’s partnerships with governments, non-governmental organisations and local stakeholders.
51 million children in over 50 countries receive school milk thanks to Tetra Pak’s cooperations with governments, non-state organisations and local players.
119
120
121
122
123
124
This five-room apartment used to be two smaller flats with separate entrances. But when Chris was born three years ago, the flats were joined to provide enough space for a third generation. Grandfather Jiao Qun, grandmother Ju Long, mother Keke, father Lele and little Chris all live here now. Four adults work, pick up from nursery, cook and do everything they can to improve the family’s future prospects. In 20 years’ time, Chris will be responsible for keeping them. They gather round the breakfast table and the little boy gets ready to enjoy his favourite food – strawberry-flavoured soft cheese. “A lot of people think milk is completely new to Chinese families. And for the ones who grew up in the country, it is. But those of us who grew up in Shanghai in the 1940s and 1950s had milk. I remember we had coconut flavoured milk. I liked that,” says grandmother Ju Long.
125
Who eats the most ice cream? People in the US, New Zealand and Canada are ahead of other nationalities. The first ice cream factory opened in the US in 1851.
126
Originally, ice cream was simply ice mixed with fruit and fruit juices. Eggs and dairy products were added from the late 18th Century.
The Tip Top milk bar opened in New Zealand in 1936 selling ice cream and milkshakes. There were 100 ice cream companies operating in the country in the 1950s.
127
128
129
How do you drink your coffee? Black or white? In one go, or over several hours? The Italians have always had their cappuccino, the French their café crème. But it was in Seattle in the US that coffee with milk became a commercial success. Given the ratio of coffee to milk, it should really be called latte caffè.
130
131
132
David Schomer, owner of Café Vivace in Seattle, has helped revolutionise the coffee culture of the West. “If we were to regard coffee and milk as being a pair of lovers, milk would cosset and cherish coffee. With milk, the drink is generally sweeter, the experience is prolonged because there’s more of it, and the effect of the caffeine is softened. There’s also an additional visual dimension because you can use the foam to make art. We’re particularly happy about our milk foam at the moment. This is all thanks to our steamer, ‘Fluffita’, manufactured by Shojuro Saito in Japan. This creates perfect foam. It’s as smooth as silk and contains no big air bubbles. If the bubbles are too big, the coffee will taste metallic. And of course, big bubbles in the foam look terrible as well.” In South Korea, coffee and various sweet coffee drinks, both hot and cold, have really taken off in the past decade. Espresso, latte and Americano are now enjoyed at every café. A young generation of baristas is grinding beans and decorating foam. In 2012 South Korea will host the World Latte Art Championship, which has been held annually since 2000.
133
134
135
‘Kibanda’ means shed. In eastern Nairobi, Ester Ndunge – alias Mama Chai – is successfully running her first ‘kibanda’. It’s a simple bar where she sells tea, ‘ugali’ (polenta), soup and ‘lala’ (fermented milk). In Kenya, milk is most commonly drunk in tea, and people who can’t afford to go to cafés or restaurants go to the ‘kibanda’. Ester opens at three in the morning and is there for about 12 hours. Most of her customers are construction workers who buy tea on their way to work. An ordinary cup costs 10 eurocents, and special tea with more milk and less water costs twice as much.
136
137
138
139
140
141
The same discovery can be made by different people in different places at different times. That’s how it was with cheese. In ancient times, hunters stored their milk in calf stomachs, where it soured and curdled. Similarly, Arabic merchants tried to preserve milk in the stomachs of other animals and, as they crossed the desert, the rocking motion and warmth of their camels turned it into cheese. In 300 BC, Aristotle described in The History of Animals how Greek cheese was made. His countrymen used juice from figs and other herbs to curdle the milk instead of letting it sour first. But when was the first cheese made? The oldest known pictures of the practice were carved on to a 5,000-year-old Sumerian frieze in Mesopotamia. Every year, more than 170 million tonnes of milk are used to make cheese – a quarter of the total milk produced globally. Almost all sheep’s and goats’ milk goes into cheese.
