I’ve been curious about the homesteading movement for a long time, albeit from a non-tradwife perspective. For a few years I subscribed to Mother Earth News, whose pages of solar panel installations and gardening tips filled my head with pastoral fantasies. (It’s possible that growing up in rural Pennsylvania planted a seed of affection for farm life, even though I suspect I would be terrible at it.) So I have nothing against people who decide to abandon the corporate world, or soulless suburbs, to live close to the land. I’m just not so into oppressive gender roles and unpasteurized milk.
But... why do either?
Why do grown adults actually need to drink a liquid from another species?
The reason why adults become lactose intolerant is because they no longer need milk. You can just cut it out of your system.
I totally agree that the first human to drink animal milk was probably a very weird person. Although it probably came out of a goal to not waste resources.
There's not really a "reason" that people become lactose intolerant around age 2. Especially when most people are weaned off human milk way before then. Also, to say that there is a reason implies that humans were designed by some omnipotent force. There's plenty of times in a human's life where the nutrients found in milk would be beneficial to have, like after a woman goes through menopause.
It is only recently that we have an abundance of resources that we can choose where we get our nutrients from. And if one were really living off the land, they would not have that choice.
I said reason meaning nutrition wise. But I see your points. If it's there already, might as well use it.
I drink very little milk.
I eat a lot of cheese and butter.
That's just more-complicated milk.
Back when, nutrients were hard to come by.
It's not about need it's about efficiency. Milk lets you get calories, especially protein in a way that doesn't kill the animal with less effort than hunting and gathering. That allows for a time and labor surplus that can enable specialization and society as a whole to exist. It's not just drinking, butter, cheese, baking, and fermentation with it are super common uses.
i don't need to i enjoy it. it's decadent. put it on some berries with a lil sugar.
Damned decadent homesteaders.