Associate
- Joined
- 2 Oct 2019
- Posts
- 64
Have we, as a nation, fallen out of love with milk?
This was a question that crossed my mind as I was cuddled up with OH watching a very inneresting BBC4 documentary about the Cafe Racers of the 50s & 60s and in one of the scenes, filmed inside the Ace Cafe, was something I'd totally forgotten about.
On the counter of the cafe was a clear, plastic tank with a revolving metal paddle stirring the tank's contents which, the sticker on the side of the tank announced, was "Cool Fresh Milk". Every cafe used to have one of these tanks but you just don't see them any more.
When I was young, milk was everywhere; we were told it was full of calcium and good for the teeth and bones and we were all force fed the stuff every morning at school (particularly revolting during the summer months when the school delivery seemed to be at the end of the milkman's round and was half way to butter by the time we got to pierce the foil caps with our straws).
Equally revolting was the mug of warm milk served as a bedtime drink by various relatives I would stay with from time to time - made all the more revolting by the skin that would form on the surface as the drink began to cool. But other than that, I'm a big fan of the great British pinta; no semi skimmed in our household - we always have full fat and occasionally will indulge ourselves in the gold top extra creamy milk made from Jersey cows - particularly nice on a bowl of corn flakes when you get first dibs and get all the cream from the top of the bottle!
I've also lived on farms where I've been able to help myself to the contents of the bulk tank. An endless supply of delicious, creamy unpasteurised milk on tap; cream puddings and the like would abound.
Going back to my original question, though, has milk really fallen from grace with the public? Is it because so many people are lactose intolerant? Is it because people think it's bad for their health owing to its fat content? Is it because it gets a bad press because of the greenhouse gases associated with its production?
Well according to OH (who claims to know a bit about agriculture), milk was never really that popular in the first place. Basically it was all rammed down our throats by the Milk Marketing Board because of overproduction. We've all heard of the butter mountain and the wine lake - well there was a milk lake too. And they needed to take up the slack hence the creation of delights such as Lymeswold Cheese and advertising campaigns bigging up milk (there were numerous slogans - Milk's Gotta Lotta Bottle was the one I remember) and all this probably backed up by the government's medical officers pretty much like the "Go to Work on an Egg" campaign.
I don't suppose we get gluts of anything anymore, what with the state agriculture these days. The farmer down the road has has 2 of his fields full of broadbeans - apparently there's a lot of demand for them for use in savoury snacks rather than selling them to be consumed as a vegetable in the normal way.
So, if you are suddenly aware of a preponderance of TV ads plugging Habas Fritas you'll know it's because farmer Dyer and his friends can't shift their broadbeans
This was a question that crossed my mind as I was cuddled up with OH watching a very inneresting BBC4 documentary about the Cafe Racers of the 50s & 60s and in one of the scenes, filmed inside the Ace Cafe, was something I'd totally forgotten about.
On the counter of the cafe was a clear, plastic tank with a revolving metal paddle stirring the tank's contents which, the sticker on the side of the tank announced, was "Cool Fresh Milk". Every cafe used to have one of these tanks but you just don't see them any more.
When I was young, milk was everywhere; we were told it was full of calcium and good for the teeth and bones and we were all force fed the stuff every morning at school (particularly revolting during the summer months when the school delivery seemed to be at the end of the milkman's round and was half way to butter by the time we got to pierce the foil caps with our straws).
Equally revolting was the mug of warm milk served as a bedtime drink by various relatives I would stay with from time to time - made all the more revolting by the skin that would form on the surface as the drink began to cool. But other than that, I'm a big fan of the great British pinta; no semi skimmed in our household - we always have full fat and occasionally will indulge ourselves in the gold top extra creamy milk made from Jersey cows - particularly nice on a bowl of corn flakes when you get first dibs and get all the cream from the top of the bottle!
I've also lived on farms where I've been able to help myself to the contents of the bulk tank. An endless supply of delicious, creamy unpasteurised milk on tap; cream puddings and the like would abound.
Going back to my original question, though, has milk really fallen from grace with the public? Is it because so many people are lactose intolerant? Is it because people think it's bad for their health owing to its fat content? Is it because it gets a bad press because of the greenhouse gases associated with its production?
Well according to OH (who claims to know a bit about agriculture), milk was never really that popular in the first place. Basically it was all rammed down our throats by the Milk Marketing Board because of overproduction. We've all heard of the butter mountain and the wine lake - well there was a milk lake too. And they needed to take up the slack hence the creation of delights such as Lymeswold Cheese and advertising campaigns bigging up milk (there were numerous slogans - Milk's Gotta Lotta Bottle was the one I remember) and all this probably backed up by the government's medical officers pretty much like the "Go to Work on an Egg" campaign.
I don't suppose we get gluts of anything anymore, what with the state agriculture these days. The farmer down the road has has 2 of his fields full of broadbeans - apparently there's a lot of demand for them for use in savoury snacks rather than selling them to be consumed as a vegetable in the normal way.
So, if you are suddenly aware of a preponderance of TV ads plugging Habas Fritas you'll know it's because farmer Dyer and his friends can't shift their broadbeans
