WEBVTT - Spoiled Milk

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<v Speaker 1>M got milk. You're familiar with those commercials. You've seen

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<v Speaker 1>the billboards hundreds of times. Those milk mustaches seemed innocuous enough.

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<v Speaker 1>But what you may not have considered is how we've

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<v Speaker 1>been coerced into believing that milk is an essential part

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<v Speaker 1>of a healthy diet. On today's episode, we discuss how

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<v Speaker 1>milk is a perfect microcosm for the mini maladies plaguing

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<v Speaker 1>our corporate food system, from deep pocketed lobbyists, in adequate

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<v Speaker 1>school lunches, nutritional racism, and the relationship between the milk

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<v Speaker 1>industry and fast food companies. In other words, we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about the everlasting, systemic problem of money shaping policy today.

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<v Speaker 1>On point of origin, it's spoiled milk. So I started

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<v Speaker 1>looking at racism and food policy about fourteen years ago

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<v Speaker 1>when I was a student at UC Berkeley Law School,

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<v Speaker 1>and I first focused on fast food, and of course,

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<v Speaker 1>a major component of fast food is milk. That's Andrea Freeman.

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<v Speaker 1>Andrea is a professor of law at u C Berkeley

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<v Speaker 1>in California, and her scholarship interrogates the intersection of critical

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<v Speaker 1>race and class theory, with a particular focus on matters

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<v Speaker 1>of food policy, health, feminism and consumer credit. Her article

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<v Speaker 1>to explore her pioneering theory of food oppression, examining how

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<v Speaker 1>food related law, policy, and government action disproportionately harm marginalized communities.

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<v Speaker 1>And what fascinated me about milk as I researched more

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<v Speaker 1>and more. First, I was surprised to learn that milk

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<v Speaker 1>is actually not a nutritious, healthy food, right. That a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of myths around that. But I think most people

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<v Speaker 1>know from our personal physical experiences that milk is not

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<v Speaker 1>a great product for us. But then a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>research has come out showing that not only is it

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<v Speaker 1>not nutritious, but it it's harmful and it has no

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<v Speaker 1>health benefits. Right, And so a lot of people hold

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<v Speaker 1>on to the myth that, for example, milk is important

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<v Speaker 1>for calcium, but the calcium and milk comes from the

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<v Speaker 1>grass that cows eat, So it's not actually from the milk.

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<v Speaker 1>It's using a cow as an intermediary for getting something

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<v Speaker 1>that you could get directly yourself. Right. That was the

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<v Speaker 1>first myth buster. But then I'm always looking at where

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<v Speaker 1>racism plays into any kind of policy, and milk is

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<v Speaker 1>something that recently has received some attention as being a

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<v Speaker 1>symbol of white supremacists, but it's also something that has

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<v Speaker 1>symbolized white superiority and white supremacy for at least a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred years. So learning that, I started to make connections

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<v Speaker 1>between the way that white supremacists claim milk as a

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<v Speaker 1>symbol of their own superiority and the way that the U.

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<v Speaker 1>S t. A. Pushes milk and the covert ways that

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<v Speaker 1>it promoted, and I started to see that as somewhat

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<v Speaker 1>insidious and a racial justice issue that is not at

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<v Speaker 1>all well known. I want to back up to the

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<v Speaker 1>relationship between milk and white supremacy. I think many people

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<v Speaker 1>will be surprised to hear that there is a relationship.

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<v Speaker 1>So can you say what some of those links are

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<v Speaker 1>that you found in your research? Absolutely, so it became

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit more well known when chia le both

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<v Speaker 1>had an art installation in Queens and New York where

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<v Speaker 1>a group of neo Nazis crashed this anti Trump art

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<v Speaker 1>installation chugging big jugs of milk with naked shirts where

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<v Speaker 1>they allowed the milk to just flow over them and

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<v Speaker 1>started talking about how they opposed a vegan agenda right,

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<v Speaker 1>which really is clearly a code word, And at the

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<v Speaker 1>same time some of the very prominent white nationalists started

