Commentary: How SoCal became the nation's dairy queen

"Got milk? If you'd asked that question around Southern California even into the 1950s, the answer would have been a big full-dairy-fat "yes," pails and gallons and maybe even acre-feet of milk. As the 19th century turned into the 20th, hundreds of thousands of cows were living on hundreds of small dairy farms cast across the broad plain of what is now crowded with homes, streets, businesses and freeways."

"Within a few decades, in Southeast Los Angeles County, cows outnumbered people by as much as 30 to one. The place we now know as Cerritos was once named "Dairy Valley" and was home to not quite 3,500 people and 100,000 cows. The community we know as Cypress was, until 1956, called "Dairy City." A few of those dairy operations survive today."

"Why bring our dairy history up now? Because both President Donald J. Trump and his Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are on a dairy kick. They've stood the longtime food pyramid on its pointy head, instead promoting lots of meat and whole milk foods over a healthier diet grounded in whole grains and vegetables. The U.S. Agriculture Department has posted an image of Trump leaning forward on his knuckles on the Oval Office desk, a belligerent look on his face"

Southern California once supported hundreds of dairy farms and hundreds of thousands of cows across plains now filled with homes, streets and freeways. Immigrant families maintained small and mid-sized herds on land that is now too costly even for chickens. Dairy brands and named dairies served local communities, and some cities were literally called Dairy Valley and Dairy City because cows vastly outnumbered people. Only a few dairy operations remain. Contemporary political leaders publicly favor diets high in meat and whole milk, challenging longstanding dietary guidance that emphasizes whole grains and vegetables.

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