By Madhava Gosh das
I was recently forwarded the following email:
âWith all of this talk about cows, it sure would be nice to walk into a supermarket and buy a half gallon of milk, or butter, yogurt, cheese, etc. with Lord Krsnaâs face on the packaging. Why is it, other farmers can produce milk and market it in the stores for millions of people to see and buy, but the cowherd devotees can not do this. What is the problem? Even when Lord Krsna was on the planet, the gopis and cowherd boys had to milk the cows and sell the milk at the market place. What gives?â
Short answer:
Devotees cow herders donât slaughter cows so milk costs 4 times as much to produce in order to protect the cow, and the calf that was needed to be born to start milk production, for their lifetimes. Devotees arenât willing to pay the price.
Long answer:
In order to have a cow produce milk she needs to be bred and have a calf. Due to religious considerations, devotees do not slaughter cows or send cows to situations where slaughter is inevitable. Therefore the cow and calf need to be protected for a potential lifetime of 20 years. While milk may pay for costs for the first two or three years at best, for the balance of the lifetime of the calf and cow they are economically, not spiritually, a liability.
Commercial operations bred cows while they are essential still teenagers, then continue to bred them yearly until they no longer produce at a peak economic rate, then ship them off to slaughter. Calves are separated at birth, and fed cheaper milk replacer so all the cowâs milk can be sold.
Even amongst commercial dairies economic pressures dictate ever increasing exploitive practices in order to maintain viability. See any animal rights site for what the reality of how commercial milk is produced.
Where once it was possible to make a living with 50 cows, according to some it now requires 500. Overall nationally, dairy farm numbers have been declining for decades and continue to do so. One example is âAt last count, there were 393 dairy farms left in Maine, down from 1,100 about 20 years ago.â
Devotee dairy farms are not operating on a level field because they lack economies of scale and canât compete with farms that ruthlessly cull and slaughter nonproductive cows. What happened in a previous yuga is not relevant because no one slaughtered cows then and devotees did have a level playing field.
Back in the 1970s, so many ISKCON farms set out to produce milk and have the milk cover the cost of caring for the cows, They all failed. Kirtanananda tried it in New Vrindaban. After he fled his responsibility for the cows he bred in the early 1990s, breeding was stopped, but there are still 80 cows being cared for left over from that era.
When devotees start seeing milk as an opulence, and are willing to pay the premium price necessary to produce it AND protect the cows, instead of treating it like a commodity to which they are entitled to have at supermarket prices, it is possible to have Krishna milk instead of Putana milk.
It is largely a matter of personal responsibility. Not that âthey â are some specialists who somehow make it available to me competitively. When the devotees and the devotee leadership step up and demonstrate commitment to cow protection and its true costs, then milk, which is a byproduct of cow protection, not the purpose of it, will be available.
Cow protection is a spiritual duty, not a economic opportunity.
Hare Krsna Prabhu
I have been trying to help in a small way. I followed similar discussion on this site which said “To atone the sin of using commercial milk, people should donate $4 per gallon to cow protection programs”. This idea is similar to carbon credits for CO2 emmissions.
I can not afford to donate $4 per gallon, but I donate $12($1 per gallon) to Cow Protection in Vrindavan, India each month. If and when I get more Lakshmi, I will increase my contributions.
IMHO, ISKCON temples, home-based programs, Rathyatra etc. should propagate this idea. If we make our devotees conscious about this issue, we can get increased donations and run more and larger cow protection programs. On my part, I already talk to devotees and temple visitors and lay-people and send emails to my friends and aquaintances about above cow-credits.
Another thing, economically sound iskcon centers can run goshalas to get milk for temple use and can sell excess milk locally. This will inspire like-minded people in the neighborhood to contribute to Goshalas. Some people might start their own Goshalas.
Hari Bol
Cows are dependent upon people. In order for milk to be processed for human consumption, there have to be people trained as cowherds and milkers. How many people come to ISKCONâs farm communities and get trained up to do these services? How many of them remain as milkers/cowherds for more than a few years? Taking out ISKCON politics as a factor, the reality is that few people attracted to ISKCON are from rural backgrounds, let alone from farms. Most people in our ISKCON farm communities are living in the country but not living with the land. And I donât mean simply unable to afford property of their ownâIâm speaking of ignorance of nature. The patience and skills needed to carry out farm chores or cow husbandry day after day requires a mindset that has been steeped in such knowledge from childhood, or at the minimum, a great appreciation for nature. U.S. society as a whole has lost touch with the necessity of giving children green spaces, exposure to nature, and plenty of time to be outside enjoying nature. Therefore, the number of possible young recruits for ISKCON who possess rural knowledge and/or appreciation for the natural world is shrinking. I recommend that everyone, especially devotee parents, read the book âLast Child in the Woods,â by Richard Louv. Ms. Rural (www.aruralplace.wordpress.com)
Hare Krsna all,
I agree with the concept of cow credits (akin to carbon credits), but what we see in the world today is a lot of hype and promotion of credits which is basically designed purely to create another form of wealth. Many companies do dubious things to artificially create such credits, and then keep 30-40% of the money generated as a management fee.
Furthermore, it is of little value for the (CPP’s) Cow Protection Credits to be used to subsidise full on milk production, since this merely multiplies the number of cows in the world and does very little to ease the suffering of the many cows that are already in the world.
It would be better to use the CPP fund to create a pension system for cows, and to only use this money to pension off animals at dairy farms that have begun the process of better management- organic, open pasture etc.
If we were to help these still not perfect, but economically viable dairies by purchasing their cows to retire them, not only could we include devotees in this system, but we could include many many pious minded individuals found in the world who are also vegetarian/vegan. We would also be able to use this CPP fund money to encourage the best practice amongst the dairy farms… and slowly but surely there would be a real shift in practice.
If anyone doubts the ability of a market to shift practice, they have only to look at the growth of the organic food movement over the last 10 years. The prime need for organic’s is certification and standards.
This would also address the second comment, insomuch as all farmers are still only able to succeed where they have economic livelihood. In the absence of such sustainance, people flee to the city where at least they can eke out a living and have hopes of more. Materialism is strong, but spirituality cannot be pure renunciation except for the most elevated and braminical.
That isn’t to say we shouldn’t try to develop a viable and real cow protection system, but in the absence of the knowledgeable and dedicated individuals and a developed market for the right price of the product, the best way to help cows in general is to pension those who have already been born.
When there is a viable market, and a real cow protection goshala, then other information of interest includes the breed. In some areas they also have certain breeds of cow who will produce milk for 2 years rather than the standard 1 after breeding. Selective breeding for traits such as longer milk production cycles and greater milk loads (jersey cows for instance), is important, and again requires knowledge.
Finally, for one last note, I would add is that over 50% of milk production in India is for Ghee.
There are huge Hindu populations in both the UK and the USA who are pious. They probably consume milk products more traditionally.
This means some very exciting things. 1) cow protection/milk production could be entirely focused on ghee production. Ghee is transportable and lasts a long time. 2) There is a market that can be utilised here, since the Indians who want ghee will recognise Krsna and also have a desire to protect the cows that is ingrained. If the layer of materialism is stripped away, they will be happy to pay the proper market price for such a wonderful karma free prasadam product that not only benefits them, but the cows as well.
There may be a market in the more Western segment of society for karma free cheese and butter. Again, rather than milk which has a short lifespan and cannot be transported far, and is not a luxury item, this would allow for the dedicated creation of a real market, at real cow protection prices.
Kapila
We are all attached to the idea of cow protection, after all it is expressed in our Scriptures.
However, given our current situation, the historical period of ISKCON — with all of its challenges, lawsuits, leadership problems, defalcation, mismanagement, screwed-up marriages, poverty-stricken population, etc.. — worrying about cows looks like a quiddity.
It seems that the cow protection programs ought to be taken by private individuals, who are not going to tap into the fund-raising sources that ISKCON is already using. At least, at this historical junction, that seems more viable.
Hare Krsna
PAMHO. AGTSP.
I respectfully disagree with Yugal Kishore Prabhu.
The gist of what he says: “Iskcon should not encourage devotees to donate for cow protection projects as we already have shortage of funds due to various reasons. We should tap into pool of non-devotees for donations to cow protection.”
IMHO, cow protection is a very important part of being Krsna Conscious.
I donate some money each month to iskcon temple in my area and I also donate to cow protection. My temple president encourages this. New Vrindavan also encourages donations for cow protection.
It is true that we can encourage non-devotees(vegetarian/vegan people) to help cow protection, but we can do that with inclusion of devotees also. Again, note that money is never enough for people, organizations.
IMHO, cow protection has a big PR value for Iskcon amongst Hindus, vegetarians/vegans.
Hari Bol
Grandfather Bhishmadev has said that one who sells milk for a living goes to hell. After reading the short answer in the above article I now understand why.
What about those who drink this milk which comes from soon to be slaughtered animals? Srila Prabhupada was asked this question, the answer given is that milk is essential for developing the finer tissues in the brain which is a spiritual neccesity and thus we cannot avoid it.
Cows blood has the opposite effect it makes the brain dull for spirtual lif and as we have seen even causes diseases of the brain e.g. mad cow disease. So called modern society and their goverments have created this horrendous slaughterhouse program to thier own detriment. It may appear that modern dairy farmers are making a profit, but one can understand that the price to the paid, both gross and subtle is extremely, extremely high. It involves in its process and execution senseless cruelty,incredible levels of enviromental destruction, horrible karmic reactions – the degradation of spiritual principles and pain to all soulsin one way or another.
Hare Krsna,
PAMHO. AGTSP.
We need a website like http://www.carbonfund.org/site/pages/carbon_calculators/
This website will do following at a minimum
1. Explain why cow protection is important.
2. Calculate Cow Protection Credits based on commercial milk usage per month in terms of US dollars(a currency converter may be provided at a later date)
3. have links to various cow protection programs run by iskcon in various countries. I know 3 of them Vrindavan India, New Vrindavan and one in UK. This way, people will donate to their choice of cow protection programs.
I have an IT programming background but do not have too much web programming experience. Also I am working 60-70 hours a week at my karmi job these days. Web programmers/web masters can quickly set up a website which will do at least above 3 functions. Then it will be easy to send out chain emails to solicit donations for cow protection. I repeat example of Howard Dean who collected 30 million dollars thru internet from small donors in 2004.
Hari Bol
Vidyasagar
Hare Krsna
I have not logged on to Dandabats for weeks, and i see this aricle is a week old, sorry for jumping in so late. I am not a cowherder or farmer by practice, only in heart. I do not have knowledge of direct experienc, so maybe i am wrong in my analysis, but here is my opinion on this matter.
I have long wanted to help develop fully functional farming villages, and long time ago i came to the realization that one thing that is required is a large amount of land. Land is needed for open grazing and pasturing, as well as raw forest land also. In the past, maybe as recent as 40-50 years in America, many farms kept their own dairy cows and produced enough milk for their families and sold the excess to their local dairy. I was born in Iowa and had family who had farms. Many of those dairy cows were not sold for slaughter. Yes, my uncle raised a ‘few’ hefers specially to be fattened and sold for slaughter, but his milk producing cows he did not sell to slaughter. I am speaking about the small family farms which were not dairy farms, but kept a few cows as part of the larger farm. When those cows stopped giving milk the farmers put old-Betsy out to pasture. That is, those farms that had enough land to have such pasturing land. My uncle’s farm was large enough that he had a section where the older cows simply graized without much extra work for him to keep them.
That is the key, as i see it, to viable cow protection and milk production within a village community. The village must have enough land so that the retired cows can pasture. Older cows do not need the higher protien more expensive grains and grasses that younger milk producing cows need. They just need enough common grass to graize.
This is the system, as i understand it, in the villages in India. The non-producing cows simply are set free to graize the open lands. There are no fences in the old villages. The older cows basically take care of themselves, but, again, only when there is sufficient land.