142
143
The EU countries produce more than a third of all cheese on the world market. Italy is one of the biggest producers, making more than 1 million tonnes a year and exporting 150,000 tonnes valued at €700 million. In Italy, cheese is made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep and buffalo. ‘Formaggio’ uses up 68 percent of the country’s milk production, with most going into the world-famous Parmigiano-Reggiano and Grana Padano varieties. Even in such a huge global industry, traditions live on. Two people work at Latteria Sociale Maro in Castelnovo ne’ Monti, producing three cheeses a day. They start by pouring rennet into the cheese milk to make it coagulate. The next step is to place the curd into moulds, leave them to rest in brine for at least a month, and finally put them into storage. When the cheese is one year old, il battitore – the inspector – taps each one to find out whether it has developed correctly. The cheese has to pass the tapping test to get its stamp of authenticity. The fact that the shape – or form – of the cheese is important is evident from various translations of the word: formaggio in Italian, fromage in French and forma in Greek.
144
145
146
Each year, 9 million litres of milk are used to make 16,000 Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses weighing 35–38 kilos apiece at Latteria Sociale di Bagnolo in Reggio Emilia.
The milk comes from the 13,000 cows in the district, which are fed only on fresh or dried grass grown south of the river Po.
147
At Caseficio Taverna Penta just outside Salerno, Flavia Bergman and Filippo Moreno sell half their mozzarella cheeses in the dairy. Another 40 percent go to shops in the province, and the rest to other parts of Italy. They use 200 litres of milk a day in mozzarella and ricotta. The Moreno family have kept buffalo since 1695, through ten generations. Filippo took over three years ago when his father died, but he sees himself as a businessman rather than a farmer. “We used to live in the centre of Rome; I miss it sometimes. The other night, I woke up because there were buffalo all around the house. One had managed to get out, and more followed. It took a while to get them back into the field,� He says. Next summer, Filippo and Flavia plan to open an ice-cream and yoghurt bar next to the dairy. Buffalo milk contains more than 8 percent fat and up to 7 percent protein and is sweeter than cow’s milk. Real buffalo mozzarella can only be made from water buffalo milk, produced in central and southern Italy. There are around 100 dairies in the approved areas and production is monitored by the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP Consorzio di Tutela.
148
149
150
Grilled cheese is popular on the beaches of Brazil.
151
“I was born here, close to the farm. There was a kolchos (a farming collective) on this site during the Soviet era. My grandfather was responsible for it. He was a legendary figure in the district, and even now everybody knows of him. He had a sense of social responsibility and built schools, nurseries and roads. He worked for 32 years. His constructions were worth €3 million in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet era ended. I received this land as a gift on my 17th birthday. The kolchos was shut down a long time ago, and unfortunately my grandfather is dead now. I could have learned a lot from him. Most of the people who knew anything about milk and farming are also dead. When I was younger, I used to dream of making my fortune. Now I’m thinking more along the lines of creating a sustainable company for my children and grandchildren. I do try to live up to my grandfather’s values as regards responsibility for the town, too. We support the school, and our English teacher has been given a grant. We pay a childbirth allowance of €2,500 anyone who’s been registered here for five years, has a child and then stays for another five years – there are only 500 people in the village. I focus on milk, although we grow potatoes as well. The milking robot saves me having hundreds of employees. I think about becoming the biggest Voluntary Milking System (VMS) farm in the world. But, if I’m going to have any chance, I have to achieve it within a few years, otherwise other investors will work out what great business you can do with milk – ‘white gold’. I reckon I’ll be seeing returns of €25 million within five or six years.” Farit Rakhimov, Apastovo, Tatarstan, Russia
152
153
154
155
The Lianozovo dairy in Moscow develops classic milk products to suit today’s consumers.
156
Product safety is strictly controlled in the microbiological laboratory.
157
In Russia, fermented milk products such as yoghurt, ‘smetana’ and the classic kefir are the second-biggest dairy category, after drinking milk. The Russians have always been keen consumers of milk products and prefer them traditional. They drink kefir, which originates from the Caucasus Mountains, whenever they feel the need: to help them sleep, when they’re on a diet, the day after a party. Acidified and fermented milk have existed for thousands of years and go by many names. ‘Lassi’, ‘ayran’, ‘mala’ and sour cream are just some of them. In countries with hot climates, such as Turkey, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan and India, yoghurt is more common; in temperate countries various other kinds of milk products are popular. The Vikings are said to have enjoyed sour milk-like products, and Linnaeus describes sour milk in his documents dating back to the 18th Century. ‘Skyr’, sour milk from goats or cows, is said to have been invented accidentally when settlers in Iceland tried to preserve meat using skimmed milk.
