The City's Filthy Milk Supply
An investigation by The Times reveals local dairies are operating in squalid conditions that physicians link to sickness among city children.
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An investigation carried on by The Times discloses the fact that there is need in Tacoma of the pure milk crusade proposed by the State Medical association. Cleanliness, which is one of the first requisites to secure pure milk, is entirely an unknown quantity in some of the dairies from which the milk supply of this city comes. In the opinion of local physicians, a good deal of the sickness among children can be traced directly to this cause. Three dairies on the reservation were visited this morning, and what was seen there was enough to turn the stomach of even a dog against milk. All three of the barnyards were reeking with filth, the interior of the barns was but little better and the hind quarters of the cows were covered with manure, some of which falls into the pail during the process of milking. At one of the largest dairies visited, the morning supply of milk was just being poured into the cans to be taken to Tacoma. The pails had been set on the floor of the barn, which was covered with manure. Naturally, some of the filth adhered to the bottom of the pail, and in pouring the milk from the pails to the cans, a considerable quantity of the dirt went in with the milk. About 600 gallons of milk is brought from these three dairies to Tacoma daily.
“What was seen there was enough to turn the stomach of even a dog against milk.”
This early 20th-century exposé on public health standards highlights the era's transition toward professionalized urban hygiene. Today, Tacoma residents often scrutinize corporate food supply chains in much the same way, though concerns have shifted from barnyard manure to processing transparency and long-term health impacts.
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