Happy cows make for happy humans

Where Cows Are Happy and Food Is Healthy

New York Times – NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF – Sep 8, 2012

“For productivity, it’s important to have happy cows,” he said. “If a cow is at her maximum health and her maximum contentedness, she’s profitable. I don’t even really manage my farm so much from a fiscal standpoint as from a cow standpoint, because I know that, if I take care of those cows, the bottom line will take care of itself.” Go to story


excerpt from purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 5, Text 27:

Bountiful milk yields from happy cows

Happy Cows
In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna advises go-rakshya, the protection of cows. This is essential because if cows are cared for properly they will surely supply sufficient milk. We have practical experience in America that in our various ISKCON farms we are giving proper protection to the cows and receiving more than enough milk. In other farms the cows do not deliver as much milk as in our farms; because our cows know very well that we are not going to kill them, they are happy, and they give ample milk. more

For human happiness, one must care for the animals, especially the cows. Vasudeva therefore inquired whether there was a good arrangement for the animals where Nanda Maharaja lived. For the proper pursuit of human happiness, there must be arrangements for the protection of cows. This means that there must be forests and adequate pasturing grounds full of grass and water. If the animals are happy, there will be an ample supply of milk, from which human beings will benefit by deriving many milk products with which to live happily. As enjoined in Bhagavad-gita (18.44), krishi-go-rakshya-vanijyam vaishya-karma-svabhavajam. Without giving proper facilities to the animals, how can human society be happy? That people are raising cattle to send to the slaughterhouse is a great sin. By this demoniac enterprise, people are ruining their chance for a truly human life. Because they are not giving any importance to the instructions of Krishna, the advancement of their so-called civilization resembles the crazy efforts of men in a lunatic asylum.

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