Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas (Moloko)

It's impossible to imagine human history without milk. The first food we taste in our lives has left its mark on religion, politics, culture, economics, medicine... Many creation myths trace their origins to milk. The ancient Greeks, for example, believed that the Milky Way was formed when Hera, the goddess of femininity, spilled milk while feeding Hercules—every drop became a star in our galaxy. The word 'galaxy' itself comes from the Greek yaka, meaning 'milk.'

For millennia, debates have raged over human milk consumption. Should infants be breastfed, and if so, who should feed them—mothers or wet nurses? Which animal's milk is better? Is pasteurization a blessing or a curse? What should cows and goats be fed? How do hormones, antibiotics, and genetically modified grains affect milk?..

Mark Kurlansky, author of the worldwide bestsellers 'Cod' and 'Salt,' tells the history of milk and dairy products from ancient times to the present day, examines in detail the influence that 'the most controversial of foods' has had on humans over the past millennia, and invites the reader to find their own answer to the question that occupies everyone: 'to drink or not to drink?'