158
159
160
Condensed milk was produced mostly in the EU, the US and the former Soviet Union in the 1980s. But condensing was used as a way to preserve milk back in the mid-19th Century. During the American Civil War, large amounts of condensed milk were reserved for the armies. After the war, there was an enormous surplus, and American housewives started to create the most ingenious desserts. Nowadays, almost 5 million tonnes of condensed milk are produced every year. It’s used in desserts and sweets in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and China for the most part, but also in Brazil, Peru and Chile.
161
162
163
Cleopatra was renowned for her love affairs and her radiantly beautiful skin. Her secret? She bathed in milk. This milk was actually beneficial to her skin, as well as giving a feeling of luxury and extravagance befitting a queen. Even now, we can indulge in a Cleopatra-style milk bath at a modern spa. Ordinary milk is poured into the bathwater, along with a few drops of scented oil.
164
165
166
“To treat dandruff: mix half a decilitre of yoghurt with one egg. Add a teaspoonful of vinegar. Massage the mixture into your scalp. Leave it there for a couple of hours before rinsing it out. For your face: mix a teaspoonful of chopped, dried orange peel into two teaspoonfuls of cream or yoghurt. Apply to your face, avoiding the eyes. Wash off after 20 minutes. Your skin will be beautifully radiant.� In Pakistan Giselle Sharif still treasures the beauty treatment recipes she inherited from her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
167
168
169
Holger Marbach, who’s been running Vital Camel Milk in Nanyuki, Kenya, since 2005, is convinced of the beneficial effects of camel’s milk, both inside and out. He sells pasteurised milk and yoghurt through the major food chain Nakomatt, where he’s now launching his latest product: skin cream, courtesy of the camel. “I don’t think camel’s milk is for everyone; I focus on people who have health problems. I’m convinced that the milk helps with various illnesses,” says Holger.
170
171
172
173
174
The milk of the camel doesn’t stay in the udders. As a result, you get less every time you milk one of the animals. On the other hand, you can repeat every two hours.
It’s the suckling of the calf that brings milk to the camel’s teats. The mother can then be milked for 90 seconds.
When milking, the suckling of the calf is what brings the milk to the teats. The camel can then be milked for 90 seconds.
175
176
177
178
Headbutting is natural among cows. There’s always a hierarchy in a herd, with one or two dominant cows, and this is one way they challenge one another. The leader isn’t necessarily the biggest animal with the most physical strength; it’s a matter of pride and attitude. It’s always been important for dairy farmers to find out which cows they should focus on when they have to breed fine new specimens. The Batailles de Reines (Fights of the Queens) have been held since 1958, and around 3,000 combatants took part in the last one. On the day of the final, there’s a tremendous atmosphere at the specially built arena in Aosta, Italy. The event attracts almost 7,000 spectators. All participating cows must be registered in Valle d’Aosta and be pregnant, otherwise they get too aggressive. But the farmers look after their cows and make sure nobody gets hurt. A contest between evenly matched cows can continue for ten minutes, but there are cows that demand so much respect that one loud, echoing moo is enough to defeat the challenger. Of course, having a cow in the final is a major honour. Nowadays, the competition is more of an excuse for the farmers to meet up. But the public are still drawn by the allure of traditional rites and rural folklore.
