‘The Price of Milk’: A new docuseries digs into the dairy industry’s widespread influence in America
A new documentary series, 'The Price of Milk', details the influence the dairy checkoff has on American eating habits, from putting more dairy into foods at chains like Taco Bell, to ensuring milk is a part of public school meals. The first three episodes of the docuseries premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June, and will be available for streaming on various platforms.
NINA B. ELKADI: A new documentary series, “The Price of Milk,” details the influence the dairy checkoff has on American eating habits, from putting more dairy into foods at chains like Taco Bell, to ensuring milk is a part of public school meals…
“Checkoff” is a term used to refer to mandatory fees all dairy farmers must pay on dairy sold or imported in the U.S. The money is pooled together and controlled by Dairy Management Inc., which hires its own staff to research and market dairy products…
At the core of this documentary series is the notion that the dairy industry is behind many of the accepted cultural norms of eating in the United States. In the late 1970s, production incentives resulted in a massive dairy surplus, which led government researchers to find more uses for dairy.
Cheese became one of the answers. More cheese on pizza. More cheese on tacos. Milk in school lunches became the other. This is the standard in public schools across the country, despite the fact that many students — predominantly students of color — are lactose intolerant.
“Eighty percent of African Americans, and 90 percent of Asian Americans are lactose intolerant, “ U.S. Representative Jamal Bowman said in the documentary, referring to research from Boston Children’s Hospital. “It’s just an insane stat.” And yet, milk is the standard for school lunch. Just like cheese is the standard for vegetarian options at Taco Bell, and American cheese is an undisputed ingredient in every Big Mac…
The documentary was produced with funding from plant-based milk brand Oatly, but the producers tell Sentient that the only stipulation was that the film had to be about milk — contractually, the producers had full creative control.
In an email to Sentient, Nicholas Bruckman, co-director and producer of the film, wrote that the producers approached the project “journalistically,” not wanting to make a film that was “anti-milk” or something that seemed like an advertisement for plant milk. “That’s partly why we chose dairy farmers as the protagonists and framed the story not around consumer choice but around the systemic issues in the food system”…
What happens with checkoff dollars is “much bigger than milk and bigger than food,” Bruckman, co-director and producer of the film, tells Sentient. “It’s about how large corporate forces can kind of co-opt our democratic processes”…
The first three episodes of the docuseries premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June, and the producers are in conversation with various platforms about where the documentary will be available for streaming. They are also hoping to host screenings at places like universities, and within rural communities. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEOS: