Milk Money

October 15, 2012

Kardashian (senior writer, Tuck Sch. of Business, Dartmouth Univ.) begins his story at a small Vermont dairy but widens his lens to survey the global milk supply. In the vein of muckraking writers such as Upton Sinclair, Eric Schlosser, and Michael Pollan, Kardashian takes a close look at the U.S. dairy industry through the microcosm of family-owned Vermont dairy farms. His analysis touches on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), immigration policy, animal welfare, dairy monopolies, and the burgeoning organic movement, which has its own pitfalls. This well-timed publication dovetails with current conversations about the nation's food supply and provenance. It complements existing resources like Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal and Barry Estabrook's Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. VERDICT Well researched and of interest to readers studying environmental policy, agricultural studies, and even creative nonfiction, this book crosses a variety of disciplines.--Stacie Williams, Lexington, KY

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2012
When Kardashian began taking his daughter to day care at a family-run dairy farm in Vermont, he began to pay closer attention to more than simply the price of milk, cheese, and yogurt. His focus shifted to price fluctuation, speculation in the commodities market, government agricultural policies, and factory farming. Why is it that each year small dairy farms fail, despite the steady demand for this food staple and government subsidies? Kardashian provides deep historical context, from 12,000 years ago, when farming was on the rise, to the modern science of breeding cows that produce more milk to automated milking machines. He examines a range of issues, from immigrant labor to the roles of genetically modified feed, antibiotics, and artificial growth hormones to, most moving, the tragically negative impact of giant dairy processors on the day-to-day life of family farmers. Kardashian's consciousness-raising journalism aims to boost knowledge about how milk is produced and why thousands of small farmers can't make a decent living and are losing their farms.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)