What Was That About Chinese Lactose Intolerance?
The Chinese Mengniu Dairy in Inner Mongolia is about to become one of the largest dairy farms in the world.
It’s been in operation since 1999, trades on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and has a lot of foreign investment.
Global milk production has increased by 240% in the last 40 years. The fastest growth is in China with a 15-fold increase in milk consumption per capita since the early 1960s. Other growth areas are Thailand, India, Japan and the Philippines.
And what about a nice glass of milk as a healthy alternative to alcohol at a Chinese banquet?
All this and more in a very interesting article by Andrea Wiley of the Anthropology Department at Indiana University in American Anthropologist 109 (2007), 666-677. It’s available on line if you have access to www.anthrosource.net through your library.