179
180
181
182
Milk production is expected to increase massively in New Zealand, so it’s important for the younger generation to be ready to take over. Hence the reason for The Calf Club, which has a long tradition of cultivating children’s interest in animals and farming. Club members learn to make their calves look their best, cleaning and brushing them, and to lead them correctly. George Cronin took on a calf called Eco from Reg and Jane Lockwood’s farm when she was born. The Lockwoods qualified for the final of the Agriculture & Pasture (A & P) show held in Clevedon Valley in 1947. Reg took first prize with his calf, Fancy, that year. The show has been held every year since 1947. 183
Goats have been part of humans’ lives for centuries. This mystical animal figures in myths, sagas and rites the world over. In Egyptian mythology, the goat was a symbol of fertility and abundance, while Greeks saw the unfortunate creatures as sacrifice fodder for Dionysus. In Mongolia, a half-goat, half-dog was worshipped as a god. The Inuits possess songs and poems invoking the goat’s spirit as their protector. And in Arabic folklore there’s a tale of a goat who banished a fox to get its tail back. A legend from Nigeria tells how the goat was tamed. The wild animals used to drink water from a shared spring which they took turns to clean once a year. The goat kept avoiding the task, which made the leopard angry. When the leopard growled, the goat ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the village and the humans, where he stayed. And so he became domesticated. The Pedi tribes in southern Africa kept large herds of goats along with their cows in the 19th Century. The herds were a sign of prosperity, but one cow or heifer was worth 14 goats.
184
185
186
187
188
Have you ever tried counting sheep when you can’t sleep? The idea is that the routine will help you drop off, but studies show that imagining a calm, unmoving scene can be just as effective, if not more so. Perhaps it’s better to forget counting and try drinking. Sheep’s milk has a mild, creamy taste and is rich in protein. It’s also naturally homogeneous, so the fat doesn’t float to the surface as in cow’s milk. Perfect for a soothing bedtime beverage. In fact, little sheep’s milk is drunk and most is used to make cheese: feta from Greece, Roquefort from France and Manchego from Spain are the most famous ones.
189
190
In Greek mythology, Hera was married to her brother, Zeus. The god of sky and thunder was notoriously unfaithful. When one of his lovers gave birth to Heracles, Zeus laid the child at Hera’s breast while she slept, because anyone who drank her milk would be made immortal. Heracles started to suckle. But when Hera awoke to find the unknown child at her breast, she knocked him away with such force that her milk shot out in an arc across the entire universe, forming the Milky Way (Milchstrasse in German, Lakte Fason in Haitian, Melkweg in Afrikaans, La Voie LactÊe in French, and Kashta e Kumtrit in Albanian). The creation theme is also found in a Japanese story which describes how gods transformed the dark sea into curd by setting it in motion. Some Eastern myths claim that the first humans were made from milk. A Hindu fable has it that the Earth came into being when Vishnu managed to mediate between gods and demons, who pooled their efforts and created a cow that gave milk and butter. This is why the cow is holy in India. In Vedic sacrificial rituals, heated milk is offered as a symbol of the divine flow of life.
191
We associate many sensations, values, and almost magical properties with milk. Natural, warm, generous, delicious, fresh, historic, energy-giving, friendly, calm, harmonious, nutritious, beneficial and rich are just some of them. In the Bible, Canaan was the land of milk and honey – a rich and fertile terrain. There are also allusions to milk as nutrition for the chosen few. The pure white drink also frequently appears in pagan rites as a symbol of a sacrifice, among other things. An ancient Swedish tradition was said to ensure women always had plenty of breast milk: a bride had to go into the cowshed in wedding finery and milk a cow just before the ceremony. Many are enchanted by the myth of the abandoned twins, Romulus and Remus, who survived thanks to being suckled by a she-wolf. There’s been much research into the history of milk in modern times. The story is constantly being rewritten, but so far one question has never been answered unequivocally. Exactly when did we start milking? Traces of animal milk have been found recently on 9,000-year-old potsherds in what’s now Turkey, putting the origins of milking 1,000 years before previous estimates. Other details indicate that the first attempts took place in Iran in the 6th Century BC, when humans started domesticating goats and sheep. That was just the beginning and from then on humans drafted in cattle, horses and pigs to pull heavy loads and provide meat. And did you know that, of these, pigs are the only animals that have NOT been milked?
192
193
194
Gustaf de Laval invented the separator in 1878.
