Hi there! If you’re a kid...
...this video is for you! Although I suppose the adults can watch too- if you want to let them.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. So this is the first
time that I’m making a video specifically for you- and it’s something that I hope to do
more of. Of course you're welcome to watch any of my videos, but I wanted to make one special just for you.
So today we’re going to talk about milk. Maybe you're interested in not eating
animals, or being what we call “vegan” and your parents may not support you.
Or, it could be that your parents or family members want to stop eating animals and be
vegan and you don’t quite understand why. All of those things can be confusing and scary,
and frustrating. You you might be feeling angry or sad, or upset, and that’s okay.
One thing I want to tell you is that just because you’re a kid, or basically just
because your’e younger than me- cause I’m pretty old!- doesn’t mean I’m going to
talk down to you. If you’re watching this video, I’m sure you’re pretty smart. And
if your parents are showing this video to you, that means they know you’re smart. I believe
that you deserve to know the truth just as much as any adult.
But I also want you to know that I’m not going to show you anything scary, so don’t
worry about that. Also, I will be talking a bit about you as a baby with your mom but if you didn’t
grow up with your mom, that’s okay. You can still apply what we’re going to talk
about, because you have family in your life who love you and that’s what we’ll focus on.
So what’s wrong with drinking milk? I’m sure you’ve had adults tell you that it
helps you grow big and strong. You probably see all your friends drinking it and kids
on TV and movies. You may have even had a doctor tell you to drink your milk, so how can it be bad?
Well, let’s first talk about why milk isn’t really good for our bodies.
When you were born, the first food you ever eat was your mother’s milk. Your mom’s
body made that milk just for you with everything you needed to grow. You see, babies grow really
fast and they need to be eating the best foods so they can be healthy.
Once you were big enough to eat other foods, your mom’s body stopped making milk because
it knew you didn’t need it anymore.
Well cows, the animals that we get our milk from, have bodies that work just like that. Mother
cows carry their babies for 9 months just like your mom did. And once they have their
babies, their body creates milk for them, just like your mom’s did.
Now I probably don’t have to tell you, but you were a lot smaller than a baby cow and
didn’t really look the same. So it would make sense that you needed different milk
than a baby cow, right?
I mean, drinking milk from a cow is like trying to wear the pants of an elephant, if
elephants wore pants… It’s just not a good fit.
And here’s the even weirder thing- we adults often keep drinking milk from cows long after
we stopped drinking our mom’s milk and long after the baby cows stopped drinking their
mom’s milk. It’s like we’re wearing elephant pants every day, which is just about
as silly of an idea.
Now there’s another big reason vegans don’t drink cows milk, and this one is really
important. We’re going to talk about some things are sad, but I’ll be here to help you through it.
Remember how we said that your mom’s body made milk for you and how a momma cow’s body
does the same for her baby? Well, baby cows will drink all of their mother’s milk right up.
Just like they’re supposed to and just like you did, and there wouldn’t be any left for people.
But because so many people want to drink the milk of mother cows, the dairy farmers have
to take the baby cows away so that they can give the mothers milk to people.
Now I know your mother and family must love you so very much and she probably tells you
that a lot. Can you imagine how scared and sad she would be if someone took you away
from her? Can you imagine how scared you would be if you were taken away from your mother and family?
I know that’s not a nice thing to think about, but remember, I told you I would tell
you the truth no matter what, and that’s what happens to the mommas and babies that we get our milk from.
Now, after being taken from their mothers, the baby cows are put into tiny little cages
with no room to turn around, which is even scarier because they don’t have their moms
to protect them. The momma cows will cry for days for their babies because they miss them
so much, just like your mom would miss you.
When they’re only a couple months old, the baby cows are killed to made into a type of meat
called veal. Just like hamburgers or “beef” comes from the bodies of cows, veal comes
from the bodies of baby cows. Now I don’t have to tell you how sad that is. And all
so that we can have milk that we don’t even need.
Now you may think that cows always make milk. And don’t feel bad because a lot of adults
think that too. But remember how we talked about your mom’s body making milk for you
and how it stopped making milk when you were big enough and didn’t need it anymore?
Well, when the baby cow is big enough, the momma cow’s body also stops making milk.
So the only way for us to get the milk we drink from cows is for momma cows to have to have
more and more babies, more than they would if they could choose. And every baby is taken
away. This is probably one of the saddest things you can imagine. I’m sure your mother
and family would never let anyone harm you or take you. And the momma cows want to protect
their babies just as much.
Now you may wonder why no one has ever told you this before. Or why we adults keep doing this
to momma and baby cows. Well, sometimes I wish I knew too. A lot of it has to do with money,
which you will learn makes people do really funny things.
And I know that if you knew this before, you wouldn’t ever want to drink cows milk, because
I know you don’t want to hurt mother and baby cows like that.
Well, here’s the good news, there are all kinds of milk you can drink that don’t hurt
anyone. And I’ll tell you a secret- they taste a whole lot better than cows milk.
Though I’m sure the baby cows would disagree, and they're actually really good for your body!
There’s even flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, and there are delicious yogurts
and even cheese that all come from plants. So you can be happy and healthy, and the baby
cows, and their mommas can be too.
I have links to these products and more information for you if you want on my website, which I’ve
linked up there and in the video description. Feel free to ask for help from your family
if you need help finding it. And you can contact me anytime at the bottom of my website.
I hope that this was helpful. And thank you for listening even in the hard parts.
I had a feeling that you were smart enough and cared enough about animals to tough it out. Now
you know why we don’t drink milk and my hope is that you’ll choose not to too. Let me
know what you thought of the video in the comments.
I need your help to make sure that I'm doing the best job that I can do.
So feel free to tell me what you liked and what you didn't like.
And if you have other things that you’d like me to cover, let me know!
If you liked this video, give it a thumbs up and share it around to help other kids
learn the truth. If you’re new here, do hit that big red subscribe button down there
for more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday, and some Fridays, and to not miss
out the on the rest of my videos for kids. If you want to help support Bite Size Vegan,
check out either of the support links in the video description below or click on the Nugget
Army icon there or the link in the icard sidebar.
You can also check out some of my videos here for lots of tasty food that you can eat that's vegan.
I have entire recipe playlists that are based around Christmas or Thanksgiving, but you can eat that food any time of the year.
Now go live vegan and I’ll see you soon.
Now, no video would be complete without Ooby.
This is Ooby and she is vegan too.
So even Ooby can eat in a way that doesn't hurt other animals.
Now, I don't have a kid myself but if anyone took Ooby away, I'd be really sad.
So, that's what I try to think about when I look at milk and other dairy products.
Say 'Bye Bye!' Ooby. 'Bye Bye!'