The ‘truth’ about milk
Reading Father Brendan's Midweek Musings about con men (May 17) my thoughts immediately turned to what would have to be one of the the biggest cons of all time – the dairy con. The dairy industry has cleverly conned most of us us into believing that cows milk is an "important" human food that we need for strong bones.
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They even "warn" us that that "eight out of 10 Australian adults aren’t meeting the minimum recommended number of serves."
So what exactly is this "dairy" which is so important for our health? It's a baby food for newborn calves and, like all mothers milk, it's specifically designed to meet the nutritional needs of the mother’s baby – in this case a fast growing calf. Because of the brainwashing we've received, few people today regard it as bizarre to drink cows milk. But what if you saw someone drinking it the natural way?
If you saw a man approach a cow in a field, kick her calf away then crawl underneath her udder and suckle would you say to yourself, ''That man's having a drink of milk''. Or would you stare in utter disbelief and think, ''That man must be crazy!''
I imagine you'd think he was crazy, and you'd be right. It is crazy to suckle from a cow. Yet we do this, in effect, each time we drink cows' milk.
Oh, and don't be fooled into believing that cows milk gives you strong bones because the countries with the highest intake of dairy have the highest rates of bone fractures and osteoporosis.
Jenny Moxham
Monbulk
Know your basin
The total area of the Murray Darling Basin, has four major rivers, the mighty Murray, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan and The Darling Rivers the area is so vast, for there are so many communities who all rely on their rivers and dams, the basin produces 40 per cent of all Australian farmers who produce rice, wheat, oats, barley, cotton, fruit, vegetables, wine, sheep, wool, goats, cattle, dairy cattle and oil seeds.
Three quarters of Australian irrigation crops are produced in the Murray Darling Basin. The basin covers 1,058,800 square kilometers or about one-seventh (14 per cent of the total area of Australia 7,692,024km).
Water is the most valuable resource in the basin, the water that flows in the Murray and Darling rivers comes from a small percentage of the basin area. Almost 86 per cent of the vast catchment area produces very little or no regular run off to the rivers system.
When one travels to Hillston and across the Lachlan River, the flow of the Lachlan River comes from the Wyangala Dam which holds 88 per cent and water release on April 27 was 264ML, it has been reported that Hillston irrigation communities have lost 70 per cent of their water entitlements.
Canberra is part of the Murray Darling Basin and the Murrumbidgee River starts at Canberra. We have the Burrinjuck at 64 per cent – water release on April 27 2020ML, and Blowering Dam 64 per cent water release 1650ML, the river travels through towns and at Narrandera it is the gateway to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
The river continues on to Hay where the Hay communities have lost out, farmers sold their land and water to the Commonwealth Government (buyback).
Albury is situated on the Victoria border, the Hume Dam stands at 59 per cent water release 1089ML on April 29, it is the starting point for the mighty Murray River and finds its way through to Wentworth where the Darling River flows into the Murray and on its way to Renmark, Morgan, and Murray Bridge where one can board a boat cruise down the Murray and then on to the lake Alexandrina. It has been reported that Murray Darling Basin Authority have dredge the mouth of the lake on account of the sand, so that the water will flow out to sea from the mighty Murray. (Dredge at what cost)
