The supply of cow?s milk is supposed to be in shortage, worldwide. Demand is by far exceeding supply and drought in many cow?s milk-producing countries are not helping matters. So there is an understandable sense of panic because there seems not to be enough milk produced to satisfy demands. Consider this ? is this any wonder when cow?s milk wasn?t intended for human consumption?

Laugh if you will and bury your head in the sand if you please but pray bear with me. Most of us are thinking that this most unfortunate situation is only a temporary setback, blaming it on the climate. (Most impudent climate that will not do the bidding of its self-proclaimed masters, the humans! Shame, Shame!)

A climatic condition - the droughts - that has lasted five years, I might add.

Are you really surprised that there simply will not be enough milk around to nourish most of the 6 billion people that inhabit this planet? Come on, think about it! If anything, I am flabbergasted the poor cows have been able (under incredible duress, no doubt) to nourish the whole planet for all those years!

Of course, we don?t know for a fact if the incredible feat of managing to produce seemingly endless quantities of milk from a relatively limited number of cows will suffer a permanent setback. So far there has been a general growth of cow?s milk production thanks to technology developments, sanitary controls, genetic research etc.

Logic tells me, however, that the production of milk that has been intended to feed calves and that is instead feeding toddlers as well as human adults is bound to falter some time soon.

And then what? We?re not there yet and hopefully we won?t be anytime soon but in case it does happen, let?s get rid of a few enduring fallacies entertained by cow?s milk adverts, shall we?

Like the one that adequate calcium can only be found through consumption of dairy products. In fact, many plant sources are loaded with calcium but your dietician will probably not tell you this. Calcium fortified rice and soy milk, tofu, dried fruits and sesame seeds are also valuable non-dairy sources of calcium.

This is also what milk ads won?t tell you - that dairy products, unchecked, rob bones of their vital calcium stores. The animal proteins of meat and dairy products cause calcium loss because high protein consumption interferes with calcium absorption, which means that dairy products can actually leach calcium even as they provide it. This is a fact, well documented in several studies and medical journals. It is believed that it?s for this reason that Americans, for instance, have among the highest osteoporosis rates in the world, while their dairy intake is also among the highest.

OK, enough of this. If you care to find out more, you know where to look. But your health is not the point of this column.

The point is to provoke thoughts on a matter that could be an issue in a not too distant future. Ponder this - and what if we?ve had it wrong all this time ?