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<v Speaker 1>using a glass of milk as an emoji in their

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter names. So they began publicly signaling something that has

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<v Speaker 1>long been an obsession by white supremacists, who look at

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<v Speaker 1>UM studies that show which people in the world can

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<v Speaker 1>digest milk, right, and they see the ability to digest

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<v Speaker 1>milk which has we we actually look at the negative

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<v Speaker 1>and called lactose intolerance, which is what most people have

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<v Speaker 1>because it's actually unusual to be able to digest milk

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<v Speaker 1>past breastfeeding age. And but as with many things, the

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<v Speaker 1>white people are the ones who can do it the most,

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<v Speaker 1>and so that becomes the kind of normal baseline, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and anything that diverges from that, even though it's the

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<v Speaker 1>common thing, is seen as some kind of anomally right

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<v Speaker 1>and given this negative name of lactose intolerance. So the

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<v Speaker 1>white supremacist groups study charts of which people in the

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<v Speaker 1>world can digest milk and see this as a symbol

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<v Speaker 1>of their greater health, their greater strength right. UM and

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<v Speaker 1>that idea was first promoted in the nineteen twenties by

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<v Speaker 1>the National Dairy Council. By the Agricultural Association of New

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<v Speaker 1>York and pamphlets that explicitly associate arians and white people

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<v Speaker 1>who drink milk with the strongest, the most intelligent, the

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<v Speaker 1>greatest culture. Okay, so I think this is kind of strange,

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<v Speaker 1>But it turns out that milk, because of its whiteness,

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<v Speaker 1>has been used as a symbol of white supremacy in

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<v Speaker 1>social media and appears in pop culture and movies like

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<v Speaker 1>Jordan Peel's box office hit get Out when an enslaver

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<v Speaker 1>slowly SIPs a glass of milk. The depiction actually has

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<v Speaker 1>its origins in a nineteen twenties dairy pamphlet from the

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<v Speaker 1>U s National Dairy Council, which explains, quote the people

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<v Speaker 1>who have used liberal amounts of milk and its products,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning white people are progressive in science and every activity

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<v Speaker 1>of the human intellect. So basically, US dietary guidelines are

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<v Speaker 1>both racist and culturally insensitive. So I want to be

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<v Speaker 1>sure that I understand you correctly. You're saying the National

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<v Speaker 1>Dairy Council was tapping into an already existing relationship between

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<v Speaker 1>whiteness and purity in order to promote and sell milk,

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<v Speaker 1>and that this is in part due to the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that those who can digest the milk are most often white.

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<v Speaker 1>It's yeah to make money, right, So it's what has

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<v Speaker 1>motivated the industry and both all corporations and companies from

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<v Speaker 1>for time immemorial, right seeing the same thing. Now, this

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<v Speaker 1>is about money, This isn't about trying to promote health,

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<v Speaker 1>because we have so many medical and scientific papers and

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<v Speaker 1>research that demonstrate that drinking milk is harmful to help andrea.

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<v Speaker 1>At the time, in the nineteen twenties, we were still

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<v Speaker 1>on the outer edges of a mostly agrarian society. Was

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S Government interested in creating incentives for presumably

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<v Speaker 1>white land owning men and farmers, or were farmers taking

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<v Speaker 1>direction from what the National Dairy Council was promoting. So

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<v Speaker 1>that was around the time I believe that milk became safe, right,

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<v Speaker 1>because originally milk was responsible for many, many deaths, especially

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<v Speaker 1>of children, because we didn't have the technology for raization,

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<v Speaker 1>and we had the problem of trying to transport milk

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<v Speaker 1>from rural areas to urban areas in ways that wasn't safe.