That means that when the cow stops producing milk she does not become a financial liability as long as their is sufficient pasturing land to put her on.
Of course, such a system works in India or similar cliamtes where grass grows all year round. But, what about areas, like most of N America, where it snows? In these areas, then, we must have even more land and some effort must be taken to grow enough hay to feed the cows, all the cows, milk producing or not, even in the winter months. My uncle’s farm always had enough hay – actually they had plenty of corn as well, but they grew enough hay to keep all the animals fed year round. The retired cows as well.
There are other social benefits the older non-milk producing cows give to a village. Their cow dung. You can’t cook with grass, but you can cook with dried cow dung. You can make incense from cow dung. And thick green liquid cow dung juice makes a great natural glue and has many health benefits, as does fresh cow urine. Also, as Srila Prabhupad has said, “Cow dung can purify any impure place”. The purifying effects of cow dung are immeasurable. (Years ago several Indians living in So Calif were working on missle guidance systems for the US military (electronic engineers). I was close friends with them and one showed me a report written by the military about, of all things, the glories of cow dung. It said that the US military had set out to find if there was any naturally existing substance that could be used to protect food from nuclear fall out, and they found that a layer of cow dung was the only naturally occuring substance that they could find which actually worked well enough it could protect food from nuclear radition. When SP said that cow dung can purify any impure place, he meant it. Even nuclear radiation. Just see how valuable even old cows are, they still produce cow dung and urine, which is very healthy for many ailments.
Cows provide valuable substances to society in a village setting. So, even if time and energy is spent growing extra grains for those cows, there is a return to the village based society in terms of materials, health and religious benefits.
But, lets go back to the concept that milk production is not economically viable for devotees. I disagree, but enough land must be there for use as pasturing land. Then, the older cows are not such a financial strain. Yet, their cow urine and dung remain a valuable asset. Bulls, in a village setting, do the hard work of tractors, plows and, oh yes, another social benefit of having cows wander freely in a village setting, there is no need to own lawn mowers or pay someone to mow the yard. Cows and bulls are valuable assets to a functioning village, even the older ones, and were never seen as liabilities.
To make a real working and functioning village, however, will require sufficient amounts of land.
ys ameyatma das
Thanks everyone for commenting.
Of course, land costs money to own, so pasturing is efficient, but not cost free.
A cow gives dung and all other cited benefits true, but they are not dependent on breeding a cow for progeny to get as milk production is.
Oxen as draft power cannot compete economically with fossil fueled draft power. It is a sad reality.
This paradigm may have worked in India in the past, but that was the past. The tractor is rapidly replacing the bull there and it has one of the largest cow slaughter industries in the world. Another sad reality.
While their are economic benefits of cow protection , without the spiritual component, it won’t be followed. Look at any random 100 ISKCON devotees and cow protection will be supported or followed by very few. Ipso facto cow protection is not justifiable on solely economic grounds.
Hare Krsna,
PAMHO. AGTSP.
IMHO, opinions expressed in this thread about economic viability for devotee milk production are true in the first world countries. In third world and second(former soviet block) world countries they are not necessarily true. manual labor is relatively cheaper and iskcon temples can run goshalas in those countries with less impact to their finances. In fact, some iskocn temples in India do run goshalas.
I know that this activity is a drop in the ocean, but it matters to those cows and oxens who were saved by those goshalas. With Krsna’s mercy, at some future time cow protection would increase significantly.
Hari Bol
your servant
Hare Krsna
PAMHO. AGTSP.
Recently I told a friend of mine that cost of karma-free milk is $7 per gallon. He
challenged me and asked me how i arrived at this figure. I told him about dandavat
site discussions.
I have been trying to spread the word about cow protection in iskcon to my
non-devotee friends and aquaintences.
Can someone provide me with some data about cost of producing karma-free milk in
the US which will help in spreading the word.
Hari Bol
your servant
Vidyasagar Lokhande
lokhandeus@yahoo.com