plenty Issue 20 Feb/Mar 2008 | Page 20

spectrum > by the numbers Got Milk? Yogurt, cheese, ice cream—countless tasty treats can trace their roots to the common dairy cow. In fact, America needs 65,000 farms to satisfy its demand for milk-based products. Consider these udderly surprising stats about the dairy industry. Number of dairy cows in the US 340 Number of udder squirts needed to fill one milk pail 9,000,000 Average number of miles milk travels from farm to grocery store Year first Dairy Queen opened Years required to convert a traditional dairy farm to certified organic 3.7 Percentage of US dairy farms that produce half of the nation’s milk supply global greenhouse gas emissions that come from livestock 150 3.5 Average number of pounds of cheese an American eats in a year 26.4 Percentage of total US cheese production that takes place in Wisconsin Percentage of dairy products sold in the US that are certified organic 21 billion Number of cloned cows in the US 25 print ads since the campaign’s debut in 1995 54 1 18 Percentage of “Got Milk” Gallons of milk US dairy farms produce each year Average percentage US organic milk sales are growing each year 18 | february-march 2008 Year milk bottle was invented 1884 1940: Number of Average number of pounds of cheese that a French person eats in a year 30 100 20 billion Profit in dollars that Nestlé makes each year as the world’s leading dairy company 225