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<v Speaker 1>So once the technology developed, then there was the idea

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<v Speaker 1>that it needed to be promoted and sold right to

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<v Speaker 1>support this industry that's always been really close to the

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<v Speaker 1>government and even in the first Farm Bill, which was

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<v Speaker 1>a response to the Great Depression, and then it's part

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<v Speaker 1>of the New Deal, right, the dairy industry was one

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<v Speaker 1>of the primary ones focused for the government to subsidize

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<v Speaker 1>two uplift, and so it's never really been subject to

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<v Speaker 1>regular market forces where supply and demand would dictate price

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<v Speaker 1>or availability. And as we've come to realize over time

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<v Speaker 1>how harmful milk is, there has been a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>rob and demand for milk, but the USDA has continued

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<v Speaker 1>to prop it up and the Farm Bill because of

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<v Speaker 1>the influence of the industry. And this is also related

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<v Speaker 1>to the consolidation of the industry, and what we saw

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<v Speaker 1>over time is a massive consolidation so that the idea

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<v Speaker 1>of what a dairy farmer is is not correct anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>This spring, at the onset of the pandemic in the US,

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<v Speaker 1>we heard stories about hundreds of gallons of milk being

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<v Speaker 1>dumped at precisely the moment when concerns about food scarcity

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<v Speaker 1>and security we're growing. How is it that while in

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<v Speaker 1>the midst of a crisis in the supply chain, corporations

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<v Speaker 1>were dumping in commodity is highly valued as milk, so

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<v Speaker 1>the issue is one of food distribution and food supply chains.

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<v Speaker 1>Right So, even though we have a lot of milk

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<v Speaker 1>being produced through the support of the government, right um,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't have the ability to package it in a

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<v Speaker 1>way that can reach individual consumers. So a very large

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<v Speaker 1>percentage of milk was going to institutions like schools. Um So,

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<v Speaker 1>the u s d A has a school lunch program,

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<v Speaker 1>a school meals program, and as part of that is

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<v Speaker 1>a special milk program. So one of the main ways

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<v Speaker 1>that USDA is able to get rid of the surplus

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<v Speaker 1>of milk that results from the agricultural subsidies is through schools.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though we know that milk consumption by students is

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<v Speaker 1>contributing to a lot of health problems, in particularly racial

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<v Speaker 1>health disparities and children, there is significant lobbying from the

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<v Speaker 1>milk industry. Lobbyists from the sector fall hard against the

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<v Speaker 1>Obama era reforms, which restricted schools from selling only non

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<v Speaker 1>fat flavored milks and which the dairy industry blamed for

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<v Speaker 1>a sharp decline. In two thousand eighteen alone, the International

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<v Speaker 1>Dairy Foods Association spent three hundred thousand a quarter in

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<v Speaker 1>lobbying on issues related to school lunches. So the closing

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<v Speaker 1>down of schools and hotels and other institutions is what

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<v Speaker 1>caused the need for a change in the way that

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<v Speaker 1>milk would be distributed. So the dairy farms did not

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<v Speaker 1>have a way to repackage their milk, you know, into

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<v Speaker 1>small containers that you could send to a food bank

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<v Speaker 1>or send to a grocery store. So this is what

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<v Speaker 1>led to the dumping of the milk because there were

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<v Speaker 1>just no way to get it to consumers or individuals.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a pivot that would take a lot of infrastructural

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<v Speaker 1>change that wasn't possible on such short notice. But let's

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<v Speaker 1>go back to the part about racial health disparities in

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<v Speaker 1>children in schools, because I remember I went to public

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<v Speaker 1>school and elementary school. I remember the little milk cartons,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the chocolate milk UM and the regular milk.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it was even skim milk maybe. So you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of milk being a part of um the

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<v Speaker 1>lunch diet is something that is kind of in eight,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, for for many of us. But when we

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<v Speaker 1>see as you're saying, that the the majority of the

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<v Speaker 1>country cannot actually process milk um and that the health

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<v Speaker 1>disparities of consumption are disproportionately affecting black and Brown's students.

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<v Speaker 1>And also we're just drinking less milk as a society.

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<v Speaker 1>So how is it that milk continues to find its

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<v Speaker 1>way into our lunch rooms when seemingly all of these

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<v Speaker 1>other factors would suggest that they don't really have any

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<v Speaker 1>business being there. The problem goes back to the dual

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<v Speaker 1>roles of the U. S t A. The Department of Agriculture.

