Did anyone watchthe Panorama programme about dairy cows last night? It was deeply distressing and has seriously prompted me to become a vegan. I'm a farmer's daughter and, when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, it was all on a much smaller scale and I never witnessed such cruelty towards animals. Cows were milked twice a day and I'm pretty sure the calves weren't separated from the mothers so early. I become a vegetarian in the 80s as I disapproved of intensive farming but still ate dairy. I have been using organic milk in the hope that the cows are better treated. Milk is just too cheap. People have been willing to pay little more for free range eggs when they realised that caging hens was cruel so I would hope that people would pay more for milk if welfare standards were higher. Cheap food generally means a vulnerable person or animal is paying the price.