So what’s true, and what’s not? Who writes history? Who knows? One thing is certain: our relationship with milk has endured through the ages and across geographies, religious systems and cultures. Stories abound. Nomads have lived on milk alone for several months. Camel’s milk has long been used for medicinal purposes and as an aphrodisiac. Marco Polo compared fermented milk to white wine, and the drink has been affectionately known as ‘white champagne’. The Maasai, who drink up to a litre of milk on a daily basis, like to mix it with cow’s blood. Hippocrates thought that tuberculosis could be cured by consuming large quantities of asses’ milk. Arab doctors used camel’s milk and whey to cure all sorts of ailments. And Herodotus was said to have placed his trust in fermented horse milk, known as kumis. In the late 19th Century, particularly in south-eastern Russia, kumis was seen as a cure-all. The Russian authors Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov both took it medicinally. Chekhov, who suffered from tuberculosis, checked in to a health resort and drank four bottles a day for two weeks. He put on 12 kilos, but didn’t recover. Tolstoy grappled with existential problems and went to a health resort on his wife’s advice. Perhaps his later writings are the true test of whether or not he was cured. At around the same time, two American doctors made a name for themselves by devising a milk diet that was claimed to cure many ailments: rheumatoid arthritis, oedema, indigestion, low thyroid activity, asthma, hay fever, gallstones, infertility, anaemia, insomnia, migraine, eczema and tuberculosis in its early stages… They wrote self-help books where specific instructions for the diet were given in detail. For example, they stressed the importance of using the same glass for an entire day. The milk had to be drunk while lying down, and the bed had to be made with linen sheets and a woollen blanket. The diet had to be combined with fresh air and a certain amount of exercise.
195
Even now, it’s said that drinking 5 decilitres of milk after exercise reduces the risk of aches and pains. On Facebook there’s a group of parents who insist camel’s milk has brought about improvements in their autistic children. We think of milk as a liquid, but it isn’t necessarily so. In new, growing markets, milk powder is one of the dairy products predicted to increase sales in the next few years. But there’s nothing new about it. If we’re to believe Marco Polo, it originated in the 13th Century when he was living with Kublai Khan’s army in Mongolia. According to his writings, the Mongols made both milk powder and various kinds of fermented drinks by boiling the milk, removing the cream and leaving the rest to dry in the sun. They took the granules with them on expeditions and added them to a bottle of water, which mixed nicely while they rode. The technique worked well with dried milk from horses, goats, sheep and camels.
196
Ruben Rausing with his sons Gad and Hans examining the model for Tetra Pak’s concept packaging machine, built in 1946.
The first Tetra Pak machine was supplied to Lundaortens MejerifĂśrening in September 1952.
197
Milk has been a staple in most European countries since time immemorial, but consumption was low during the Middle Ages. This was partly due to poor quality. Adults preferred cider or wine. Those who insisted on drinking milk were seen as weak and perhaps slightly mad. Milk was reserved for children. Thinking about it, that’s logical. In the beginning, milk is an extended umbilical cord between mother and baby. Life-giving, yet simple, available, uncomplicated. And yet a story about Albert Einstein puts milk in a completely different light. The iconic scientist had just started at Princeton when he was invited to take tea with colleagues. His hostess was excited by her celebrity guest and asked Einstein if he could explain his theory of relativity in just a few words. The genius then told a tale about a walk with a blind friend. As they walked, Einstein became thirsty and exclaimed:
h
“If only I had a glass of milk!” “I know what a glass is,” said his blind friend, “but what is milk?” “Milk is a white liquid,” said Einstein. “Okay, I know what a liquid is. But what is white?” “White is the colour of the feathers of a swan.” “I know what feathers are. But what is a swan?” “A swan is a bird with a curved neck.” “I know what a neck is. But what does curved mean?” By this time, Einstein had lost his patience. He took hold of his blind friend’s arm and held it out straight. “This is straight,” said Einstein. Then he bent his friend’s arm. “This is curved.” “Aha!” said his friend, “thank you! Now I know what milk is.”
198
199
Publisher: Jörgen Haglind Photographer: Felix Oppenheim, except: pp. 120, 162, 197 Tetra Pak/DeLaval archive, pp. 178–179, 180 Denise Tuveri, pp. 190, 193 Tetra Pak Brazil, Author: Sofia French Art Director: Lars Hall, Lars Hall AB Design: Jöran Rammhällen Project managers: Elisabeth Antonsson and Beth Friberg Printed by: Elanders Fälth & Hässler, Mölnlycke, Sweden, 2012 Tetra Laval AB Birger Jarlsgatan 9, 3 tr SE-111 45 Stockholm, Sweden ISBN 978-91-7843-383-4