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<v Speaker 1>So on the one hand, that agency is responsible for

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<v Speaker 1>promoting the dairy industry and other agricultural industries, and on

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<v Speaker 1>the other hand, it is responsible for the nation's nutrition programs,

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<v Speaker 1>and one of the main ones is this school of

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<v Speaker 1>lunch programs. So it's found this neat solution, right of

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<v Speaker 1>having such a large surplus of milk that is paid

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<v Speaker 1>for by the government and then becomes the responsibility of

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<v Speaker 1>the agency, and they have this need to get rid

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<v Speaker 1>of it in any way possible. And so because they

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<v Speaker 1>have the school lunch rooms program at their disposal, there

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<v Speaker 1>able to direct milk into schools and make an essential

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<v Speaker 1>part of the everyday diet. And that takes care of

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<v Speaker 1>their problems, and that is their priority over looking at

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<v Speaker 1>how it affects the health of public school students. So

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S d A has these dual functions, as

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<v Speaker 1>you've outlined, both to be the agency on record for

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<v Speaker 1>nutrition um but then also a promotional agency that needs

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<v Speaker 1>to help distribute milk that is paid for by the

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<v Speaker 1>United States government. So the milk that is paid for

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<v Speaker 1>by the US government, the funds for that come from taxpayers,

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<v Speaker 1>and those choices about the use of funds and the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of funds. Does that come from the Farm Bill? Yes, Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>subsidies are set by the Farm Bill. Dairy farmers are

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<v Speaker 1>the ones who will get it, and the bigger the farm,

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<v Speaker 1>the more money they'll get. Without the support from the

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<v Speaker 1>Farm Bill, probably most are a very large percentage of

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<v Speaker 1>the dairy industry would completely collapse. So I just read

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<v Speaker 1>that nine hundred dairy farms closed in and that's before

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<v Speaker 1>any of you know, the pandemic and the decrease that's

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<v Speaker 1>have been there. It's there's been I think a forty

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<v Speaker 1>year decline in milk sales. And so even though the U.

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<v Speaker 1>S d A is making best efforts to prop up

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<v Speaker 1>the industry, it's still failing. And so I think there's

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<v Speaker 1>a renewed interest in getting away from dairy, and that

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<v Speaker 1>is also very threatening to the industry, definitely going back

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<v Speaker 1>to that vegan agenda that you were talking about, right,

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<v Speaker 1>And there is a furious battle going on from the

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<v Speaker 1>dairy industry actually in the courts to try to stop

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<v Speaker 1>the use of the word milk for you know, substitutes

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<v Speaker 1>like almond milk or soy milk. Right. Um, they'd spend

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of resources on trying to fight that, arguing

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<v Speaker 1>that consumers don't understand the difference right between cow milk

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<v Speaker 1>and another kind of milk. So that's another interesting aspect

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<v Speaker 1>of what's going on now and what has been going

0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.159
<v Speaker 1>on for a while. Yeah, so they're they're trying to

0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.600
<v Speaker 1>both jam it up in court but simultaneously profit from

0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.160
<v Speaker 1>the boom. Of course, now that sounds more like good

0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:47.440
<v Speaker 1>old fashioned American capitalism. One of the ways that usc

0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:52.560
<v Speaker 1>A promote dairy is through a Dairy check Off program,

0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.640
<v Speaker 1>where it takes money from farmers for marketing. And one

0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.119
<v Speaker 1>of the main aspects of that marketing campaign in the

0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:03.960
<v Speaker 1>net work is to partner with fast food companies to

0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:10.400
<v Speaker 1>create and promote foods with higher milk content in them.

