Milk on the Move

Whether or not you like milk, we all have a story to tell. Milk is our first food, but it is also something that many people encounter everyday. Why do people love milk so much, and long have humans been drinking it? In this episode Johanna and JC track right back in time to understand when, why and how humans decided to drink milk from other animals. We speak to archaeologists Andrew Reid and Emmanuel Ndiema, and geneticist Sarah Tishcoff, to find out more.

Milk is a staple product found in many homes, but what does it take to get onto our doorsteps, into our supermarkets, and into our fridges? In this episode, JC and Johanna explore industrial milk and how logical decisions in the upscaling of the dairy industry have led to some absurd realities that impact consumers and farmers every day. We speak to historian Kendra Smith Howard, MERL curator Ollie Douglas, and Atenchong Talleh Nkobou, a senior lecturer in International Rural Development.

In this episode Johanna and JC tackle milk’s complex microbial landscape. Milk is alive. This aliveness has long been harnessed for the preservation of milk through fermentation and cheese making, but it is also a palpable source of danger. We visit Bill Oglethorpe, owner of Kappacasein, London's last dairy, speak with historian Deborah Valence and cultural anthropologist Heather Paxton, and discuss the pressures facing cheese makers with Bronwen and Francis Percival, authors of 'Reinventing the Wheel: milk, microbes and the fights for real cheese'.

In this episode, JC and Johanna explore the idea of milk as nutritional perfection, and the complex cultural, economic and political factors that have shaped it. What does the idea that milk is good for us leave unsaid? Nutritionist Brian Njoroge explores the unintended consequences of breaking milk down into measurable nutritional components, whilst historian John Nott outlines racialised assumptions that underpinned nutritional policies in colonial Ghana. Award winning writer Andrea Freeman shares her work on food oppression, and how commerce has shaped nutritional aid in the US.