When Fat-Shaming Goes Too Far: We Need To Stop Shaming People Who Drink Milk

These days, it seems like every other week there is a new, trendy variety of diet magic that us mere mortals must consume in order to live our “best life”! The fact that Whole Foods literally sold a bottle of water with three spears of asparagus in it for $6 is a testament to how warped our culture has become.

The other day at work, as I hit the 3PM-on-a-Wednesday-afternoon wall, I was met with an extreme case of side eye, followed by concerned questioning.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

Because I was making myself a latte using 2% milk, that’s why.

Seems strange, right? Maybe not.

As Internet creatures, we are familiar with the term fat-shaming – “n. publicly calling someone out for being what we identify as ‘overweight’”

Well, fat-shaming has gone meta and is now infiltrating food itself.

Calcium-shaming is a ubiquitous and vicious trend invading the crevices of our society – attacking pretty much everyone at one time or another. Cafes, blogs, grocery stores, and even our co-workers, are making us feel guilty, cutting down our self-esteem until we finally collapse under the weight of our hypocalcemia and eventual osteoporosis.

Unfortunately, our standards of acceptable nutrition have changed. All over the world, milk is being targeted for being “too condensed,” “too homogenized,” and yes, even for being “too chocolate.” Imagine that. Even chocolate can’t satisfy the masses anymore.

Let’s look at the facts. Milk is delicious in basically any form. And while non-dairy variations don’t naturally contain the same benefits such as calcium, Vitamin-D, and Omega-3, most brands add these in, making them just as good for you as the real thing!

Shaming each other based on our choice of milk is not a reasonable catalyst for change. Shame doesn’t make you grow stronger. But you know what does? Calcium.

The act of calcium-shaming itself is hard to define as the experiences can differ dramatically from one individual to the next. For every whole-fat milk drinker getting the stink eye from Natasha at Starbucks, there is a Brandon, who just wants to drink his vanilla soy milk without getting berated about his diet.

So that’s why I’m here today, making a public plea to put an end to calcium-shaming once and for all. Let’s put an end to judging each other based on how we take our coffee. Enough with the condescending glares targeting the girl eating a bowl of shredded cheese for lunch.

All milk is good milk. All milk is worthy of love and respect.