0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:14.520
<v Speaker 1>So classic example of that was the so it's called

0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:19.520
<v Speaker 1>the d M I during Management Inc. Marketing branch, and uh,

0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:23.920
<v Speaker 1>they worked with Dominoes to create a seven cheese pizza,

0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:29.320
<v Speaker 1>which that's a lot. That's a lot, and they paid

0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.720
<v Speaker 1>for it to debut at the Super Bowl. Okay, so

0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:37.160
<v Speaker 1>we know how much those commercials are worth. Um. And

0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.359
<v Speaker 1>so what they do is they collaborate with these companies

0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.879
<v Speaker 1>to try to create products that just have more cheese

0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.480
<v Speaker 1>in them. Okay, so you see the pizza hut crust

0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:52.960
<v Speaker 1>that's cheese filled in addition to the cheese on top. Right,

0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:57.119
<v Speaker 1>that's your government at work. Yeah, and then some of

0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:01.159
<v Speaker 1>the Taco Bello products that there's there's a range, right,

0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:04.560
<v Speaker 1>Almost all, maybe all of the major fast food companies

0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.520
<v Speaker 1>have worked with the U s c As marketing branch

0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.760
<v Speaker 1>to try to create and then sell these products. You know,

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:16.080
<v Speaker 1>studies show that young people respond to that information. Right,

0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:20.159
<v Speaker 1>if you teach them about health, they're basically indifferent. But

0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.760
<v Speaker 1>if you teach them that fast food companies are trying

0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.960
<v Speaker 1>to use them for their own marketing, you know through

0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.480
<v Speaker 1>their snapchats in it, they get mad and they don't

0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.680
<v Speaker 1>want to do it. And I think we all feel

0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.440
<v Speaker 1>that way to some extent, right, And if we could

0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:38.359
<v Speaker 1>fully understand that what we interpret as choice, it's really

0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.919
<v Speaker 1>just about corporate profits. Yeah, and the two companies that

0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:45.680
<v Speaker 1>you just mentioned our owned by one large corporation young brands,

0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.280
<v Speaker 1>so that completely makes sense, especially when it feels like

0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:52.320
<v Speaker 1>every month virtually there's a new Taco Bell product with

0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:56.720
<v Speaker 1>some cheesy iterations. Another way that these things are all

0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:01.640
<v Speaker 1>tied together is fast food has very much infiltrated schools.

0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:07.359
<v Speaker 1>So if it's not your school cafeteria giving you the milk,

0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:12.480
<v Speaker 1>there may be what are called alternative foods in schools

0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.080
<v Speaker 1>which sell on campus fast food, right. And if not,

0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:23.120
<v Speaker 1>then what you're seeing is fast food logos all over schools,

0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:27.440
<v Speaker 1>like even on their school buses, on their school signs, right.

0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:33.320
<v Speaker 1>And fundraisers that take place go to McDonald's and support

0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:37.120
<v Speaker 1>you know, a percentage will go to your classroom. If

0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:41.560
<v Speaker 1>you win a competition in the school, then your reward

0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:46.800
<v Speaker 1>is some fast food right made ice cream. So really

0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:53.000
<v Speaker 1>every aspect of education has been infiltrated by dairy for

0:20:53.200 --> 0:21:07.320
<v Speaker 1>young kids. I wonder what degree the corporate investment in

0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:11.520
<v Speaker 1>our school system has in the luss to send the

0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:15.639
<v Speaker 1>children back to school in the pandemic. Everything about sending

0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:20.440
<v Speaker 1>kids back to school is about money and capitalism, right there,

0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:25.000
<v Speaker 1>There's absolutely every health reason not to do so. Things

0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:27.560
<v Speaker 1>were much better when we first decided to take kids

0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:31.040
<v Speaker 1>out of school than they are now. And there is

0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:37.280
<v Speaker 1>uh very clearly calculated estimation that a certain number of

0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.320
<v Speaker 1>kids and teachers will die. But it's worth it to

0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.480
<v Speaker 1>save the economy, right. So, I think what you're questioning

0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.360
<v Speaker 1>is what parts of the economy are pushing for them.

0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:49.400
<v Speaker 1>And I'm not in the room, so I don't know,

0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:52.679
<v Speaker 1>But it does make sense to me that Trump is

0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:56.439
<v Speaker 1>our fast food president. Right. He has demonstrated over and

0:21:56.480 --> 0:22:01.280
<v Speaker 1>over again his allegiance to that industry, and his administration

0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:05.760
<v Speaker 1>heavily supports a dairy industry in many ways, right, one

0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:09.680
<v Speaker 1>of them is through formula. And so it wouldn't surprise

0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:14.760
<v Speaker 1>me if those were part of the group of corporations

0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:25.280
<v Speaker 1>pushing to get people back in the schools. Andrea, let's

0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:28.679
<v Speaker 1>talk about baby formula. Can you expound a bit on

0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.840
<v Speaker 1>the Trump administration's role in prioritizing investment in more formula? Well,

0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:36.800
<v Speaker 1>some of the most surprising things I came across in

0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:39.480
<v Speaker 1>my research into formula. Was first of all, that the

0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:43.240
<v Speaker 1>US government is the largest purchaser of formula in the

0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:47.240
<v Speaker 1>United States, and that's through the WIG program. But they

0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:50.360
<v Speaker 1>spend more money on formula than anyone else and they

0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:54.359
<v Speaker 1>then get these kick back rebates from the industry that

0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:58.840
<v Speaker 1>allows them to actually run their program. So the formula

0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:02.960
<v Speaker 1>industry has inserted themselves and made themselves key to actually

0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:08.240
<v Speaker 1>having a functioning program. At the World Health Assembly, there

0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:14.320
<v Speaker 1>was a resolution proposed by Ecuador to promote breastfeeding, which

0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:17.680
<v Speaker 1>would seem to be fairly benign, but it was opposed

0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.480
<v Speaker 1>so strongly by the United States because of the formula

0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:25.200
<v Speaker 1>industry that the US threatened trade and aid sanctions against

0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:30.320
<v Speaker 1>Ecuador if it did not withdraw that resolution. Formula is dairy,

0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:36.440
<v Speaker 1>so by supporting that industry, the US is finding another

0:23:36.520 --> 0:23:41.760
<v Speaker 1>way to ensure, you know, a demand for milk. And

0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:46.960
<v Speaker 1>let's talk about how this disproportionately affects Black women and children.

0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:51.920
<v Speaker 1>So in the United States, black women breastfeed far far

0:23:52.040 --> 0:23:56.720
<v Speaker 1>less than any other women always have since slavery, and

0:23:57.480 --> 0:24:01.560
<v Speaker 1>at the same time have the highest rate of infant mortality,

0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:06.919
<v Speaker 1>which has also been consistent since slavery. And so there

0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:09.920
<v Speaker 1>It's obviously complex, because that's why I wrote a whole

0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:14.320
<v Speaker 1>book about it. But there are a number of factors

0:24:14.320 --> 0:24:21.120
<v Speaker 1>that range from you know, social pressure, to economic pressure,

0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:25.359
<v Speaker 1>to you know, the refusal to accommodate, the refusal to

0:24:25.400 --> 0:24:31.520
<v Speaker 1>provide any kind of resources for black women, medical racism,

0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:35.480
<v Speaker 1>and just a lot of really structural factors that are

0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:41.720
<v Speaker 1>dressed up as a preference for formula, which is not

0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:45.760
<v Speaker 1>at all true. And formula marketing is a big piece

0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:49.520
<v Speaker 1>of that. And so the book that I wrote, Scams,

0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:54.560
<v Speaker 1>is about the first marketing campaign for black women, which

0:24:54.920 --> 0:24:59.119
<v Speaker 1>took place because a a white doctor sold the rights

0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:04.680
<v Speaker 1>of the black identical quadruplets in the US to Formula

0:25:04.720 --> 0:25:07.359
<v Speaker 1>company to use in advertising. And it was the first

0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:13.000
<v Speaker 1>time that there was any advertising that wasn't just alcohol, cigarettes,

0:25:13.080 --> 0:25:17.200
<v Speaker 1>or beauty products directed to black families. And it's kind

0:25:17.200 --> 0:25:19.879
<v Speaker 1>of like the rest is history in terms of marketing

0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:23.440
<v Speaker 1>and the way that that also has played into these

0:25:23.520 --> 0:25:27.560
<v Speaker 1>dramatic health disparities that come from the disparity and breasting range.

0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:34.719
<v Speaker 1>From the moment I first encountered it, Andrea's research has

0:25:34.760 --> 0:25:37.720
<v Speaker 1>really stuck with me. I think about the persistence of

0:25:37.760 --> 0:25:40.919
<v Speaker 1>that ad campaign and those little twenty cent plastic bags

0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:43.399
<v Speaker 1>of milk that I and many others were served in

0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:47.160
<v Speaker 1>elementary school. And how after all these years, the milk

0:25:47.359 --> 0:25:53.399
<v Speaker 1>in those schools, like those commercials, continue to persist. Fortunately,

0:25:53.440 --> 0:25:57.080
<v Speaker 1>the mythology around its nutritional benefits have waned in by

0:25:57.119 --> 0:26:01.480
<v Speaker 1>all accounts, so too has our consumption. But when we

0:26:01.600 --> 0:26:04.439
<v Speaker 1>learned that our government continues to collude with the dairy

0:26:04.440 --> 0:26:08.040
<v Speaker 1>industry to make milk the default beverage in schools and

0:26:08.160 --> 0:26:12.560
<v Speaker 1>in processed foods, we should hold that with skepticism and

0:26:12.760 --> 0:26:19.119
<v Speaker 1>maybe even a little higher. See corporations who pay politicians

0:26:19.200 --> 0:26:22.800
<v Speaker 1>to make laws that use our tax dollars to subsidize

0:26:22.840 --> 0:26:26.639
<v Speaker 1>their operation is something I'd prefer our government try to

0:26:26.720 --> 0:26:30.960
<v Speaker 1>discourage and not indulge in as they currently are. But

0:26:31.760 --> 0:26:35.080
<v Speaker 1>as they say, the system ain't broken. It's working just

0:26:35.160 --> 0:26:45.239
<v Speaker 1>as it was intended to. I'd like to thank our

0:26:45.280 --> 0:26:49.160
<v Speaker 1>guests today, Professor Andrea Freeman. You can learn more about

0:26:49.200 --> 0:26:53.080
<v Speaker 1>this episode and Andrea's work at wet Stone magazine, dot com,

0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:58.560
<v Speaker 1>Backslash podcast, or on Instagram at wet Stone Magazine. That's

0:26:58.800 --> 0:27:02.240
<v Speaker 1>w H E T S T O in E Magazine.

0:27:02.800 --> 0:27:05.120
<v Speaker 1>We'll be back next week with more point of Origin,

0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:10.640
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening. We'd also like to thank our incredible

0:27:10.760 --> 0:27:15.600
<v Speaker 1>podcast producer Selene Glazier. Selene, you are the best. To

0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:19.120
<v Speaker 1>our editor and Whetstone partner and director of Video David

0:27:19.160 --> 0:27:23.480
<v Speaker 1>Alexander in London. Appreciate you, Dave. Thanks to our wet

0:27:23.520 --> 0:27:27.880
<v Speaker 1>Stone production intern Quentin le Beau, and last but not least,

0:27:28.040 --> 0:27:31.800
<v Speaker 1>my business partner Mel she who makes all things at

0:27:31.840 --> 0:27:35.639
<v Speaker 1>whet Stone possible. Thank you Mel. We'd also like to

0:27:35.720 --> 0:27:38.960
<v Speaker 1>thank our partners and production at I Heeart Radio to

0:27:39.040 --> 0:27:44.920
<v Speaker 1>Gabrielle Collins, our supervising producer and executive producer Christopher Haciotis.

0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:47.800
<v Speaker 1>We'll be back next week with more from the world

0:27:47.800 --> 0:27:57.239
<v Speaker 1>of food worldwide Point of Origin listeners. As you know,

0:27:58.440 --> 0:28:02.760
<v Speaker 1>rating and reviewing our podcast is the very best way

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